How do I cancel a stair lift contract signed at my Ottawa home?

If you signed the contract at your home (not at the contractor's place of business), the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 calls it a direct agreement, and you have the right to cancel it without giving any reason within 10 days of receiving your written copy of the contract.

How the cancellation works

The contract must be in writing and delivered to you. Your 10-day window starts the day you receive that written copy. If the contractor never gave you a proper written copy that meets the Act's requirements, that window extends to up to one year. Put your cancellation to the contractor in writing and keep a copy.

A few other points from the Act that apply here. If the contract included an estimate, the contractor cannot charge more than 10 per cent over that estimate, whether or not you cancel. That rule applies to any consumer agreement with an estimate, not only direct agreements.

One thing to check before you cancel: if any work has already started or any equipment has been ordered or installed, the situation becomes more complicated. If work has started or equipment has been ordered, speak with a lawyer before you act.

On the door-to-door side: stair lifts are not on Ontario's list of products that are banned from door-to-door sales, so the salesperson was not breaking that rule by coming to your home. What still applies is the Consumer Protection Act's direct-agreement rules above, and Ontario's guidance that if you ask a salesperson to leave, they must leave right away, and you are never required to sign on the spot.

Keep every document: the written contract, any estimate, any receipts, and your cancellation notice.

Act early in writing: the 10 days run from when you received your written copy of the contract.