为了防止商家上门忽悠或以强买强卖的方式让消费者购买家用设备和服务，更好地保护消费者，从2018年3月1日起，安大略省开始禁止商家敲门兜售。安大略省是加拿大禁止上门兜售产品和服务的第二个省份。第一个这样做的是阿尔伯塔省。

Starting March 1, 2018, Ontario bans unsolicited, door-to-door sales of certain household appliances to better protect consumers from aggressive and misleading contracting at home. Ontario is the second province in Canada to restrict door-to-door solicitation and contracts. The first one to do so is the province of Alberta.

认为自己被忽悠，或被强迫购买、签订了更昂贵的产品和服务合同的消费者有成千上万。这些人向省府投诉。为此，安大略省引入了新法（193法案，禁止上门销售法2016）。安省在2016年共收到了2400多个投诉，在过去的3年中收到7000多个投诉。

Ontario Government enacted the law (Bill 193 – Door-to-door Sales Prohibition Act 2016) after receiving thousands of complaints about expensive, locked-in contracts signed under questionable circumstances. Over 2400 complaints were received in 2016 alone and over 7000 in the last 3 years.

新法所涵盖的上门兜售的家用产品包括空气净化器，空调，通风管道清洁服务，锅炉，水过滤器，热水器，净水器，软水器，水处理器以及与这些产品相关的服务合同。

The new rules will apply to air cleaners, air conditioners, air purifiers, duct cleaning services, furnaces, water filters, water heaters, water purifiers, water softeners, water treatment devices and any good or service that performs or combines one or more of the above functions.

房屋业主（特别是老年人）上当的事很多。他们要么以为自己是与来自政府部门的人打交道，自己签的合同是政府强制性的设备“更新措施”，或者以为是与大煤气公司Enbridge的代理签订设备升级或长期租赁协议。业主有时发现自己的房子因没有执行合同而被扣押，有些则面临支付合约期长达120个月的昂贵账单。

There are many stories of vulnerable homeowners (especially senior citizens) who signed up for long-term rental agreements from agents who they believed were from a government department doing mandatory “updates” or from Enbridge (Gas company) affiliate installing upgrades. Some have had unexpected liens place on their homes or faced massive payouts to fulfill 120-month agreements. 

媒体对这样的事均有报道，我本人也经历过这种事。下面我来介绍一下这些商家是如何让人们上当的:

As reported by some newspapers, also experienced by myself, the following scenarios best describe the pattern of how the agents operate:

这些上门兜售的人常常是成双成对地出现。他们穿着带有徽章或背心的工作服。为了进入你的家，他们声称自己与Enbridge煤气公司合作，要给你家里的电器设备升级。他们用假仪器显示你家里的水有问题，包括水的颜色有问题，或水有污染。他们有时声称，如果你购买了他们的净水设备，你就不必再买瓶装水，你会省下许多钱。

Often working in pairs, the agents wear official looking badges or vests and claim to be “working with” Enbridge to update equipment to gain consent from the homeowner to enter the house. They use a phony test that shows the homeowner's water is discoloured and full of contaminants. They sometimes claim the proposed product will save the homeowner money because it will replace the need ever to buy bottled water.

他们会马上替你安装这些设备。许多客户不知道到自己有10天的冷却期来取消这笔交易。就算你打算在合同冷却期内取消合同，很多人不得不支付对方拆除这些设备的费用。

The systems are often installed immediately and many customers don't realize they have 10 days to cancel the deal for any reason. For those who wants to cancel the deal during the cooling-off period, many were hit with a fee to dismantle the connections and removing the equipment.

从2018年3月1日开始，只有消费者提前与商家预约的情况下，商家才能上门签订合同。如果没有提前预约，消费者与商家的合同就无效，而且消费者可以将设备扣下而不承担任何责任。

As of March 1,  2018, businesses will only be able to enter into a contract in the consumer's home if the consumer has contacted the business ahead of time and invited them into their home for the purpose of entering into a contract. Contracts that are in violation of the new rules relating to door-to-door contract solicitation will be considered void, and consumers will be able to keep the goods and services with no obligations.

另外，商家必须书面记录自己是如何与消费者取得联系并签订合同的。所签的合同仍然有10天的冷却期。消费者在10天冷却期内取消合同不必担心因毁约而被罚款。

In addition, businesses will be required to keep a record of how contact with the consumer entering the contract was made, and all contracts signed in the home for these goods and services will also have a 10-day cooling-off period, allowing consumers to cancel the contract for any reason without penalty.

违反上门销售法律规定的个人将面临高达50,000元的罚款或高达两年的监禁。商家违法将面临高达25万元的罚款。

Individuals who violate the law will risk a fine of up to $50,000 or imprisonment for up to two years, less a day, or both. Corporations will face a fine of up to $250,000.

尽管上门兜售设备和服务的行为已经被禁，但该法律不适用电信公司，家庭维修或慈善机构。该法律并未涵盖其他行业，因为它们要么不属于省级管辖的范围，或者会造成太多的投诉，政府应付不过来。

While the days of answering your door bell to find someone hawking new equipment for your home is over, the law will not stop telecommunications companies, home maintenance services or charities from knocking on your door. The law stops short of encompassing companies in other sectors because they don’t all fall under provincial jurisdiction or generate as many complaints with Consumer Protection Ontario.

CBC本周报道了一个加拿大贝尔公司的代理上门兜售产品，并且在没有书面合同的情况下向业主做空口许诺的故事。这证明，政府在保护消费者免遭上门忽悠或强买强卖的措施“还是不够”！

Just this week, CBC ran a story on how door to door sales agents from Bell Canada were making verbal guarantees to homeowners not backed up by the written contracts signed. This proves that “total coverage” to protect consumers from aggressive and conniving door-to-door sales agents is still lacking!