A new report from the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) reveals how well service providers have fulfilled their obligations to remain in good standing with the CCTS, Canada’s national telecom and TV industry ombuds. The 2024 Compliance Report Cards summarize providers’ compliance with specific requirements that include informing their customers about the CCTS’ free and impartial service, following the rules of CCTS’ complaint-handling process, paying required fees, and sharing necessary financial information with the CCTS.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requires all Canadian telecom and licensed TV service providers to participate in the CCTS and to comply with all CCTS requirements. The CRTC recently reminded the industry about its responsibility to inform customers that the CCTS can help resolve issues, and expressed concern that Canadians are not being made aware of the CCTS effectively.
Highlights of the CCTS Compliance Report Cards:
28% of audited service providers had no information about the CCTS on their websites. The CCTS engaged with these providers to make their websites compliant with the requirements. The report cards also noted that 43% of audited provider websites with a search function did not return search results for the CCTS, down from 52% of audited providers last year. All service providers the CCTS had previously flagged for repeated non-compliance with the search function requirement were compliant this year.
Service providers must not penalize or charge a customer fees for submitting a complaint. The report cards confirm one case in which a service provider threatened to remove a bill credit because the customer filed a CCTS complaint. The CCTS treats cases of a service provider making threats or taking action to impair a customer’s right to submit a complaint to the CCTS as instances of major non-compliance. We worked quickly to inform the service provider that its actions were not allowed and the provider agreed not to remove the credit.
Better follow-through needed on complaint resolutions and Investigation Findings: The CCTS’ Mid-Year Report indicated that the CCTS resolved or issued Investigation Findings in over 10,000 complaints from August 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025. During that six-month period, the CCTS confirmed nine instances of service providers failing to implement resolutions to which they had agreed, or to implement remedies the CCTS required in an Investigation Finding. In all cases, the CCTS worked with these providers to fix the issues and ensure the customers obtained the required remedies.
The CCTS regularly engages with and educates phone, TV and internet service providers about their obligations. To help support provider compliance with the rules, the CCTS has provided many resources that explain and provide guidance on how to adhere to these requirements.
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Telecom and TV providers urged to better inform customers about the CCTS
A new report from the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) reveals how well service providers have fulfilled their obligations to remain in good standing with the CCTS, Canada’s national telecom and TV industry ombuds. The 2024 Compliance Report Cards summarize providers’ compliance with specific requirements that include informing their customers about the CCTS’ free and impartial service, following the rules of CCTS’ complaint-handling process, paying required fees, and sharing necessary financial information with the CCTS.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requires all Canadian telecom and licensed TV service providers to participate in the CCTS and to comply with all CCTS requirements. The CRTC recently reminded the industry about its responsibility to inform customers that the CCTS can help resolve issues, and expressed concern that Canadians are not being made aware of the CCTS effectively.
Highlights of the CCTS Compliance Report Cards:
28% of audited service providers had no information about the CCTS on their websites. The CCTS engaged with these providers to make their websites compliant with the requirements. The report cards also noted that 43% of audited provider websites with a search function did not return search results for the CCTS, down from 52% of audited providers last year. All service providers the CCTS had previously flagged for repeated non-compliance with the search function requirement were compliant this year.
Service providers must not penalize or charge a customer fees for submitting a complaint. The report cards confirm one case in which a service provider threatened to remove a bill credit because the customer filed a CCTS complaint. The CCTS treats cases of a service provider making threats or taking action to impair a customer’s right to submit a complaint to the CCTS as instances of major non-compliance. We worked quickly to inform the service provider that its actions were not allowed and the provider agreed not to remove the credit.
Better follow-through needed on complaint resolutions and Investigation Findings: The CCTS’ Mid-Year Report indicated that the CCTS resolved or issued Investigation Findings in over 10,000 complaints from August 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025. During that six-month period, the CCTS confirmed nine instances of service providers failing to implement resolutions to which they had agreed, or to implement remedies the CCTS required in an Investigation Finding. In all cases, the CCTS worked with these providers to fix the issues and ensure the customers obtained the required remedies.
The CCTS regularly engages with and educates phone, TV and internet service providers about their obligations. To help support provider compliance with the rules, the CCTS has provided many resources that explain and provide guidance on how to adhere to these requirements.
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This entry was posted on June 17, 2025 at 9:49 am and is filed under Commentary with tags CCTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.