Blog

September 2026

SpeakOut Wireless went from 32 complaints a year to 638 in six months, and Public Mobile's fell 61 percent without getting any better. The CCTS's own open data shows what each number really measures: a wholesale contract ending, and a rewards program being replaced. What a complaint can and cannot do about either.

August 2026

Three of the most familiar line items on a Canadian bill became illegal this summer — activation, change, and cancellation fees. What Policy 2026-43 actually banned, the one carve-out worth understanding, and what to do when a dead fee shows up on your bill anyway.

August 2026

On August 24 the CRTC cancelled the renewal calendar for over a thousand licences — including the one service you cannot tune away from, cancel, or decline. What Decision 2026-216 did, the one sentence an intervener got into it, and where accountability lives now that no meeting is ever scheduled again.

August 2026

On June 12 it became illegal to charge a fee for starting or changing a phone or internet plan. Within weeks, all three national carriers had fees the ban supposedly did not cover. The CRTC has ordered them to explain themselves — comments closed August 31, and if you paid one of these fees, keep the bill.

August 2026

Nobody reads appendices. Appendices are counting on it. How a 1,010-licence housekeeping list came to include the one service you cannot tune away from, cancel, or decline — and why the most useful consumer skill in broadcasting is scrolling to the bottom of the document.

August 2026

The CRTC is merging four consumer rulebooks into one. In a merge, every protection has to re-apply for its job — and no press release announces the ones that do not make it. Moving day is when you watch the boxes.

August 2026

Canada has a free referee for fights with your provider. Two percent of people with unresolved complaints were told it exists — and for TV customers, no rule says anyone has to. The CRTC is deciding whether that changes, and the comment window is open until October 7.

April 2026

Telecom Regulatory Policy 2026-78 closes a three-part Consumer Protections Action Plan. The broadcasting side of the regulator's mandate has not yet received the same treatment.

March 2026

Did you know public interest groups can get funding to participate in CRTC broadcasting proceedings? The Broadcasting Participation Fund exists to help level the playing field.

March 2026

Most Canadians pay their cable bill every month without thinking much about what's in it. From bundled services you never chose to regulatory loopholes, here are five things most subscribers don't know.

March 2026

Canada has three separate organizations that handle broadcasting-related complaints, and filing with the wrong one is the single most common mistake consumers make.

March 2026

Broadcasting licences don't last forever. Here's what happens when they come up for renewal — and how you can have your say in the process.