How to File a Complaint About Shaw Direct
Satellite TV plays by different rules than phone and internet. Here is what you can actually get, and what you cannot.
Shaw Direct is Canada's satellite television service, now operated by Rogers following its acquisition of Shaw. Unlike the Shaw cable brand, which has been wound into Rogers, Shaw Direct still trades under its own name and runs its own support.
Last updated: September 2026
The CCTS does cover Shaw Direct. It accepts television complaints from individual customers of cable, IPTV and national satellite direct-to-home providers — which is what Shaw Direct is. Participation was imposed on Shaw Direct as a condition of its licence, effective November 2017. It is free, and you reach it at 1-888-221-1687.
Reaching Shaw Direct First
1-888-554-7827 — the number Shaw Direct publishes for customer service. Note the date, who you spoke to, and a reference number.
If the front line does not resolve it, Shaw Direct publishes a Resolve a Concern page that escalates to their management team. Shaw Direct does not publish an “ombudsman” or an “Office of the President” — that form is the executive path those searches lead to.
Shaw Direct will not tell you this part. Their contact and complaints pages do not mention the CCTS at all — so a customer who follows Shaw Direct's own process to its end is never told there is an independent body above it. There is, it is free, and it can order your money back.
What the CCTS Will Take — and What It Will Not
This is where TV differs most from phone and internet, and it is worth knowing before you spend an evening writing.
| It will take | It will not |
|---|---|
| Being billed more than the price you agreed, or than was advertised | Complaints that the price of a TV product or service is too high |
| Being billed past the date you asked to cancel | TV complaints from small business customers |
| Channels not working, unreasonable interruptions, total loss of service | |
| Installation, repair and disconnection problems | |
| Contract terms not clearly disclosed, or not honoured | |
| A security deposit mishandled or not returned |
The distinction that catches people out: “you charged me more than we agreed” is a complaint the CCTS can decide. “This costs too much” is not. Frame it as the first if it honestly is one.
Two Protections You Do Not Have
Both of these apply to phone and internet customers and not to you, which is the running theme of this site rather than an accident.
- The fee ban does not reach you. Telecom Regulatory Policy 2026-43 banned activation, change and cancellation fees in June 2026 — on phone and internet plans. It does not cover television or broadcasting distribution, which sit under a separate framework with no equivalent ban. What the ban does cover.
- Neither does the self-service cancellation mandate. By April 2027 providers must let you cancel an internet or cellphone plan through self-service tools. Television is not included.
What you do have is the TVSP Code — the rulebook for TV contracts and billing — and the CCTS to enforce it in your individual case.
Filing with the CCTS
- Go to the CCTS complaint form
- Select Shaw Direct as your provider
- Describe what happened, what you already tried, and the specific resolution you want
- Attach the bills, your contract if you have it, and any reference numbers
- The provider gets 20 days to resolve it before the CCTS investigates further
There is a one-year deadline. The CCTS will not act on a complaint brought more than one year after you knew, or ought to have known, the facts behind it.
What the CCTS can order
Billing corrections, refunds or credits for improper charges, release from a contract, and reimbursement of proven financial losses up to $5,000. If any part of your complaint is about unpaid charges, your provider must stop trying to collect them until the complaint closes.
If your Shaw cable account moved to Rogers
Shaw Direct satellite and the old Shaw cable business are different services. File against whichever entity actually appears on the bill you are disputing — if that is a Rogers bill, our Shaw guide covers that path.
Free Complaint Template
Written for the complaint the CCTS can actually decide. Fill in the brackets and paste it into the form:
"I am a Shaw Direct customer (account [number]). [Describe the problem — e.g. I agreed to a package at $X per month on [date] and have been billed $Y since [date] / my service has been out since [date] / I asked to cancel on [date] and have been billed for [period] since]. I contacted Shaw Direct on [dates] and spoke with [names/reference numbers]. I was told [their response]. The issue remains unresolved. I am seeking [specific resolution: a refund of $X, a credit for the period with no service, cancellation effective the date I requested]. I have copies of my bills and my agreement available."
TV customers keep getting left out of the rules
The fee ban and the self-service cancellation mandate both stopped at the edge of television. We follow the CRTC proceedings that decide whether TV subscribers get the same protections, and email once when something is actually decided.
Related
- Shaw cable, now Rogers — a different service with a different path
- The full CCTS process
- Where to complain about your provider