From June 28 to September 26, 2024, the Government of Canada is accepting online submissions for a consultation on a right to repair policy for home appliances and consumer electronics. The purpose of the consultation is to gather feedback from Canadians to inform policy direction and improve Canadians' ability to repair consumer products such as major appliances, small household appliances, and consumer electronics like cell phones and computers. The consultation is part of a broader effort by the federal government to reduce harmful electronic waste and ensure Canadians can keep their devices working longer. After the online consultation, roundtable discussions will be held by Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The questions the Government of Canada have asked stakeholders revolve around three primary priorities: repairability, interoperability, and durability.
Repairability refers to the ability of a product, system, or device to be fixed or restored to its working condition after it has been damaged. Relevant considerations to the development of a repairability policy include: access to skilled labour; access to parts; affordability; protection of trade secrets and intellectual property; and, health and safety.
Interoperability refers to the degree to which software systems, devices, or applications can connect or communicate with each other or with other entities in a coordinated manner without effort from the end user. Interoperability gives rise to consideration of the challenging distinction between enforcement of intellectual property rights and anti-competitive conduct.
Durability refers to the ability of a product or material to withstand wear, pressure, or damage over time. Market forces may provide incentives for durability, but there may also be incentives to introduce new products with enhanced features. Durability may negatively impact affordability. Conversely, durability positively contributes to the reduction of e-waste.
The consultation questions seek to canvas the views of manufacturers, repairers, and consumers. The questions cover themes such as:
- stakeholders' preferred approaches to a right to repair policy;
- which home appliances and consumer electronics should fall under the scope of the policy;
- further actions the Government of Canada can undertake towards strengthening repairability, interoperability, and durability for home appliances and consumer electronics; and
- considerations stakeholders have in relation to a specifically federal policy approach.
The consultation document provides a long list of considerations relevant to the development of a federal right to repair policy, including supply of skilled labour, consumer education, health and safety of consumers and repairers, intellectual property, affordability, and many others. A right to repair policy approach could also support environmental initiatives such as the circular economy, and would need to take into account other considerations such as international alignment. Several other jurisdictions, including the EU, United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, are adopting varying approaches to consumer product reparability policies. Canada will need to consider the approaches taken in other jurisdictions, given the global supply chain for home appliances and consumer products and the small size of the Canadian market for these products relative to the global marketplace.
An additional consideration for the development of a right to repair policy in Canada is the division of responsibility between federal and provincial governments. Consumer purchases of goods and services and associated contracts and complaints are subject to provincial and territorial consumer protection legislation. In some cases, this legislation has already incorporated right to repair obligations. A federal right to repair policy will need to complement these initiatives.
Although this consultation marks the first step in establishing a general federal right to repair policy, there have been several other recent legislative developments relating to repairability in Canada. The recently adopted federal Bill C-59 addresses access to repair and diagnostic services under the refusal to deal provision of the Competition Act. There are also two additional legislative measures, Bill C-244 and Bill C-294, which propose amendments to the Copyright Act to permit circumvention of a technological prevention measure for purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, repair and interoperability, though both of these bills have yet to be passed.
Fasken advises consumer electronics and home appliance manufacturers, distributors and retailers on device certification requirements and existing Canadian right to repair policy and legislative developments.
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