Who Regulates Canadian Movers?

When looking for a Canadian moving company to help you pack and transport your household possessions to another location, the choice of which Canadian mover to pick becomes critical.

A wrong choice in the selection of a moving company can turn your house move into a disaster. Why? There are those moving companies that won’t hesitate to offer their clients cut-rate prices, promise them things that are not realistic by any means, inflate the price they quoted on the day of the move, and even go as far as holding customers’ belongings for ransom.

When searching for professional moving companies in Canada, there’s always a chance of you getting scammed by a con artist. So, why take any risks? Learn more about how to protect your lifetime’s worth of household possessions and your hard-earned money from scam operators.

Who regulates Canadian movers?

• Corporations Canada
• Canadian Association of Movers (CAM)
• Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services
• Better Business Bureau (BBB)
• Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)

As soon as you know who regulates movers in Canada, you should be able to choose a Certified Canadian Mover who will offer you a moving service that will not only be professional and safe, but also fair in price.  

Corporations Canada

Now, before you go ahead and hire a moving company in Canada, you do want to make sure that that you’ll be dealing with a legitimate and properly registered business.

Luckily, you only need to do a quick moving company check at the right website and once everything checks out, you’ll have the peace of mind that your prized possessions will be handled by a federally incorporated or provincially registered moving company, and not by a suspicious business that may be operating illegally within the country.

Federal Corporations

Some Canadian movers are federally incorporated which means that they will be properly licensed to do business all across Canada. This is typical for cross country moving companies that operate in more than just a single Canadian territory or province – oftentimes, in the entire country.

Here you can look up federal corporations by name in the Corporations Canada online database. These online searches can be done by Corporate Name, Corporation Number, or Business Number (BN).

Therefore, do check the Canadian moving companies you’re researching whether they federally incorporated – that is, that they are legitimate businesses you can trust with your valuable household items.

If you need to reach the regulatory agency, here’s its main office in the country:

Agency: Government of Canada, Corporations Canada
Address: C.D. Howe Building, 235 Queen Street, Ottawa Ontario K1A 0H5
Phone: 1-866-333-5556
Website: http://www.ic.gc.ca/

Provincial corporations

Some Canadian moving companies have incorporated their businesses in a single Canadian territory or province. Once incorporated in one of the country’s areas – Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, or Yukon, a moving company can only conduct business within that territory or province.

As you can guess, provincial incorporation is typical for local Canadian moving companies. Therefore, if you happen to be moving locally within a single territory or province and you’re looking to hire a moving company from that area, you should definitely look up that mover in the provincial register.

Here you can access Canada’s Business Registries where you can search for and check the legal status of a Canadian moving company by first selecting the province or territory where it does business.

You can get a free moving quote from registered movers with our moving cost estimation tool here.

Canadian Association of Movers (CAM)

The Canadian Association of Movers (CAM) is Canada’s trade association that represents moving and storage companies. In effect, CAM is the principal organization in the country that monitors and regulates professional moving companies.

The tricky part when searching for a reputable mover in Canada – a professional organization you can trust with your prized possessions – is that just about anyone who owns a moving truck and employs a few people can claim that they are a legitimate moving company. Therefore, choosing a random mover on the internet without doing any research on those companies is very risky and you should never ever do it.

The main purpose of the Canadian Association of Movers is to give the public access to credible and professional moving services. The way CAM does it is through pre-qualification of Canadian moving companies so that you and your belongings can stay 100% safe.

For example, all CAM members have to have valid insurance, a physical address of operation, and their employees are required to have the appropriate coverage from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in the unlikely event of a mover getting injured while working on a house move.

The Canadian Association of Movers guarantees that its members are the best moving companies in Canada and you can hire the professional services of any of their Canadian-mover members confidently and without any fears of getting scammed in any way. So, when researching various moving companies in Canada, you must make sure – this is really important! – that those movers are proud CAM members.

How does CAM regulate Canadian movers?

The Canadian Association of Movers does allow consumers to register a complaint against a moving company in Canada regardless of whether that mover is a CAM member or not. If something has gone wrong with your move, you should follow this link to file a complaint against your mover so that the issue can be resolved quickly and amicably.

If the moving company you wish to report is a CAM member, the Canadian Association of Movers will record your claim, act as a facilitator between the two parties, refer the issue to the moving company in question for resolution and response, and advise you of the taken actions and the received responses. Also, if necessary, the association will refer the issue to an independent body, for example – the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

If the moving company you want to complain about is not a CAM member, then the Canadian Association of Movers will still record your complaint so that other consumers get a fair warning, but it will NOT contact the moving company on your behalf. Nevertheless, CAM will still advise you on the most appropriate course of action in your specific case, such as contacting:

• the government consumer protection agency in the Canadian province where the moving company is located;
• the Better Business Bureau in the province where the Canadian mover is located;
• a lawyer and a small claims courts;
• the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre;
• the police; or
• the local media.

The Canadian Association of Movers offers to the general public a Member Directory where people can search for reputable CAM members – Canadian Movers (when moving within Canada) and International Movers (when moving from Canada to outside of North America). In addition to the CAM Member Company Search, you can also validate whether or not a moving company is a Certified Canadian Mover.  

Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services

The Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services maintains a Consumer Beware List – a searchable public record that lists Canadian movers who have not responded to the Ministry after 2 notifications concerning a consumer complaint. If a Canadian moving company does not take any action after the second notification has been sent by the Ontario Ministry, then that company is added to the Consumer Beware List.

In addition to that, the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services will blacklist any Canadian moving company that has been charged or convicted in relation to the Consumer Protection Act, or another relevant act by the Ministry.

How does the Ontario Ministry regulate Canadian movers?

As you can imagine, no Canadian mover will be too thrilled to be listed in the Consumer Beware List simply because any consumers who have checked that list as part of their pre-move homework will not readily hire any of the listed businesses there no matter how desperate those consumers are to find professional moving services.

Once a moving company is contacted by the Ontario Ministry in connection to a consumer complaint, the business must respond to the Ministry, explain the issue of the complaint, and then do its best to resolve the unfortunate situation to the satisfaction of the consumer.

If neither of those actions is taken by the Canadian mover, then the Ministry adds the business name and all related information to the Consumer Beware List. Once there, that information will remain in the Consumer Beware List between 21 and 27 months.

All in all, there are 3 ways for a moving company to be removed from that list:

1. to prove that it did not receive the complaint notice from the Ministry;
2. to respond to the Ministry in relation to the issue; and
3. to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of the consumer who filed the complaint in the first place.

So, if you strongly feel that you’ve been wronged by a Canadian Moving Company, follow these steps to file a consumer complaint with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services.

But before you do, make sure you’ve checked the consumer protection laws first to understand how exactly you are protected, and then write a complaint letter to the moving company in which you describe why you believe the company has violated your rights as a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act, 2002.

If the latter fails to take your consumer complaint seriously or mishandles it terribly, then it’s time to lodge your official complaint with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services.

How to protect your rights when hiring a mover in Canada

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

Another powerful organization that regulates Canadian moving companies is the Better Business Bureau (BBB). BBB has served as the much-needed link between trustworthy businesses and consumers for more than 100 years. The Bureau has created high standards for ethical business behavior that professional moving companies must meet in order to be accredited by the BBB.

The BBB accreditation is a sure sign that you’re dealing with a reputable and honest moving company that won’t try to cheat you in any way, meaning that you can actually trust BBB-accredited movers with your valuable possessions without any worries about what will happen to them.

In a world where every business can pretend to be something that it’s not, trusting complete strangers to handle your personal items is never easy. And that is why BBB accreditation is so important when choosing a long-distance moving company for a move across Canada or even to another country.

The Better Business Bureau will help you find such trustworthy movers that are also known as ProMovers – a distinction that your valuables will be in safe hands.

How does the Better Business Bureau regulate Canadian movers?

The BBB lets you search for and find reputable businesses near you, and then it gives you the chance not only to check their overall BBB Rating (the Bureau assigns ratings from A+ (highest) to F (lowest)), but also to read customer reviews about the performance and service of the Canadian moving company you’re reviewing. These moving reviews will give you a better idea of what type of moving professionals you’ll be dealing with throughout your move.

After the move, you’ll be given the opportunity to file a customer complaint through the BBB about your Canadian mover if things didn’t go as smoothly as you had hoped. And if that happens, your complaint will be forwarded to the moving company within two business days. Then, the mover will be asked to respond to the complaint within 14 days, and it does not do it, then a second request will be made.

As soon as the BBB receives a response from the moving company in question, you will be notified of that answer, or its lack thereof, and advised on what you should do next to resolve your issue with your Canadian mover. In most cases, consumer complaints through the BBB are closed within 30 business days.

Advice by the BBB: How to file a complaint against a mover

Here’s a list of the regional offices of the Better Business Bureau in Canada:

Better Business Bureau of the Atlantic Provinces
7071 Bayers Road, Suite 279
Halifax, NS B3L 2C2
Phone: 902-425-5369
Toll free: 1-877-663-2363
Fax: 902-429-6457
Email: info@ap.bbb.org
Website: www.ap.bbb.org

Better Business Bureau of Eastern and Northern Ontario and the Outaouais
700 Industrial Avenue, Suite 505
Ottawa, ON K1G 0Y9
Phone: 613-237-4856
Toll free: 1-877-859-8566
Fax: 613-237-4878
Email: info@ottawa.bbb.org
Website: www.ottawa.bbb.org

Better Business Bureau of Central Ontario
903-30 Duke St. W
Kitchener, ON N2H 3W5
Phone: 519-579-3080
Toll free: 1-800-459-8875
Fax: 519-570-0072
Email: info@mwco.bbb.org
Website: www.mwco.bbb.org

Better Business Bureau of Western Ontario
190 Wortley Rd., Suite 206
London, ON N6C 4Y7
Phone: 519-673-3222
Toll-free: 1-877-283-9222
Fax: 519-673-5966
Email: info@westernontario.bbb.org
Website: www.bbb.org/western-ontario

Better Business Bureau of Manitoba and Northwest Ontario
1030B Empress Street
Winnipeg, MB R3G 3H4
Phone: 204-989-9010
Toll-free: 1-800-385-3074
(consumer information line – Manitoba only)
Fax: 204-989-9016
Email: accreditation@manitoba.bbb.org
Website: www.manitoba.bbb.org

Better Business Bureau of Saskatchewan
980 Albert Street
Regina, SK S4R 2P7
Phone: 306-352-7601
Toll free: 1-888-352-7601
Fax: 306-565-6236
Email: info@sask.bbb.org
Website: www.sask.bbb.org

Better Business Bureau of Southern Alberta & East Kootenay
5, 1709 8 Avenue E.
Calgary, AB T2E 0S9
Phone: 403-531-8784
Fax: 403-640-2514
Email: info@calgary.bbb.org
Website: www.calgary.bbb.org

Better Business Bureau of Central & Northern Alberta
16102 – 100 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T5P 0L3
Toll-free: 1-800-232-7298 (consumer information line – Canada-wide)
Fax: 780-482-1150
Email: info@edmonton.bbb.org
Website: www.edmonton.bbb.org

Better Business Bureau of Mainland British Columbia
788 Beatty Street, Suite 404
Vancouver, BC V6B 2M1
Phone: 604-682-2711
Fax: 604-681-1544
Email: contactus@mbc.bbb.org
Website: www.mbc.bbb.org

Better Business Bureau of Vancouver Island
1175 Cook Street, Suite 220,
Victoria, BC V8V 4A1
Phone: 250-386-6348
Toll free: 1-877-826-4222
Fax: 250-386-2367
Email: info@vi.bbb.org
Website: www.vi.bbb.org

Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)

Another regulatory body that can help you if you happen to have issues with a Canadian moving company if the Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) – the governmental organization that promotes the interests and protection of Canadian consumers, including the ones who will be using, are using or have used moving services provided by professional moving companies in Canada.

The Office of Consumer Affairs has developed the Complaint Roadmap – an easy-to-understand chart that highlights all the steps you have to make when you have an issue with a Canadian moving company and you wish to file an official complaint about the incident.

Make sure you contact your local Consumer Affairs Office to get more information.

Here’s a list of the federal, provincial and territorial Consumer Affairs offices in Canada:

Alberta
Service Alberta
Consumer Contact Centre
Commerce Place 3rd Floor
10155 102nd St
Edmonton AB T5J 4L4
Telephone: 780‑427‑4088
Toll Free: 1‑877‑427‑4088
Email: service.alberta@gov.ab.ca
Website: www.servicealberta.ca

British Columbia
Consumer Protection BC
321-3600 Uptown Blvd
PO Box 9244
Victoria BC V8W 9J2
Telephone: 604‑320‑1667
Toll Free: 1‑888‑564‑9963
Fax: 250‑920‑7181
Email: info@consumerprotectionbc.ca
Website: www.consumerprotectionbc.ca

Manitoba
Consumer Protection Office
Manitoba Justice
302-258 Portage Ave
Winnipeg MB R3C 0B6
Telephone: 204‑945‑3800
Toll Free: 1‑800‑782‑0067
Fax: 204‑945‑0728
Email: consumers@gov.mb.ca
Website: www.gov.mb.ca/consumerinfo

New Brunswick
Financial and Consumer Services Commission
200-225 King St
Fredericton NB E3B 1E1
Toll Free: 1‑866‑933‑2222
Fax: 506‑444‑4494
Email: info@fcnb.ca
Website: fcnb.ca/FinancialConsumer

Newfoundland and Labrador
Service NL
PO Box 8700
St. John’s NL A1B 4J6
Telephone: 709‑729‑2600
Toll Free: 1‑877‑968‑2600
Fax: 709‑729‑6998
Email: consumeraffairs@gov.nl.ca
Website: www.servicenl.gov.nl.ca/consumer/consumer_affairs

Northwest Territories
Consumer Affairs
Department of Municipal and Community Affairs
600-5201 50th Ave
Yellowknife NT X1A 3S9
Telephone: 867‑767‑9161 ext 21022
Fax: 867‑873‑0309
Email: consumer_affairs@gov.nt.ca
Website: www.maca.gov.nt.ca/en/services/consumer-affairs

Nova Scotia
Public Enquiries
Service Nova Scotia
Mail Room 8 South
Maritime Centre
1505 Barrington St
Halifax NS B3J 3K5
Telephone: 902‑424‑5200
Toll Free: 1‑800‑670‑4357
Fax: 902‑424‑0720
Email: askus@novascotia.ca
Website: novascotia.ca/sns/access/individuals/consumer-awareness

Nunavut
Consumer Affairs
Department of Community and Government Services
3090 9th St
PO Box 440
Baker Lake NU X0C 0A0
Telephone: 867‑793‑3303
Toll Free: 1‑866‑223‑8139
Fax: 867‑793‑3321
Email: consumerprotection@gov.nu.ca
Website: www.gov.nu.ca/community-and-government-services/information/consumer-affairs

Ontario
Consumer Protection Ontario
Ministry of Government and Consumer Services
PO Box 450
1201 Wilson Ave Station A
Toronto ON M3M 1J8
Telephone: 416‑326‑8800
Toll Free: 1‑800‑889‑9768
Phone (TTY): 416‑229‑6086
Phone (TTY) 2: 1‑877‑666‑6545
Fax: 416‑326‑8665
Email: consumer@ontario.ca
Website: www.ontario.ca/page/consumer-protection-ontario

Prince Edward Island
Consumer Services
Department of Justice and Public Safety
Shaw Building 4th Floor
95 Rochford St
PO Box 2000
Charlottetown PE C1A 7N8
Telephone: 902‑368‑4580
Toll Free: 1‑800‑658‑1799
Fax: 902‑368‑5283
Website: www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/topic/consumer-services

Quebec
Office de la protection du consommateur
450-400 Jean-Lesage Blvd
Québec QC G1K 8W4
Telephone: 418‑643‑1484
Toll Free: 1‑888‑672‑2556
Fax: 418‑528‑0976
Website: www.opc.gouv.qc.ca

Saskatchewan
Consumer Protection Division
Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan
500–1919 Saskatchewan Dr
Regina SK S4P 4H2
Telephone: 306‑787‑5550
Toll Free: 1‑877‑880‑5550
Fax: 306‑787‑9779
Email: consumerprotection@gov.sk.ca
Website: fcaa.gov.sk.ca

Yukon
Consumer Services
Department of Community Services
307 Black St
Whitehorse YT Y1A 2N1
Telephone: 867‑667‑5111
Toll Free: 1‑800‑661‑0408 ext 5111
Fax: 867‑667‑3609
Email: consumer@gov.yk.ca
Website: www.community.gov.yk.ca/consumer

Federal
Office of Consumer Affairs
235 Queen St
Ottawa ON K1A 0H5
Toll Free: 1‑800‑328‑6189
Email: Ask us
Website: www.ic.gc.ca/officeofconsumeraffairs

Moving advice by the Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)

Also, make sure you know how to find the best movers in Canada.