Sections 248 and 249 of the Consumer Protection Act prohibit television advertising in Quebec directed to children under the age of 13, as follows:

248. Subject to what is provided in the regulations, no person may make use of commercial advertising directed at persons under thirteen years of age.

249. To determine whether or not an advertisement is directed at persons under thirteen years of age, account must be taken of the context of its presentation, and in particular of

(a) the nature and intended purpose of the goods advertised;

(b) the manner of presenting such advertisement;

(c) the time and place it is shown.

The Regulation respecting the application of the Consumer Protection Act provides some exceptions. For example, a television advertisement to announce a show directed to children may be broadcast, provided this advertisement is in conformity with certain requirements listed in the regulation.

Under the Consumer Protection Act, the advertising of certain products (toys, candies and foods) and certain services in children’s programs is prohibited unless the TV advertisement is of no interest to children. Restrictions also apply to certain characteristics of advertisements such as:

1. the use of themes pertaining to fantasy, magic, mystery, suspense and adventure;
   
   
2. the inappropriate use of children, the use of childish voices, heroes, fantastic or eccentric creatures, and the use of animals;
   
   
3. the use of music that is particularly attractive to children.

The Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC), which oversees the implementation of this legislation, has established guidelines addressed to cases in which advertising is addressed to both children and parents. This type of advertising may only be broadcast during programs for which children between the ages of 2 and 11 account for less than 15% of the audience.

It should be noted that this legislation covers only commercial advertising. Educational advertising is allowed, provided it complies with certain conditions. These provisions of Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act cannot apply to signals originating from outside Quebec that are retransmitted by cable television companies. Thus, advertising from English Canada and the United States is not subject to this regulation at present.

Full Text:

The Consumer Protection Act and Regulations respecting the application of the Consumer Protection Act is listed under the Laws and Regulations section of the Publications Quebec Web site.