Quebec's Bill 72 would require tips to be calculated on price before taxes

Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette tabled a bill Thursday morning that aims to protect consumers against "abusive commercial practices," including misleading tip recommendations on pay terminals.

Jolin-Barrette, who is also responsible for consumer protection, said Bill 72 would require businesses to calculate tips based on the price excluding Quebec and Canadian sales taxes — a practice that he says many consumers expect.

"It's a question of honesty," Jolin-Barrette said at a news conference Thursday. "If Quebecers want to give higher tips, it's up to them to give the percentage that they want."

"Quebecers want to have the choice [to tip,] but they also want to be informed adequately with the right information," he added.

The minister said tipping is a custom that is "here to stay" in Quebec, but acknowledged that there is a growing pressure to tip higher — and faster — at restaurants.

"We shouldn't have to feel pressure when we're paying the bill," Jolin-Barrette said. "Tipping needs to remain a discretionary choice for consumers."

He said 62 per cent of Canadians reported that they left a higher tip than they had planned because of the options presented at the pay terminal.

Martin Vézina, a spokesperson for the Quebec Restaurant Association, said service workers would bear the brunt of the changes to tipping recommendations because they will likely receive lower tips.

"We'll see if that will change [customer] habits and if they will want to work elsewhere," he said.

Ensuring clear prices in grocery stores

Quebec families spend on average $330 per week on groceries, the minister noted.

He said to make comparing prices of products of the same kind easier, the bill would standardize units of measurement associated with items.

Bill 72 would have stores clearly label the cost of products, and specify whether items are taxable.

"It should not be difficult to find the regular price, and yet, it has happened to all of us to get a surprise at the cash register," he said.

If adopted, Bill 72 would increase the compensation offered to customers when the price of an item recorded at the checkout is higher than the advertised price by merchants using optical scanners.

Quebec's price accuracy policy was implemented nearly 25 years ago, Jolin-Barrette said.

Currently, if an item costs $10 or less and the price displayed at the cash register is higher than the one on the label, the merchant must give the product for free.

The policy doesn't apply to clothing, products without barcodes or when an item is placed near the price tag of another good. It also doesn't apply if the bar code scanned at the register is meant for a product other than the one purchased. 

Items costing up to $15 that are incorrectly scanned would be given for free, if the policy is updated.

The government would give supermarkets and other businesses three months from the time the bill is adopted to change their labelling practices for products and tips.

WATCH | Is the tipping model for restaurants broken?: 

Tired of tipping? Some Quebec restaurants are doing away with it

4 months ago

Duration 2:07

Tipping is ingrained in North American restaurant culture, and some customers feel the pressure to tip more, and more often, is growing. But some establishments have decided things work better — including for their employees — if tips are off the menu.

Banning door-to-door HVAC sales 

Following in Ontario's footsteps, the justice minister said Bill 72 would prohibit door-to-door salespeople from entering into rental contracts or selling heating and air conditioning appliances, such as heat pumps, insulation services and decontamination services, with the residents they visit.

Every year, the Office de la protection du consommateur reportedly gets on average more than 400 complaints about those kinds of contracts, Jolin-Barrette said.

He noted that some salespeople have shown fake photos to potential buyers, insisting that their homes contain mould or other problems.

"It is unacceptable to take advantage of people's fear and to create a false sense of urgency, especially when the target customers are more vulnerable people like the elderly," he said.

Other potential changes to the consumer protection law include tightening credit contract rules, reimbursing victims of debit card fraud and better informing car buyers of the balance due on their contract so they can avoid insurmountable debt.