Door-to-door sales are now banned in Toronto

Starting today, it's 100 per cent illegal for someone to randomly knock on your door and try to sell you a furnace.

Ontario's new ban on unsolicited, door-to-door sales of certain household appliances and services went into effect as of March 1, 2018, meaning that you can (and maybe even should) now call the cops on salespeople who peddle HVAC systems to the elderly for a living.

Henceforth, business people can only sign contracts within a person's home if that person contacted ahead them ahead time, and then invited them inside for the explicit purpose of signing a contract.

Any deal that violates these new rules will be considered void, according to the provincial government, and – here's the kicker – consumers will be able to keep any goods and services they acquired by signing the contract with no obligations, financial or otherwise.

Just to be clear, the province isn't taking aim at kids who sell cookies door-to-door. Don't be shy, Girl Guides and Brownies. Door-to-door telecom salespeople are also in the clear (though some might argue that they shouldn't be).

The new rules only apply to the following products:

• Air cleaners
• Air conditioners
• Air purifiers
• Duct cleaning services
• Furnaces
• Water filters
• Water heaters
• Water purifiers
• Water softeners
• Water treatment devices
• Bundles of these goods and services

Individuals caught canvasing neighbourhoods to sell products like these will be charged up to $500 for the first offence, $1,000 after a second offence, and $2,000 after a third.

Corporations will be charged up to $25,000 for the same offence.

by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO