Lemon Law in Canada: Your Rights in Every Province

Your SUV goes back to the dealer for the same electrical fault a third time, and the manufacturer offers another repair. Can you make it take the car back? In Canada, only Quebec has a lemon law that says so. Everywhere else, the closest thing is CAMVAP, a free arbitration program that can order a manufacturer to buy back a newer vehicle. For a used car, what you’re owed depends on your province’s consumer law, and those rules differ a lot from one province to the next.

Is there a lemon law in Canada?

Only in Quebec. Since October 5, 2023, Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act has let a court declare a car a “seriously defective automobile” after repeated failed repairs, and the owner can then ask to cancel the sale. No other province or territory has a law like it, though Ontario has a bill that would add one.

That bill is Bill 91, the Right to Repair Act, 2025 (opens in a new tab). Three MPPs introduced it on December 10, 2025, and it would let an Ontario court order a buyback or a replacement for a seriously defective vehicle. It passed first reading that day and is still waiting for second reading.

Outside Quebec, the owner of a lemon has two routes, and Quebec drivers can use both as well:

• CAMVAP, the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan, settles disputes with most manufacturers over new and recent vehicles, in every province and territory.
• Your province’s consumer law, which says a car sold by a business has to be fit for normal use and sets what a dealer has to tell you before you buy. Our guide to when a store can refuse a return shows where an “as is” sign can and can’t take that away.

How does Quebec’s lemon law work?

A Quebec court declares a car seriously defective when warranty repairs keep failing on a problem that showed up in the car’s first three years and 60,000 km, and that problem makes the car unfit for normal use or much less useful. The car is then treated as having a hidden defect, so you can ask to cancel the sale or lower the price.

Section 53.1 of Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act (opens in a new tab) counts repair attempts made under the manufacturer’s basic warranty. Any one of these is enough:

• Three failed repairs of the same defect.
• One or two failed repairs of the same defect, when the dealer or the manufacturer kept the car more than 30 days. Days it couldn’t work on the car for lack of parts don’t count, as long as it gave you a free replacement car.
• Twelve repair attempts for unrelated defects, whether or not they worked.

The three years run from the car’s first sale or long-term lease to a customer, so a recent used car can qualify too. The Office de la protection du consommateur (opens in a new tab) (OPC), the province’s consumer protection agency, says it doesn’t matter whether you bought the car from a dealer or from a private seller.

What a declaration gets you

You can ask the court to cancel the contract or lower the price you paid, and claim damages, punitive damages included, the OPC explains. Start by writing to the dealer and the manufacturer. If they won’t settle, send a formal notice (opens in a new tab) before you go to court.

The declaration stays with the car. A dealer who sells it later has to say so on the label in the window, and no one can advertise the car without mentioning the declaration.

The same 2023 law, Bill 29, also created Quebec’s warranty of good working order for appliances and electronics. That one covers fridges, TVs and phones. Used cars have their own, older warranty of good working order, explained below.

What can CAMVAP do if your car is a lemon?

CAMVAP is free, binding arbitration between you and a participating manufacturer, open to owners in every province and territory. It hears claims about manufacturing defects and about how the manufacturer applied its new-vehicle warranty, for vehicles from the current model year and the four before it, with no more than 160,000 km at the hearing.

Manufacturers fund the program, so it costs you nothing beyond your own expenses, such as a lawyer if you want one. Most owners go without one. In 2025, 88% represented themselves, according to CAMVAP’s annual report (opens in a new tab). A case takes about 70 to 90 days from start to finish.

Before you apply, you have to give the manufacturer a chance through its own dispute process, which your owner’s manual or warranty booklet describes. CAMVAP’s eligibility rules (opens in a new tab) also set a filing deadline for each model year (September 30, 2027, for a 2023 model), and they leave out vehicles used mainly for business, taxis, daily rentals, and anything written off or branded salvage or rebuilt.

Which manufacturers take part?

Fourteen manufacturers, which CAMVAP says account for more than 85% of annual vehicle sales: Ford, General Motors, Honda and Acura, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Lucid, Mazda, Nissan and Infiniti, Porsche, Subaru, Toyota and Lexus, Volkswagen and Audi, and Volvo.

Stellantis (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram), BMW and MINI, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla and Mitsubishi aren’t on its list of participating manufacturers (opens in a new tab). If you drive one of those, your routes are the manufacturer’s own complaint process, your province’s consumer law and, in Quebec, the lemon law above.

What CAMVAP can order

Under the arbitration agreement (opens in a new tab), an arbitrator can order:

• A repair, at the manufacturer’s cost.
• A buyback, but only if the vehicle has less than 60,000 km and no more than 36 months in service at the hearing.
• A refund of repairs you already paid for.
• Expenses such as rentals, towing and taxis, up to $1,000, plus up to $500 for diagnostic tests.

It can’t award punitive damages or money for inconvenience or loss of use. It also won’t hear claims about design defects, injuries or property damage, tires, aftermarket parts, service contracts, or extended and third-party warranties. A software bug is out too unless another defect causes it, and so is a complaint that a phone or other device the manufacturer doesn’t support won’t connect to the car.

In 2025, 57% of the cases decided by an arbitrator ended with an order against the manufacturer, and buybacks were the most common, at 27% of decisions. In 2024, the average buyback (opens in a new tab) came to $54,472.

How much does a CAMVAP buyback pay?

The manufacturer refunds the price you paid, minus a deduction for use: the purchase price times the odometer reading at the hearing, divided by 200,000 km. That’s the formula on the buyback form in CAMVAP’s guide for owners (opens in a new tab). On a vehicle bought for $45,000 before tax, it works out to:

The manufacturer adds the GST or HST on that amount. A separate provincial sales tax, in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba or Quebec, is yours to recover where your province allows it. An arbitrator can shrink the deduction if the vehicle had been in service less than a year when you filed your claim and has 25,000 km or less at the hearing.

Some things come off the top. Debt from a previous car that was rolled into your loan can be deducted, and so can accessories that weren’t installed by the manufacturer or an authorized dealer. If there’s still a loan on the car, the payment goes to you and your lender together, or to the lender first with the rest sent to you.

What you give up by choosing CAMVAP

The decision is final. Once the arbitrator rules, you release the manufacturer and all its authorized dealers from every claim about the problem, including damages the arbitrator couldn’t award, and you have to drop any lawsuit you already filed. So weigh it before you apply. In Quebec, a court can cancel the sale and award punitive damages, which CAMVAP can’t.

What protects you when you buy a used car from a dealer?

It depends on the province. Quebec is the only one where the law gives a recent used car from a dealer a warranty of set length, from 1 to 6 months. Elsewhere, the protection is mostly what the dealer has to tell you before you sign, such as accident repairs or past use as a rental or taxi, and what you can do if it didn’t.

Quebec: a warranty set by age and mileage

Every used car a Quebec dealer sells or leases long term comes with a warranty of good working order, unless it’s more than seven years old or past 120,000 km. The age and mileage categories below were widened on April 5, 2024. Age counts from the year the car was put on the market, and the warranty ends at whichever limit comes first.

The warranty covers parts, labour and reasonable towing, and the dealer has to honour it even if it tells you the car has no warranty, the OPC says (opens in a new tab). It doesn’t cover normal maintenance, upholstery and trim, damage you cause, or defects the dealer listed on the window label with a repair estimate. Each day the car spends in the shop for a warranty repair adds a day to the warranty.

The window label also has to show the car’s category, any past use as a taxi, rental or police car, the repairs the dealer made, and whether it was declared seriously defective.

Ontario: 90 days to cancel, for four facts

Ontario dealers have to disclose a long list of facts under Ontario Regulation 333/08 (opens in a new tab), from flood or fire damage and repairs over $3,000 to past use as a rental, police car or taxi. You can cancel only if one of four facts was wrong or missing in the contract: the distance travelled; past use as a rental, police car or taxi; the make, model and year; or salvage or rebuilt status. That holds even if the dealer didn’t know. Send written notice within 90 days of getting the car. Once you return it, the dealer has to refund what you paid under the contract right away, including any extended warranty.

Every used car an Ontario dealer sells must also come with a safety standards certificate or an “as-is” statement, which you initial, saying it isn’t represented as roadworthy. Ontario’s dealer regulator, OMVIC, runs a compensation fund (opens in a new tab) that pays up to $45,000 per claim, under section 83 of Regulation 333/08 (opens in a new tab).

British Columbia: “as is” still comes with a warranty

The Vehicle Sales Authority of BC (opens in a new tab) (VSA) says a car sold “as is” still has to meet minimum safety standards and still has an implied warranty under the Sale of Goods Act, unless it’s sold as not suitable for transportation. Under the Motor Dealer Act Regulation (opens in a new tab), dealers must disclose past use as a taxi, police car or rental, repairs over $2,000 on a used car, and whether it was brought into BC to be sold. The VSA’s customer compensation fund covers up to $20,000 per loss.

Alberta: a fitness check before you sign

Before you sign a contract for a used vehicle, an Alberta dealer has to give you a mechanical fitness assessment done in the last 120 days, under the Vehicle Inspection Regulation (opens in a new tab). They also have to disclose a past CAMVAP buyback, flood or fire damage, use as a rental, taxi or police car, and repairs over $3,000, on the sales tag, in online ads and in writing. If a dealer exaggerated or was vague about something that would have changed your decision, Alberta’s Consumer Protection Act (opens in a new tab) lets you cancel at no cost.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba: disclosure with consequences

Saskatchewan dealers must disclose past use as a taxi, police car or rental, whether the vehicle was imported for resale, and any odometer problems, and give you a current SGI vehicle history search, the Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority (opens in a new tab) explains. If a dealer seriously breaks those rules, you can reject the vehicle and get the purchase price back.

Manitoba dealers have to tell you a vehicle’s history out loud before you sign, and again in writing in the contract, including flood or fire damage, a write-off, repairs over $3,000, a CAMVAP buyback or a lemon returned under another jurisdiction’s law, according to the Consumer Protection Office (opens in a new tab). Failing to disclose a material fact is an unfair practice under the Business Practices Act (opens in a new tab), and a court can award damages or cancel the sale.

The Atlantic provinces and the territories

None of them has a lemon law. In Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, a dealer’s used car needs a valid inspection sticker unless it’s sold as not inspected, and in Newfoundland and Labrador it needs an inspection certificate before the sale. Newfoundland and Labrador’s consumer affairs office (opens in a new tab) calls car buying “Buyer Beware”. There’s no cooling-off period, and a seller doesn’t have to refund you, whether the vehicle is new or used. New Brunswick’s Consumer Product Warranty and Liability Act (opens in a new tab) goes further, since a product has to last a reasonable time whether it was sold new or used, and a seller can’t write that out of the contract. In the Northwest Territories, the Consumer Protection Act requires goods sold to consumers to be of merchantable quality, meaning fit for normal use, whatever the contract says, except for defects the seller describes.

What if you bought the car from a private seller?

You get much less. Most of the dealer rules above, from Ontario’s 90-day cancellation to Alberta’s fitness assessment, bind only licensed dealers. Saskatchewan’s regulator says a private buyer isn’t protected by the disclosure rules, and Manitoba’s (opens in a new tab) says people selling their own car don’t have to give you its history.

Quebec is the exception on two counts. The lemon law applies to a recent car whoever sold it, and the Civil Code’s warranty against hidden defects covers a private sale unless the contract says you bought the car at your own risk. If you find a hidden defect, the OPC says you have to report it to the seller in writing (opens in a new tab), or you could lose your rights.

A private buyer can still turn to CAMVAP if the car qualifies, since it accepts owners of used vehicles. In Quebec, the OPC adds that a manufacturer’s warranty that’s still running transfers to you (opens in a new tab) once you tell a dealer you’re the car’s new owner.

How do you get your money back from a lemon?

Keep records, give the dealer and the manufacturer a written chance to fix the problem, then pick one route: CAMVAP for a defect on a newer vehicle, your province’s dealer regulator if a dealer hid something, or court. Small claims court is built for people without a lawyer, as long as your claim fits under its limit.

1. Keep every repair order. Quebec’s rule counts failed repairs and days in the shop, and CAMVAP looks at the same history. Make sure each one lists the date, the mileage and the problem you reported.
2. Put it in writing. Tell the dealer and the manufacturer what’s wrong and what you want: a repair, a replacement or your money back. CAMVAP expects you to go through the manufacturer’s own dispute process first.
3. Choose your route. Apply to CAMVAP (opens in a new tab) for a defect on a vehicle from a participating brand, or complain to your province’s dealer regulator about a dealer that hid something. In Quebec, if your car meets the lemon law’s conditions, you can go to court after a formal notice.
4. Go to small claims court if nothing else works and your claim fits under the limit:

Ontario’s limit went from $35,000 to $50,000 on October 1, 2025, and Manitoba’s from $15,000 to $20,000 on January 1, 2025.

A repair fund for the months a lemon takes

Even a lemon claim that goes your way costs money first. A CAMVAP award covers rentals, towing and taxis only up to $1,000, and you keep making loan payments while the car sits in the shop. With a small emergency fund, those costs don’t have to go on your credit card, and our guide to building an emergency fund in Canada covers how much to aim for.

Lodavo is a free app that makes building it more fun. Connect the savings or chequing account you already use, and you get a free ticket in a weekly cash draw for every $25 in it. At least $100 goes to a user every week, and the top prize is $10,000.

Before you sign for your next car

Ask the dealer for the vehicle’s history in writing, check whether the brand takes part in CAMVAP, and keep every repair order from the first visit. If the car still turns out to be a lemon, you’ll have what you need to act quickly.

Download Lodavo free on the Apple App Store (opens in a new tab) or Google Play Store (opens in a new tab) and start earning tickets for the weekly draw while your car fund grows.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Your rights depend on your province, the vehicle and your contract, so check your own case with your province’s consumer protection office.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.