Prepaid snow contracts in Ontario: cancelling, refunds and the money paid up front

What Ontario calls a prepaid snow contract

The Consumer Protection Act treats services delivered later or on an ongoing basis as a future performance agreement. A season over $50, signed in the fall for work through the winter, fits. It must be in writing and delivered to you, and the regulation lists what it contains. The lines that matter for a prepaid winter:

• the company’s legal and business names, phone and business address
• the work: driveway, walkway, trigger depth
• an itemized price with taxes, plus each extra charge that may apply, such as a cap surcharge or fuel fee
• the total, and the terms and methods of payment
• start and end dates
• refund or cancellation rights the company adds to the law

If the agreement misses these requirements, section 23 lets you cancel within one year. The service clauses are on the seasonal contract page.

How you signed sets the window to cancel

• At your door. A direct agreement. Cancel for any reason until 10 days after you receive it in writing, or within one year if it misses the legal requirements.
• Online form. An internet agreement, which the company must send you in writing within 15 days. If it never arrives, cancel within 30 days of signing. If required disclosure, or the chance to accept, decline and correct errors, was missing, the window runs to 7 days after you receive it.
• Phone or mail. A remote agreement. Ontario’s business guide names snow clearing agreed this way: you must receive it in writing within 30 days of being billed or 60 days after agreeing. Missing disclosure gives 7 days after receipt; a missing written agreement gives one year.

The late-start rule covers all three. If work does not begin within 30 days after the contract’s start date, you can cancel any time before it begins. Accepting the late start ends that right.

Sending the notice and getting the refund

Notice can take any form that shows you are cancelling, and it counts from when you send it. Ontario advises email or registered mail for a dated record; after a phone call, write down the date and what was said. Use the address in the contract; if it lists none, any address of the company on record with the Ontario or federal government. A valid cancellation ends the contract and any related financing, and the company has 15 days to refund you.

When you paid by credit card

If the 15 days pass, section 99 lets you write to your card issuer within the next 60 days and ask it to reverse the charge and any interest. Sign the request and include your name, card number and expiry, the company’s name, each charge with its date, the cancellation date and how you sent the notice. The issuer must acknowledge within 30 days. This route covers card charges only, so choose how you pay before you sign.

Mid-winter exits: the contract decides

Outside those windows, the wording decides. One Kanata–Stittsville firm’s terms:

• If the company is shown to be in breach, the contract ends on the date you notify it, and the prepaid balance for the rest of the season comes back.
• A sale of the house neither cancels nor refunds the contract.
• A missed payment lets the company treat the contract as void.
• A surcharge applies if snow passes 300 cm at the airport. Diesel at $2.25/L and up adds $2 + HST per visit, billed at season end, up to $40 + HST.

Ontario sets limits whatever the contract says. Each fee must be what it claims to be. A change, renewal or extension needs written notice with the option to decline. A private-arbitration clause does not bind you, and vague wording is read in your favour. Base prices and extras: what a winter costs in Ottawa.

When the crew stops coming

Ontario counts promising a service a business knows or should know it cannot deliver as misrepresentation, and you can withdraw within one year. Keep a dated log of each storm and whether the crew came, with photos.

Write to the company first. If that fails, file with Consumer Protection Ontario; the ministry contacts you within 15 business days and can try to mediate, and it may be unable to help with events over two years old. A business that ignores two notices about a complaint can sit on the Consumer Beware List for 21 to 27 months; search it before you pay. Lawn or curb damage is a separate claim: see snow removal damage.

Papers to keep

Keep the signed agreement, the invoice with 13% HST and the receipts. Snow Go Assist asks for a signed contract or proof of payment, so the same papers serve that application; see the seniors page.

Who takes your request

Ottawa Snow Desk passes your request to one independent local snow company. That company calls you back, sets out its contract and price, and does the clearing. The agreement and payment are between you and that company.