October 16, 2018 – Ottawa-Gatineau – Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)

On October 22, the CRTC is starting a week-long public hearing on the possible use of aggressive and misleading sales practices by large telecommunication service providers, their occurrence and impact on consumers, as well as existing and potential solutions. The largest Canadian telecommunications carriers will appear before a full Commission panel as will public advocacy groups, senior advocacy groups and other stakeholders.

Canadians are invited to participate throughout the hearing via Twitter using the hashtag #CRTCforum. Tweets using the hashtag #CRTCforum which comply with the CRTC’s Rules of Engagement and which are posted between October 22 (starting at 9 a.m. EDT) and the end of hearing will be added to the public record. These will be considered for the CRTC’s report to the government on the matter.

In anticipation of the public hearing, the CRTC today published results of the public opinion research it commissioned to be conducted by IPSOS, which includes details from the online survey and the focus groups. Held across the country, the focus groups targeted directly those more likely to be affected by these sales practices – such as seniors and people living with a disability or whose first language is neither English nor French.

Some findings of the public opinion research are the following: