Returning holiday gifts in Canada: gift receipts, store policies and gift cards
The gift receipt and the store's policy decide almost every holiday return. Canada gives no legal right to return something that simply isn't wanted. In the words of the federal Office of Consumer Affairs, "businesses are not obligated to accept the return of purchased items unless they are defective."
So before Boxing Day, it pays to know what each store's policy says.
Before you go back to the store
- Find the gift receipt. It lets the recipient return or exchange the item without seeing the price, and the Office of Consumer Affairs warns that merchants often can't give a refund without one.
- Check the return period. Many stores extend it for holiday purchases, but by policy, not by law, and the dates differ from store to store. They are usually printed on the receipt or posted near the till.
- Expect conditions. Unopened packaging, tags attached, and exchange or store credit rather than cash are common. Read the policy for items it marks as final sale.
- Ask for the policy in writing if it isn't printed. The Office of Consumer Affairs suggests exactly that.
Gift cards
Gift card rules are provincial too. In Ontario, the Consumer Protection Act bans expiry dates on most retail gift cards, and most businesses can't charge activation fees or dormancy fees that eat into the value. The exceptions are:
- cards for one specific service, such as a spa treatment, which may expire
- cards issued for a charitable purpose
- shopping mall cards, which keep their value for 15 months, after which the mall may charge a dormancy fee of up to $2.50 a month
Other provinces have their own rules; your provincial consumer affairs office can tell you what applies.
Without a receipt
If there's no gift receipt, the store may still find the sale from the buyer's card or loyalty account, or offer an exchange or credit. That is the store's call. More on what to try is in can you return items without a receipt in Canada.
Sources
Common questions
Can you return a Christmas gift without a receipt in Canada?
Only if the store agrees. Stores don't have to accept returns of items that aren't defective, and most want a sales or gift receipt. Without one, you may be offered an exchange or store credit, if anything.
Do stores have extended return periods after Christmas?
Many do for holiday purchases, but it is store policy, not law. Check the dates printed on the receipt or posted in the store, since they vary from shop to shop.
What is a gift receipt?
A receipt without the price that lets the recipient return or exchange the gift under the store's policy. The Office of Consumer Affairs advises keeping it, because merchants often can't give a refund without one.
Can a gift card expire in Ontario?
Most retail gift cards can't. Ontario's Consumer Protection Act bans expiry dates on most of them, with exceptions for cards for one specific service and cards issued for a charitable purpose. Shopping mall cards have their own rules.
What if the gift is faulty?
Then it is not a matter of store policy. Provincial law expects goods to work, and in Quebec the legal warranty explicitly covers goods that fail to serve their purpose or last a reasonable time.
Keep reading
Can you return items without a receipt in Canada?
Stores don't have to accept returns of goods that aren't faulty, so the receipt usually decides it. What the law covers, and what to try without one.
ReadWhat counts as proof of purchase in Canada?
A receipt is best, but not the only proof. What stores, manufacturers and the CRA each accept for a return, a warranty claim or a tax deduction.
ReadHow long does a warranty last in Canada?
The written warranty is only part of it. Provincial law expects goods to work and last a reasonable time: how that works in Ontario and Quebec.
Read