Another Canadian telecom dethrones Rogers for having most customer complaints

The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS) has released its review for the 2024-2025 mid-year reporting period.

The commission accepted 11,909 complaints across all services (wireless, internet, TV and phone) in Canada, which is up 12 per cent from last year's mid-year complaints. The CCTS noted their sustained efforts to advertise their services through various channels across audiences in Canada.

During the reporting period, which covers August 1, 2024 through January 31, 2025, Rogers, Bell, Telus, Shaw, and Fido accounted for 72 per cent of the 11,909 complaints.

This was Shaw's first appearance in the top five Participating Service Providers (PSPs) in this report. It saw a 194 per cent increase in complaints driven by issues related to rental equipment, changes to and breaches of contracts, and price increases.

Among the top five service providers, Telus experienced the highest increase in complaints from the prior 2023-2024 reporting period, up 63 per cent from last year.

CCTS

This year is also the first time Telus has received the highest number of complaints in a CCTS reporting cycle. This is in contrast to last year, when Telus ranked third among the Big Three providers (Rogers, Bell, Telus) for total number of complaints.

The rise in complaints was driven by the following issues:

• Incorrect charge for monthly price plan.
• Breach of contract.
• Regular price increase of monthly price plan.

Insight into service complaints

Wireless services continue to be the most reported category among services (wireless, internet, TV and local phone), making up 50 per cent of all complaints this year. The number of issues related to wireless services rose by 12 per cent compared to last year's mid-year report.

CCTS

Across the various services covered in the CCTS report, billing continues to be the top concern for customers. Notably, the top reported issue across all services was 'incorrect charges for monthly price plans.; That accounted for 12 per cent of issues this year, but decreased by four per cent compared to last year's report.

Wireless Code breaches

The CCTS reviews the conduct of Canada's service providers using four codes issued by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada's independent authority on telecommunications and broadcasting regulation.

Established in 2013 by the CRTC, the Wireless Code outlines rules for fair conduct and service standards among providers, while also protecting consumer rights and supporting access to reliable telecom services.

The CCTS received 1,456 alleged breaches of the Wireless Code, 88 reports required investigation, leading to 34 confirmed breaches of the Code.

Of the 34 confirmed breaches, the most breached requirement was regarding Unlimited Services (Section A.3 of the Wireless Code) at nine reports, accounting for 24 per cent of total confirmed breaches.

The CCTS resolved 9,623 complaints this mid-year reporting period. The CCTS publishes all reports on its website.