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Is material usury in Canada prohibited by law?

Having a European background, I know that material usury in Europe is prohibited if the price is more than two times the average price, and there is a critical situation or some kind of abuse (like overcharging foreigners). While having to pay hundreds of Euros to get a replacement for a lost apartment key (critical) would apply to this criterion, getting a cheap collectors edition of something of course not (not critical).

I was wondering whether the same applies to Canada, yet I was only able to find usury prohibition laws in connection with interest rates.

ohwilleke
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VoodooCode
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1 Answers1

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Not under that name

In common law countries, like Canada, the concept is known by the delightfully visceral term price gouging or, in emergency circumstances, profiteering.

This is not regulated at a Federal level in Canada. A brief overview of provincial level laws can be found here.

Typically, they require prices that are not just excessive - they need to be unconscionable which is a very high bar.

Dale M
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