My Service Was Down. Do I Get a Credit?
Nothing in Canadian law requires one. That is the honest answer — and it is not the end of the story.
The short answer. There is no rule entitling you to a credit when your phone, internet or TV goes out. When providers have credited customers after big outages, they chose to. You can still ask, and asking often works — but you are asking for goodwill, not claiming a right, and knowing the difference changes how you ask.
Last updated: September 2026
Why There Is No Rule
Canada's consumer protection codes cover contracts, billing, and how you leave a provider. They do not set a standard for what happens when the service simply stops. When the internet goes down, most Canadians get little information and no credit, and until now nothing has obliged a provider to give either.
Your contract is the exception worth checking. Some service agreements do promise credits against service-level targets, particularly on business plans. If yours does, that is a contractual right and it is enforceable — read what you signed before you assume you have nothing.
This Is Being Decided Right Now
The CRTC opened a proceeding — Telecom and Broadcasting Notice of Consultation 2025-227 — asking exactly this question: whether providers should have to give customers meaningful and timely updates during an outage, and whether refunds or bill credits should be standard afterwards. It followed several large-scale outages. It is awaiting a decision.
We track that proceeding here. If it lands the way consumer groups have asked, the answer on this page changes, and we will change it.
Ask Anyway. It Works.
Providers grant goodwill credits for outages routinely, and after the largest Canadian outages they have done it at scale without being ordered to. An absence of obligation is not an absence of leverage — a customer who asks clearly and specifically usually gets something.
- Pin down the outage. Dates and times it started and ended, which services were affected, and how you know.
- Do the arithmetic for them. Your monthly price divided by 30, multiplied by the days you were down. Naming a specific, modest number is far more effective than asking what they can do.
- Say what it cost you if it cost you something real — missed work, a hotspot you had to buy, a shift you could not take. Proven financial loss is the part the CCTS can act on later.
- Get a reference number and the name of who you spoke to.
Where the CCTS Fits
The CCTS cannot hand you a credit because an outage happened — no rule requires one, so there is nothing for it to enforce. What it can look at is whether your provider actually delivered the service you contracted and paid for, and it can order reimbursement of proven financial losses up to $5,000.
That makes documentation the whole game here, more than on any other page in this section. Reach the CCTS at 1-888-221-1687, and see our full CCTS guide for the process and the one-year deadline.
What to Write
"I am a [provider] customer (account [number]). My [internet / phone / TV] service was out from [date and time] until [date and time] — [number] days. My monthly charge is $[amount], which works out to $[amount] for the period I had no service. I am asking for a credit of that amount. [If applicable: The outage also cost me [describe: a day of work, a hotspot I had to purchase at $X], and I can provide documentation.] I contacted [provider] on [date] and spoke with [name/reference number], who [their response]."
We'll tell you if the outage rules change
The CRTC is deciding whether refunds after an outage should be mandatory instead of optional. We follow that proceeding — one email when the Commission actually rules, and what it means for your bill.