Consumers

Memberships at Gyms and Weight-Loss Clinics

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Are you planning or did you recently join a gym or a weight-loss clinic? Do you know your rights? For example, when and how to cancel your membership?

Taking out a membership

Verify the permit of the gym or clinic

Anyone running a gym or a weight-loss clinic must obtain a permit from the Office de la protection du consommateur (consumer protection bureau).

Before taking out a membership, consult this organization’s site to verify if your gym or clinic does indeed have a permit and if it’s still valid.

Verify the membership contract

Did you know that you’re making a formal commitment when you join a gym or a weight-loss clinic? A membership is a contract!

The duration of the contract cannot exceed one year. Furthermore, the contract cannot stipulate that it is automatically renewed.

Your contract must always contain certain information, in particular:

  • the services included in your membership
  • the date on which the gym or clinic will start to offer you these services
  • the duration of the membership
  • how much it will cost you in total, including taxes as well as fees for registering, opening a file, administration, etc., if any
  • the possibility of cancelling the contract, and how to do so

Finally, the gym or clinic must provide you with a copy of your contract once it has been signed.

If the contract does not contain the required information and you suffered some harm as a result, your contract is considered invalid (that is, as if you never signed it). If you wish to cancel your registration for this reason, you must inform the gym or the clinic by registered mail. In case of disagreement, you can go to small claims court to enforce your rights.

If you take out a membership online

Certain rules apply if you take out a membership online: 

  • You must receive a copy of your contract within 15 days of the date you registered.

    If you do not receive your contract within this timeframe, you can cancel your membership within 30 days of the date you registered.
  • Before you complete your registration, you must have access to all of the information contained in the contract. You must also have the opportunity to correct any errors in the information before confirming your membership. Finally, the gym or weight-loss clinic must provide a way to contact them online, for example, by email.

    If one of these rules was not followed, you have seven days from the date of receipt of your contract to cancel at no cost.  

Paying for your membership

You do not have to pay until you have access to the services set out in your membership contract. For example, your gym cannot demand a payment if it has not yet given you access to the training room.

If the total cost of the membership is more than $100, you must have the option to pay in at least two instalments. The payments must be of relatively equal value and spread out over the length of the membership. If you have a one-year membership and plan to make two instalment payments, the payments could be made, for example, in January and July. The facility could not require you to make the payments in January and February, for example.

Renewing your membership

As mentioned above, your membership contract cannot stipulate that it renews automatically when it expires.

Your gym or your clinic has two options when your membership ends:

  • Offer you a new contract to sign
  • Make you an offer to renew that complies with certain rules

An offer to renew from your gym or clinic must:

  • be sent to you in writing 30 to 60 days before the end of your membership,
  • indicate the duration of the renewed contract, and
  • communicate the total cost of the renewed contract. This cost cannot exceed the previous contract, even if the membership is for a longer period.

You must then communicate your agreement in writing to your gym or clinic before the end of your membership in order for your contract to be renewed.

Cancelling your membership

You can cancel your membership in different situations.

You do not have access to the services or facilities

You can cancel the contract, without providing a reason and at no cost or penalty if the gym or clinic has not given you access to the services offered or if the equipment is not available to you.

You do have access to the services and installations

If you cancel your membership while you have access to the services or facilities, there are two possible situations:

  1. You cancel your membership within a timeframe less than or equal to one-tenth of its total duration
  2. You cancel your membership after the timeframe of one-tenth of the total duration of the membership.

Example

You have a 10-month contract with a weight-loss clinic. You start receiving services the day of your registration. The timeframe for cancelling your membership is therefore one month (1/10 of 10 months).

The total membership fee is $400. The clinic cannot charge you more than $40 (1/10 of $400).

If you cancel your membership after the timeframe equal to 1/10 of the total duration of the contract, the gym or clinic can require you to pay an amount for the services already provided as well as an additional amount if it can demonstrate that it suffered some harm from the cancellation of the membership.

In case of disagreement over this additional amount (should the gym claim it from you) you can go to small claims court to enforce your rights.

What if the gym did not follow the rules when you signed the contract?

If the gym or the clinic did not respect its obligations at the time of the signing of the contract, you can cancel your membership if you’re in one of the situations listed in the section above, Taking out a membership.

How to cancel your membership

To cancel your membership, you can use the cancellation form included with your copy of the contract. You can also send a written notice you write yourself. The membership is cancelled as soon as this form or notice is sent (ideally by registered mail). Important: a telephone call is not sufficient to cancel a membership.

The facility must return any advance payment you made, within 10 days following the cancellation of the contract. It may deduct the amount you owe for the cancellation.

What if the gym or clinic closes?

You can receive a refund if your gym or clinic closes during your membership.

See the Compensation section of the website of the Office de la protection du consommateur more details.

Important! The information in this article does not apply if

  • your facility is operated by a public or private school, a centre de services scolaires or school board, a CEGEP, a university, or a municipality, or
  • the services are provided by a member of a professional order (e.g., nutritionist, physician, nurse)