Rules
Right to repair in Canada: what the law covers and what still blocks repairs
Canada has no single right-to-repair law. This guide explains the federal Copyright Act repair exception and Quebec's Consumer Protection Act rules, and what still blocks repairs.
What to take away
- Canada has no single national right-to-repair statute. Two pieces of law matter: a federal Copyright Act exception for repair, and Quebec's Consumer Protection Act as amended by Bill 29 in 2023.
- The federal exception (Copyright Act, section 41.121, added by S.C. 2024, c. 26, assented to on 7 November 2024) lets you bypass a digital lock for the sole purpose of maintaining or repairing a product, including diagnosing it. It does not force anyone to sell you a part or a manual.
- Quebec goes further for consumers. Merchants and manufacturers must keep replacement parts, repair services and repair information available for a reasonable time, unless they warn you in writing before you buy. Quebec also bans techniques that make repair harder and the business of trading in goods with planned obsolescence.
- The Quebec rules phased in. The ban on planned obsolescence took effect with the Act on 5 October 2023. The parts and repair-information duties and the ban on repair-hindering techniques took effect on 5 October 2025. The penalties for the warranty disclosure duties and the regulation setting warranty durations (three years for a laptop) took effect on 5 October 2026.
- This article covers federal law and Quebec only. It does not cover the rules of any other province or territory, so outside Quebec the federal exception is the only rule described here. Ask your provincial consumer protection office about local rules.
The federal rule: bypassing a digital lock to repair
Many products ship with a technological protection measure, or digital lock, controlling access to the software inside. Canada's Copyright Act generally prohibits circumventing such locks. In 2024 Parliament added a repair exception. The statute is titled "An Act to amend the Copyright Act (diagnosis, maintenance and repair)," S.C. 2024, c. 26, assented to on 7 November 2024.
Section 41.121 says the circumvention ban in paragraph 41.1(1)(a) does not apply to a person who circumvents a digital lock "for the sole purpose of maintaining or repairing a product, including any related diagnosing," if the protected software or content forms part of the product. Three points follow from the text:
- It covers someone repairing for you.Subsection (2) says the exception applies to a person who circumvents the lock for another person. An independent shop can rely on it when it acts for the owner.
- It does not cover infringement.Under subsection (3), you cannot use the exception if you also do an act that infringes copyright.
- It is narrow.The exception disapplies only paragraph 41.1(1)(a), the ban on the act of circumventing. The text does not mention the separate paragraphs on offering circumvention services or on providing circumvention tools. Whether and how you may obtain tools is a question for a lawyer.
A companion law passed the same day, S.C. 2024, c. 27, changed the interoperability exception in section 41.12. Neither law makes a manufacturer supply parts, tools or manuals. That gap is what Quebec's statute addresses for consumers.
Quebec: Bill 29 and the Consumer Protection Act
Bill 29 became "An Act to protect consumers from planned obsolescence and to promote the durability, repairability and maintenance of goods" (S.Q. 2023, c. 21). It passed on 3 October 2023 and was assented to on 5 October 2023. It amends the Consumer Protection Act (chapter P-40.1). The Act's own explanatory notes and text set out these main rules.
Warranty of good working order. New goods named in section 38.1 carry a warranty covering parts and labour (section 38.2). The list includes a laptop computer, a desktop computer, an electronic tablet, a cellular telephone, a television and a video game console, as well as major appliances. The duration is set by regulation. Section 79.21 of the consumer protection regulation, added by Décret 1459-2025 (Gazette officielle du Québec, 17 December 2025) and in force from 5 October 2026, sets it at three years for a desktop computer, laptop computer, electronic tablet, cellular telephone or video game console, and four years for a television. The warranty takes effect on delivery (section 38.4). The manufacturer must state the duration online (section 79.22), and the merchant must show it near the advertised price (section 38.8). Confirm the current text with the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC) before relying on it.
Warranty of availability (section 39). For goods that need maintenance work, the replacement parts, repair services and the information needed to maintain or repair the goods, including diagnostic software and its updates, must be available for a reasonable time. The information must be available in French. It must be possible to install the replacement parts with commonly available tools and without causing irreversible damage to the goods. A merchant or manufacturer can be released from the duty by warning the consumer in writing before the contract is made, except for any parts and information that a regulation may list as non-waivable. Parts and services must be offered at a reasonable price, and repair information must be free when it is accessible on a technological medium (section 39.3).
If the duty is not met. The consumer may ask the merchant or manufacturer to repair the goods. The merchant or manufacturer must say in writing within 10 days when it proposes to do the repair. If it does not respond properly, it must replace the goods with new or reconditioned goods of equivalent functionality, or refund the price (sections 39.5 to 39.7). A consumer who declines the proposal may have the repair done by a third person at the merchant's or manufacturer's reasonable cost.
Bans. Section 227.0.3 prohibits a merchant or manufacturer from using a technique that makes it more difficult for the consumer to maintain or repair goods. Section 227.0.4 prohibits carrying on the business of trading in goods whose obsolescence is planned, meaning a technique aimed at reducing normal operating life is used.
Penalties. As enacted by S.Q. 2023, c. 21 (section 278 of the Consumer Protection Act), breaching any of sections 227.0.1 to 227.0.4, which include the ban on repair-hindering techniques and the ban on planned obsolescence, carries a minimum fine of $2,500 for an individual and $5,000 for any other person. The maximum is $62,500 for an individual and $125,000 for others, or 5 percent of worldwide turnover for the preceding fiscal year if that is greater. Amounts double for a second or later offence (section 281). Breaching the warranty disclosure and availability duties in sections 38.7 to 39.7 carries fines of $1,500 to $37,500 for an individual and $3,000 to $75,000 for others (section 277). Check the current consolidated Act before quoting any figure, because fine amounts can be amended.
Dates and the 2025 regulation
The Act came into force on 5 October 2023, apart from staged provisions listed in section 37 of the 2023 statute. The staging was:
- 5 October 2023:the Act generally, including the section 227.0.4 ban on planned obsolescence.
- 5 January 2025:the new fine scale and the monetary administrative penalties (up to $1,750 for an individual and $3,500 for others, under section 276.1).
- 5 October 2025:the section 39 availability rules, section 227.0.3 (the ban on repair-hindering techniques) and fines for breaching sections 39 to 39.7.
- 5 October 2026:sections 227.0.1 and 227.0.2 (the offences of failing to disclose the warranty information required by sections 38.7 and 38.8), section 228.2 (the merchant must tell the consumer orally about the legal warranty before proposing an additional one), fines for breaching sections 38.7 to 38.9, and the regulation on warranty durations and disclosure.
That last date has passed, so the warranty disclosure offences are now enforceable.
Government Order 800-2025, published in the Gazette officielle du Québec on 25 June 2025, added rules to the consumer protection regulation, effective 5 October 2025:
- A tool is considered commonly available, in particular, if it is supplied free of charge no later than when the consumer takes possession, or can be obtained through a distance contract at a reasonable price and within a reasonable time.
- Manufacturers must state online, clearly, whether they fully, partly or do not guarantee the availability of parts, repair services and repair information. If availability is partial, they must say which parts or information are not covered. Merchants must give the same disclosure in writing before the contract, and in online sales must place a link to the manufacturer's information near it, if one exists. A merchant that publishes the information online in a clear form that the consumer can keep and print is exempt from the separate pre-contract disclosure.
- A merchant or manufacturer does not breach the repair-hindering ban if it shows the technique is necessary to protect the consumer or the consumer's representative from a grave, serious, direct and immediate risk to physical safety, or is required to comply with an Act or regulation. The safety exception does not apply when the representative is a person who provides repair or maintenance services in the course of a business.
The OPC's consumer page on the availability warranty (last updated 29 September 2026) is a plain-language summary and says it does not replace the texts of the laws and regulations. It lists everyday examples such as a cell phone and a dishwasher. If a manufacturer gave no written warning before purchase, the consumer can ask for repair at the merchant's or manufacturer's expense.
What blocks repairs in practice, even where the law helps
Law gives a right to ask. Design decides whether a repair is possible.
- Parts pairing.iFixit's repairability scoring treats pairing a part to a specific device as a severe, device-wide penalty, because routine repairs then fail outside the manufacturer's authorized channels. Ask before you buy a part whether the device will accept it.
- Soldered and sealed components.If memory, storage or a battery is not designed to be swapped, no digital-lock exception helps. Quebec's requirement that parts be installable with commonly available tools and without irreversible damage is aimed at exactly this, but only for goods and parts covered by the availability duty.
- Manufacturer service rules.Apple, for example, says built-in Mac batteries should be replaced by an authorized provider, an Apple Store or an independent provider using genuine parts, and that untrained repairs or non-genuine parts can cause damage the warranty does not cover. Apple also replaces a Mac battery free under AppleCare if it holds under 80 percent of its capacity.
What to do, in order
- Before buying in Quebec,look for the manufacturer's online statement on parts, repair services and repair information, and for any written notice in the store or the order summary.
- Before opening a device anywhere in Canada,confirm the part exists and that the device will accept it.
- If you need to bypass a lock to repair,keep to the purpose of repair only and do not distribute tools or copy software. Ask a lawyer about anything beyond that.
- If a Quebec merchant or manufacturer fails the availability duty,ask for repair in writing and note the date. The 10-day clock starts at your request. Contact the OPC for help.
- Outside Quebec,contact your provincial consumer protection office.
- Weigh the cost.Editorial suggestion: if the repair quote approaches the price of a comparable used or refurbished device, replace it, then recycle the old one using the guidance in how to recycle old electronics safely.
For US rules, which do not apply in Canada, see US right-to-repair laws when buying electronics and the Massachusetts and New York battery replacement rules. Phone unlocking is a separate regime, covered in CRTC Wireless Code carrier lock removal. For diagnosis before you pay anyone, see common laptop problems and how to decide fix, repair or replace.
This article summarizes public legal texts for general information. It is not legal advice.
