Can I cancel my cellphone or internet contract before it ends?
In the United States? This answer is Québec and Canadian law. The US side of this site answers different questions, state by state: different law, and different coverage. Go to the US side
Short answer
Yes. Section 214.6 of the Consumer Protection Act allows a consumer to cancel a contract involving sequential performance for a service provided at a distance "at any time and at the consumer's discretion", by sending a notice to the merchant; the cancellation takes effect by operation of law on the sending of that notice. A cancellation indemnity may be charged, but it is capped: where no economic inducement determined by regulation was given, s. 214.7 limits it to the lesser of $50 and an amount representing not more than 10% of the price of the contracted services that were not supplied. For an indeterminate-term contract, s. 214.8 provides that no indemnity may be claimed, except where a rebate was given on the price of goods purchased in consideration of the contract.
In detail
Division VII of the chapter on specific contracts covers, under s. 214.1, "contracts involving sequential performance for a service provided at a distance": that is the category telephone, internet and television service fall into. The exit right in s. 214.6 does not have to be negotiated, and the contract cannot remove it.
The cap on the indemnity turns on one precise fact: was an economic inducement given (a discounted phone, for instance) in consideration of a fixed-term contract? If so, s. 214.7 limits the indemnity to the value of the economic inducements determined by regulation, an amount that decreases as prescribed by regulation. If not, the maximum indemnity is "the lesser of $50 and an amount representing not more than 10% of the price of the services provided for in the contract that were not supplied".
Another rule concerns the end of the contract rather than breaking it. Section 214.4: "The merchant must inform the consumer of the expiry date of the contract by means of a written notice sent between the 90th and 60th day before that date." That notice does not apply to contracts whose term is 60 days or less. Section 214.3 also prohibits, in a contract of more than 60 days, renewal otherwise than for an indeterminate term · so a plan does not quietly renew itself for a new fixed term.
Section 214.11 adds that a security deposit, if one was paid, is returned with interest within 30 days of the expiry of a contract that is not renewed or of its cancellation. The exact value of the economic inducements and the way the indemnity decreases are left to the regulation, which was not read here.
What to document
The invoice or contract, with its date. The method of payment · a bank or card statement carries a date no one disputes. Exchanges with the merchant, with their timestamps. The condition of the goods when the problem appeared: a photograph carries its date; a recollection does not.
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Official sources
- art. 214.6 de la Loi sur la protection du consommateur (RLRQ c P-40.1) · read on 2026-08-09
Related questions
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.