BILL 2 – 2004
BUSINESS PRACTICES AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

 
Part 1 -- Definitions and Application

Definitions

1 (1) In this Act:

"administrative authority" means the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority established under the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority Act;

"administrative penalty" means a penalty imposed under section 164;

"associate", if used to indicate a relationship with a person, means

(a) a spouse, parent, child, sibling or business partner of the person, or

(b) a corporation of which a sufficient number of shares to elect a majority of the corporation's directors is beneficially owned, directly or indirectly, by

(i) the person,

(ii) one or more of the persons referred to in paragraph (a), or

(iii) the person and one or more of the persons referred to in paragraph (a);

"compensation fund" means a compensation fund established under section 130 or the Travel Assurance Fund continued under section 130;

"compliance order" means an order issued under section 155 by an inspector;

"consumer" means an individual, whether in British Columbia or not, who participates in a consumer transaction, but does not include a guarantor;

"Consumer Advancement Fund" means the Consumer Advancement Fund established under section 139;

"consumer transaction" means

(a) a supply of goods or services or real property by a supplier to a consumer for purposes that are primarily personal, family or household, or

(b) a solicitation, offer, advertisement or promotion by a supplier with respect to a transaction referred to in paragraph (a),

and, except in Parts 4 and 5, includes a solicitation of a consumer by a supplier for a contribution of money or other property by the consumer;

"director", except in reference to a director of a corporation, means, subject to the restrictions specified in a designation, the individual or administrative authority designated under section 175 as director;

"direct sales prohibition order" means an order issued under section 156 by the director;

"goods" means personal property, fixtures and credit, but does not include a security as defined in the Securities Act or contracts of insurance under the Insurance Act;

"goods or services" means goods or services or both;

"inspector" means the director or a person designated as an inspector under section 176;

"licence" means a licence issued under section 145 and includes a renewal of the licence;

"private dwelling" means a

(a) a structure that is occupied as a private residence, or

(b) if only part of a structure is occupied as a private residence, that part of the structure;

"property freezing order" means an order made under section 159 (2) by the director;

"publish" means make public in any manner, including by or through any media;

"services" means services, whether or not the services are together with or separate from goods, and includes a membership in a club or organization;

"supplier" means a person, whether in British Columbia or not, who in the course of business participates in a consumer transaction by

(a) supplying goods or services or real property to a consumer, or

(b) soliciting, offering, advertising or promoting with respect to a transaction referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of "consumer transaction",

whether or not privity of contract exists between that person and the consumer, and includes the successor to, and assignee of, any rights or obligations of that person and, except in Parts 3 to 5 [Rights of Assignees and Guarantors Respecting Consumer Credit; Consumer Contracts; Disclosure of the Cost of Consumer Credit], includes a person who solicits a consumer for a contribution of money or other property by the consumer;

"supply" includes, in respect of the supply of goods or services or real property to a consumer, a sale, lease, assignment, award by chance or other disposition;

"time share contract" means a contract by which the consumer acquires the right to use property, whether or not the property is located in British Columbia,

(a) for a period of time each year or other interval, and

(b) as part of a plan that provides for the use of the property to circulate, in any year or other interval, among persons participating in the plan,

but does not include a time share plan as defined in the Real Estate Act;

"total cost of credit" has the meaning given to it in section 57 [definitions];

"total price" means the total obligation or amount that is payable, given, undertaken or assumed by a consumer under a consumer transaction;

"undertaking" means an undertaking accepted under section 154 by the director.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the definitions in the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act, except where a contrary definition is set out in this Act or the regulations, apply to this Act.

(3) The definition of "register" in the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act does not apply to this Act.

Application of this Act

2 (1) Parts 6 [Credit Reporting] and 7 [Debt Collection] apply to transactions, matters or things, regardless of whether they involve a consumer.

(2) Except for the following, this Act does not apply to a sale, lease, mortgage of or charge on land or a chattel real:

(a) Parts 2 [Unfair Practices] and 5 [Disclosure of the Cost of Consumer Credit];

(b) section 3 and Parts 3 [Rights of Assignees and Guarantors Respecting Consumer Credit], 8 to 10 [Compensation Funds and Consumer Advancement Fund; Licences; Inspections and Enforcement], 13 [Offences and Penalties] and 14 [Regulations], as those Parts relate to Parts 2 and 5.

Waiver or release void except as permitted

3 Any waiver or release by a person of the person's rights, benefits or protections under this Act is void except to the extent that the waiver or release is expressly permitted by this Act.