Gift card updates in Western Canada

(Apr. 18/08) British Columbia has introduced legislation that would ban expiry dates and service charges on gift cards.  If passed, businesses offering gift cards would be required to inform customers at the time of purchase how cards can be redeemed, used and replaced, and expiry dates and fees would be prohibited except in limited circumstances involving prepaid purchase cards.

In Alberta, CRFA opposed the inclusion gift cards/certificates in newly tabled Unclaimed Personal Property Act.  The legislation, introduced in the spring of 2007, proposed that gift cards that are unredeemed for three years be considered unclaimed property and that 60% of the value of unclaimed gift cards worth more than $100 be turned over to the Department of Finance.  Following consultations with CRFA and other retail stakeholders, the government removed the gift card section of the legislation.