Class actions in British Columbia and Alberta against Telus have been settled

Class actions alleging that Telus breached its standard form cellular telephone contract by charging the recipient of a call for connection (call set-up) time before the call is answered. It is alleged that Telus agreed to charge for “talking time” only. Standard form contracts, such as the Telus agreement, contain a clause requiring that consumers do not participate in class actions. Instead, they are required to have any dispute dealt with in a private arbitration. Lemer and Company appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled that such an agreement cannot stop an action pursuant to the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act. The certification decision was released by the B.C. Supreme Court in January, 2016. It allowed the action to proceed as a class action, rather than an individual action, and was an important milestone in this case.

Seidel v. Telus has now been settled and class members can start claiming benefits as of June 6, 2025.

Details of the settlement and the court orders approving the settlement can be found at this link as of June 6, 2025.