B. Participation and Cooperation Expectations

We take a collaborative approach to dispute resolution that requires active participation from all parties involved. We want to help you better understand the participation expectations during the complaint handling process, including what you can expect from the CCTS and your customers.

Other resources that will help customers and PSPs better understand their rights and responsibilities within our process include:

What you can expect from us

Our mandate, duties and functions are laid out in the CCTS Procedural Code (and further explained in the Annotated Guide to the CCTS Procedural Code). At the request of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), we also administer industry Codes of Conduct: The Wireless Code of Conduct, the Deposit and Disconnection Code, the Television Service Provider Code, and the Internet Code. This means that we monitor your compliance with the Codes in relation to the complaints we receive, and we apply the Codes to resolve and investigate complaints.

First and foremost, we are here to help resolve complaints between PSPs and their customers. We are not an advocate for the customer and we are not an advocate for the PSP.

We know that to work together with our customers and PSPs to resolve their complaints we need to be flexible and fair.  Our staff have a wide range of education and work experience, from customer service, conflict resolution, and law, to the telecommunications and TV industry, and more. We offer extensive internal training and development, regular calibration sessions and external training, including alternative dispute resolution, customer service and accessibility training.

We are bound by the CCTS Procedural Code. The Procedural Code governs all of our complaint handling actions. It is essentially the “rule book” that guides our complaint-handling operations. Our staff are trained to act impartially and set aside personal bias. We rely on the Procedural Code to maintain our integrity as a neutral and impartial third-party. This means that when staff are faced with ambiguity or questions about whether something is this fair or reasonable, we rely on the Procedural Code for guidance on how to exercise our judgement, rather than on the position of each party, or our own personal beliefs.

Our mandate and the Codes of Conduct we administer are reviewed by the CRTC at regular intervals. However, the CRTC does not participate in our complaint handling operations. We are an independent agency. Our complaint handling operations are governed by a Board of Directors that is made up of representatives from the industry, consumer representatives, and an independent.

What we expect from Participating Service Providers (PSPs)

First and foremost, we expect PSPs to actively participate in our process, and that PSPs do so in good faith. We also expect PSPs to treat our employees with respect and professionalism at all times.

All service providers are bound by the CCTS Procedural Code, which means they are expected to cooperate with the CCTS when costumers file complaints.  The full requirements are set out in the CCTS Procedural Code.  In summary, they include:

  • Providing information or documentation as requested
  • Responding to the CCTS within defined time lines
  • Cooperating in good faith throughout the investigation process
  • Carrying out resolutions to which they agreed and any binding remedies imposed by the CCTS

We also expect PSPs to use to the available resources when deciding how to approach a specific complaint. These resources were developed to educate you and to help us deal with complaints as expeditiously as possible. The Annotated Guide to the CCTS Procedural Code was developed, in part, to help you better understand your rights and responsibilities during the complaint handling process. In particular, we direct you to sections 6, 11, 12, 13 and 15 of the Procedural Code. Module 2 and module 3 offer more specific guidance and instructions to help you handle complaints on a day-to day basis.

We expect that all PSPs comply to our participation requirements as well. A future module will be created to detail all of the participation requirements in detail.

What we expect from complainants (“the customer”)

Our expectations of customers are largely the same. We expect customers to actively participate in our process, and that customers do so in good faith. We also expect customers to treat our employees with respect and professionalism at all times.

Customers are required to confirm that they have read the Procedural Code before we will accept a complaint. The Annotated Guide to the CCTS Procedural Code was developed, in part, to help the general public better understand our process, including the rights and responsibilities of all parties involved. We encourage customers to review the Annotated Guide. We also strive to make use of every opportunity we have to educate customers about our process, including what they can expect next from PSPs and the CCTS.

Sometimes, we encounter customers who become uncooperative during our process by failing to actively participate. Module 2 and module 3 offer more specific guidance and instructions to help PSPs handle your role in our process for these cases.