Selling now for future goods or services? Contract rules for businesses

Before a consumer agrees to buy, you must provide specific information upfront. This information must be provided clearly, at no cost, and before the consumer enters into a contract. 

Information that must be disclosed to a consumer before they complete a purchase 

• The supplier’s legal name and, if different, the business name
• A detailed description of the goods or services to be supplied, including any relevant technical or system specifications (if applicable)
• Delivery details (if applicable), including:
  • the method of delivery
  • the delivery location
• If the goods or services will not be provided at the time the contract is made:
  • the date they will be provided or supplied, and
  • the date they will be fully completed (if applicable)
• An itemized purchase price
• Any additional costs that can be determined in advance, including taxes and shipping charges
• Any additional costs that cannot reasonably be determined in advance, such as:
  • customs duties
  • brokerage fees
• Where payment is in a non-Canadian currency:
  • the currency that applies
• The terms of payment, including:
  • the payment schedule
  • the amount of each payment (if payments will be in installments)
• The total price, including any cost of credit
• Details of any trade-in, including its value (if applicable)
• If credit is provided or arranged by the business:
  • a description of any security interest
• Details of any promotional offers, including:
  • eligibility requirements
  • duration
  • terms that apply once the offer ends
• Any other terms, conditions, limitations, or restrictions
• Return, exchange, cancellation and refund policies
• If the contract includes renewal terms:
  • how renewal may occur
  • whether the contract renews automatically
• For door-to-door sales contracts, fitness or other personal services contracts and time share contracts:
  • a prescribed notice of cancellation rights 

Read sections 18.2 and 18.3 of the amended Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act (unofficial) for more information. 

Mandatory disclosures about return, exchange, cancellation and refund policies 

Even if your business does not have these policies, you must disclose that in the pre-contract disclosures and the contract itself.  

A chance for a consumer to review the contract or get a copy 

You must also give the consumer an opportunity to review the full contract before the sale is completed. If they ask for a copy of the contract, it must be provided promptly. 

Consumer cancellation rights 

If the required pre‑purchase disclosures are not provided to a consumer, or if they do not match the final contract, a consumer may have the right to cancel.  

BC’s Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act has a list of content that your future performance contract must include. Not having this content gives your customer the right to cancel their contract. 

Protect your business by following the law. 

Required contents 

Here is the information that your future performance contract must include: 

• The supplier’s legal name and, if different, the business name
• The date the contract is entered into
• If the supplier is registered under the Motor Dealer Act, their registration number
• A detailed description of the goods or services to be supplied, including any relevant technical or system specifications (if applicable)
• Delivery details (if applicable), including:
  • the method of delivery
  • the delivery location
• If the goods or services will not be provided at the time the contract is made:
  • the date they will be provided or supplied, and
  • the date they will be fully completed (if applicable)
• An itemized purchase price
• Any additional costs that can be determined in advance, including taxes and shipping charges
• Any additional costs that cannot reasonably be determined in advance, such as:
  • customs duties
  • brokerage fees
• Where payment is in a non-Canadian currency:
  • the currency that applies
• The terms of payment, including:
  • the payment schedule
  • the amount of each payment (if payments will be in installments)
• The total price, including any cost of credit
• Details of any trade-in, including its value (if applicable)
• If credit is provided or arranged by the business:
  • a description of any security interest
• Details of any promotional offers, including:
  • eligibility requirements
  • duration
  • terms that apply once the offer ends
• Any other terms, conditions, limitations, or restrictions
• Return, exchange, cancellation and refund policies
• If the contract includes renewal terms:
  • how renewal may occur
  • whether the contract renews automatically
• For door-to-door sales contracts, fitness or other personal services contracts and time share contracts only:
  • a prescribed notice of cancellation rights 

Cemetery and funeral services preneed contracts are future performance contracts but some of these contract elements are not requirements. Read the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act (unofficial), Section 23. 

It’s important to understand that there may be other laws that apply to your contracts, including ones that we don’t oversee. Do your research and have a lawyer review your contracts. Businesses should review their contract templates to ensure all required information is included and to ensure they understand consumer’s cancellation rights. 

Read sections 18.1 and 18.2 of the amended Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act (unofficial) for more information 

A future performance contract is not legally binding, if:

• you give or offer to give a rebate, discount or some other value to them if they give you the names of prospective customers (which helps you make a sale to another person)

and

• the earning of a rebate, discount or value is contingent on an event happening after the customer agrees to buy

For more information read the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act (unofficial), Section 23. 

A consumer can cancel their contract in certain situations, including:  

• If the required pre‑purchase disclosures are not provided
• If the contract requirements are not provided
• If the pre-purchase disclosures and the contract requirements don’t align 

The consumer can exercise these cancellation rights by giving notice of cancellation to you no later than one year after the date the consumer received a copy of the contract. 

Your customers can also cancel a future performance contract by giving you a notice of cancellation  

• Within one year of the date the contract was entered into (if they didn’t receive a copy of the contract)
• At any time before the goods or services are delivered if the goods or services are not delivered within 30 days of the supply date in the contract

Your customer can give you notice of cancellation in any way that allows them to produce proof that they cancelled the contract on a specific date, including: 

• Delivering a written notice in person
• Delivering the written notice by registered mail, email, or fax, sent to the appropriate contact person at the contact information shown in the contract 

A notice of cancellation is good enough if it shows in any way that the customer intends to cancel the future performance contract, and it states the reason for cancellation is a non-compliant contract.

Read about cancellations notices in the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act (unofficial), Section 23(5) and Section 54.

If a customer exercises their cancellation rights, they may be entitled to a full refund within 15 days. 

If part of the work is completed under the contract, and the customer exercises their cancellation right and you can’t resolve the issue between the two of you, this becomes a contractual dispute and would go to the Civil Resolution Tribunal or Court to resolve the issue. 

If a customer exercises their cancellation rights, they must return any goods back to the person named in the contract. 

There’s more to know. We recommend that you read BC’s consumer protection laws in full. 

It’s important to understand that there may be other laws that we don’t oversee that apply to your contracts. Do your research and have a lawyer review your contracts. 

Understand what refund deductions may apply in the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act (unofficial), Section 27. 
Learn more about the return of goods in the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act (unofficial), Section 28. 

We are a provincial regulatory authority, responsible for overseeing BC’s consumer protection laws. The laws we oversee include the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act and the Consumer Contracts regulation. These laws outline the rules for the types of contracts your business uses if selling goods or services that your customers don’t get right away or don’t pay in full upfront. 

By law, we have the authority to inspect your business practices and your contracts. Our approach is to help you voluntarily comply with the law – our goal is not to punish, but rather to correct marketplace behaviour. Should we not get voluntary compliance, we have several enforcement tools at our disposal, including the ability to order to you comply with the law and to issue administrative monetary penalties. 

Find out more about us. 
Read about our enforcement approach and tools. 

Your contracts are regulated by BC’s consumer protection laws, so we have the authority to inspect your business. 

Our goal with our inspections is to identify and help you correct the use of non-compliant future performance contracts. While we are interested in working collaboratively with you to identify problems with your future performance contracts, as a business owner, you are responsible for making sure that your contracts meet the law. 

During an inspection, you will be required to produce copies of your future performance contracts and other business records. If we find issues with your contracts, we will identify the problem areas and require you to correct them. There are significant penalties for not complying with an inspection, including monetary penalties as high as $50,000. 

Learn more about our inspection process.