Summary#
Bill 92, the Ontario Consumer Watchdog Act, 2025, would create a new Act; it does not amend an existing Act. It requires the Minister to develop and implement a plan to establish an independent consumer watchdog. The bill’s stated goal is to improve consumer protection in Ontario; it does not itself establish the watchdog or give it powers.
- The Minister must publish the plan on a Government of Ontario website and, within six months after the plan is developed, table a progress report in the Legislative Assembly.
- The plan must set out steps to establish the watchdog and its proposed powers and duties. These include investigating businesses, sectors and consumer complaints; reporting findings; educating the public; and proposing penalties or consumer remedies.
- The plan must address how the watchdog would relate to other regulators, including allowing its decisions to prevail over decisions by other regulators in specified sectors or for specified groups.
- The plan must provide for an organization that is independent of government and established in consultation with relevant stakeholders and the public.
What it means for you#
- Consumers: The bill does not create a new complaint service or give consumers a new right to compensation. It requires the Minister’s plan to set out whether and how the watchdog would investigate complaints, determine remedies, and publish complaint and investigation information.
- Businesses and other entities: The bill does not impose new investigation or penalty powers directly. Those powers are among the matters the Minister’s plan must address.
- Government: The Minister must develop and implement the plan, publish it, and table a progress report. The bill does not set a deadline for completing the plan or establishing the watchdog.
- Other regulators: The plan must address possible cases where the watchdog’s decisions would prevail over decisions by other regulators. The bill does not itself change those regulators’ powers or decisions.
Money#
No cost information is in the available material.
- The bill requires the Minister to develop and implement a plan and prepare a progress report, but gives no estimate of the cost.
- It does not state how the watchdog would be funded, how many staff it would have, or what establishing and operating it would cost.
What is unclear#
- When the plan must be completed, and when the watchdog must be established, are not specified.
- The bill does not set out how consultations would work or how the watchdog would be structured.
- The proposed investigative, penalty and remedy powers are not granted by this bill; their exact scope and legal basis remain for the plan to address.
- The bill does not specify which sectors or groups could be covered by decisions that prevail over other regulators’ decisions, or how conflicts would be handled.
- It does not set rules for complaints, investigations, appeals, or ongoing reporting by the watchdog.
Case for#
- A possible argument for the bill is that a dedicated watchdog could focus attention on consumer protection issues that cross business sectors, including unfair practices and gaps in consumer information.
- Requiring the plan to address investigations, complaints, public reporting, education and policy research could help define a broader consumer-protection role.
- Requiring the plan to explain the watchdog’s relationship with other regulators could identify where existing oversight may be inadequate or overlapping.
Case against#
- The bill requires planning but leaves the watchdog’s establishment date, budget, structure and detailed powers unsettled. The plan could take time to produce, and the bill sets no deadline for completing it.
- The proposed ability for the watchdog’s decisions to prevail over other regulators’ decisions could shift authority, but the bill does not set limits or a process for resolving conflicts.
- The bill does not specify safeguards or review rights for businesses or consumers affected by investigations, penalties or remedies that may later be proposed.