Over half of audited telecom providers not compliant with CCTS rules

The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) produced its annual report cards highlighting the findings regarding Canadian service provider compliance across three categories: Public Awareness, Procedural Code, and Financial Requirement for the 2024 calendar year.
Public Awareness Plan Compliance
To ensure that Canadians are informed about the role and responsibilities of the CCTS, all Participating Service Providers (PSPs) are mandated to adhere to the organization’s Public Awareness Plan.
As a condition of participation, PSPs are required to promote public awareness of the CCTS and its services through several channels, including displaying information on their websites, notifying customers directly about the availability of the CCTS, referencing the CCTS in customer billing messages, and including CCTS details in published “white pages” directories.
The CCTS performed two rounds of PSP audits between January 1 to December 31, 2024, totalling 65 total providers. The first round in January 2024 covered 19 randomly selected PSPs that had not previously been audited, along with two previously non-compliant PSPs. The second audit in September covered 44 PSPs, including the 25 PSPs that generated the most CCTS complaints in the previous year, 18 randomly-selected, previously unaudited PSPs, and one previously non-compliant provider.
The audit found 21 participants were fully compliant with CCTS requirements, including major providers listed below (note the following list is not exhaustive):
- Bell
- Chatr (Rogers)
- Cogeco
- Comwave
- EBox
- Fizz (Quebecor)
- Freedom Mobile (Quebecor)
- Lucky Mobile (Bell)
- Public Mobile (Telus)
- Shaw
- Telus
- TekSavvy
- Videotron (Quebecor)
- Xplore
Another 26 participants were found partially compliant, with websites that did not meet all requirements. The remaining 18 participants were fully non-compliant, lacking any CCTS information. The commission noted that all providers without CCTS information on their websites were small PSPs. Following the audit, the CCTS worked with providers to address issues, and said 39 PSPs are now fully compliant, while five remained non-compliant.
Procedural Code Compliance
The CCTS monitors PSPs for Procedural Code compliance throughout the complaints process, with the aim of encouraging adherence to its standards and ensuring that customers receive timely resolution of their complaints.
How PSPs need to comply with CCTS complaints process.
Between August 1, 2024, and January 31, 2025, the CCTS identified several breaches of complaint-handling requirements. Nine PSPs failed to implement required resolutions or Investigation Findings, all of which were addressed after CCTS follow-up. In one case, a PSP threatened a customer after submitting a complaint to the CCTS — an incident resolved through CCTS intervention.
Financial Requirements Compliance
The CCTS is an independent organization that provides its services to Canadians at no cost, and operates on a cost-recovery funding model supported by PSPs. To ensure that the CCTS can continue to provide customers with a free and effective complaint resolution service, the CCTS requires PSPs to meet two requirements: the disclosure of financial information and the payment of CCTS fees.
If a PSP fails to comply with either requirement, the provider risks defaulting on the agreement, which may result in termination from participating in the CCTS and further escalation to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). In 2024, 82 out of 299 service providers (27 per cent) did not comply with the requirement to provide CCTS with financial information.
To learn more about CCTS, you may visit its website at www.cctscprst.ca or call toll-free at 1-888-221-1687.
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