Does Canada have a lemon law?
Canada has no US-style statutory lemon law. Instead, defective-vehicle disputes are resolved through CAMVAP (the Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan), which provides free binding arbitration for most vehicles up to their current or previous four model years, and through provincial Sale of Goods Acts and Consumer Protection Acts that imply a warranty of merchantable quality and fitness.
What is CAMVAP and what can it award?
CAMVAP is a free arbitration program that resolves disputes between consumers and manufacturers over vehicle defects and alleged warranty misrepresentations. An arbitrator can order the manufacturer to buy back the vehicle, pay for repairs, or reimburse out-of-pocket costs. Buybacks are reduced by a distance-driven offset. The decision is binding on both parties.
How is a Canadian vehicle buyback amount calculated?
A CAMVAP buyback refunds the purchase price and sales taxes, minus an allowance for the distance you drove before the defect arose, plus reasonable incidental costs like towing and rentals. A common offset formula is price multiplied by kilometres at the time of the problem divided by 200,000, reflecting expected vehicle life.
Is Quebec different for defective vehicles?
Yes. Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act and Civil Code provide a strong legal warranty of quality and durability, independent of the manufacturer’s warranty. A Quebec consumer can demand repair, replacement, a price reduction, or rescission of the sale for a latent defect, often without the repair-attempt thresholds used elsewhere.