Cannabis: 'Consumer' Protection

Cannabis is now a consumer product in Quebec already captured by a restrictive legislative framework, which includes the Consumer Protection Act1 ("CPA").

The CPA is a statute of public order that cannot be set aside and that applies to all contracts in Quebec between a consumer, a natural person acquiring products or services for a personal use, and a merchant in the course of its business.

1. The CPA and the consumer

   The scope and extent of the CPA know little boundaries and the sale of cannabis or the Société québécoise du cannabis have not been excluded from its ambit.

   The CPA seeks to restore the balance in contractual relationships between merchants and consumers and to eliminate unfair and misleading practices to safeguard an efficient marketplace in which the consumer can participate confidently.2 A consumer, within the meaning of the CPA, is a vulnerable, credulous and inexperienced person taking no more than ordinary care to own affairs.

   The CPA thus permits to rebalance relationships between consumers and merchants permitting consumers to make informed choices and fostering the protections and benefits available to them. When in presence of a doubt or an ambiguity, the interests of the consumers always prevail.3

   While the CPA applies to a variety of contracts and subject matters, the warranties it is offering to consumers in relation to the purchasing of products and services are of significant interest with regard to this new consumer product now legitimately available to the public.

2. The warranties benefiting consumers

   The CPA extends consumers various legal warranties of quality and proper use further to the purchasing of products and services, the most relevant to the current topic being the following:

   A product must be fit for the purpose for which it is ordinarily intended;4 A product must permit a normal usage for a reasonable length of time, having regard to its price, the terms of the contract and its use;5 A product must be consistent with its description at the time of the sale;6 A product must be consistent with any statement or advertisement, written or oral, made in relation thereto by a merchant or a manufacturer.7 These warranties are analogous to the legal warranty of quality provided by the Civil Code of Quebec8 and seek to ensure to the consumer that the use of the product meets its legitimate expectations and that the product is not deficient to the extent the consumer would not have purchased it had he or she...