Canada Plans To Finally 'Crack Down' On Ridiculous Concert Ticket Charges & Other Junk Fees

Your favourite artist is finally coming to town. You scramble to purchase concert tickets on a faulty vendor website. You're in luck, it works. You make it through to checkout and scrutinize your receipt... Wait a minute — delivery fees, processing fees, facility charges — these additional costs have greatly inflated your ticket price. A coming "crackdown" on junk fees in Canada could finally put an end to them — if it comes to fruition. Getting rid of these extra costs is probably more complicated than you think.

The Government of Canada has announced its "intention" to "crack down" on junk fees as part of its proposed 2023 budget. But right now, that commitment is little more than a flashy statement.

The budget doesn't allocate additional funding for such action. Instead, it pledges "new legislative amendments" to reduce junk fees in industries ranging from telecom to shipping to air travel. Those amendments might have to thread through the web of jurisdictions and laws that separately govern each of those industries.

The federal government says it will have to "work with regulatory agencies, provinces, and territories" to make meaningful change.

For a sample of the kind of wide-ranging efforts this will entail, consider the breadth of the action the government has already undertaken. The budget document touts previous changes to the Competition Act, Bank Act, and Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act, as well as a "new policy direction" for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to "ensure Canadians can affordably and easily change, downgrade, or cancel services."

The U.S. is also considering legislation that would reduce junk fees, including concert fees, airline ticket fees, and early service cancellation fees.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.