Following in the footsteps of Mississauga and Markham, Toronto is getting closer to banning door to door sales in the city. A private member's bill at Queen's Park calling for an to end to the practice in Ontario is already getting support from Toronto councillors.

Introduced by Yvan Baker, MPP for Etobicoke Centre, the proposed legislature would ban the sale or rental of air conditioners, water heaters, furnaces, and water treatment devices when sold at a customer's door.

The idea, Baker notes, is to protect vulnerable people from high pressure sales tactics, and also about moving retail sales practices forward in general. The door-to-door salesmen is a decades old concept, and one that's never been less relevant.

City councillor Anna Bail達o issued a letter in strong support of the bill today.

"We need to stop these companies from taking advantage of vulnerable members of our society through aggressive, unsolicited, and misleading sales practices," she said. "Homeowners need to know that they will be protected the next time someone knocks on their door."

"I call on the Ontario Legislature to pass this Act before they break for their summer recess on June 10," she continued. "By doing so, Torontonians will be able to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that they will have even stronger protections to prevent these types of aggressive door-to-door sales on their own property."

That's an aggressive timeline, but if the bill gains support after its first reading, it might be put together quickly.

Have door-to-door sales overstayed their welcome? Let us know in the comments.

Photo by Lunatic Desire in the blogTO Flickr pool.