Rebekah Williams
News Reporter

Ontario’s consumers have less to worry about this holiday shopping season as a law passed on Oct. 1 states retail gift card expiry dates are illegal.
Derek Nighbor, national affairs vice president of Retail Council of Canada, said sales should improve as a result. “We support the elimination of expiry dates. We think that it’s good for business and we think that it’s going to be a great way to move the product forward and it’ll increase in popularity in the years ahead.”
He cautioned that gift cards can seem “a bit impersonal,” and that despite the new law, consumers should be wary of giving them as gifts.
“Some people have said it’s almost like giving cash. You know, ‘maybe the person didn’t think too much about me, maybe they just wanted to get something fast and easy and they just gave me a gift card,’” he said.
Nighbor said the cards could have a negative effect for retailers as well, despite hopefully improving the consumer/retailer relationship. He said it might now be difficult for retailers to close their books for tax purposes.
First-year law clerk student Brandon Marji agrees with Nighbor that gift cards don’t make optimal presents. “It’s a gesture to show, ‘OK, I gave you a gift card, that means I don’t have to say Merry Christmas to you or have a nice holiday.’ It’s all in the gift card.”
However, a recent poll by Ipsos Reid for retailer Mark’s Work Warehouse shows 88 per cent of Canadians either strongly agree or somewhat agree that receiving a gift card is good because they can choose to buy what they want.
John Pall, who works at Woodbine Centre said he’s happy to receive gift cards for that reason. “For some people they can’t pick out like clothes and stuff like that for me, so a gift card I can just take it to the store and get whatever I want.”
The poll also found 72 per cent of Canadians would prefer to get a gift card over a traditional gift.
Vice president of the Consumers Council of Canada Eleanor Friedland said there are still issues that need to be addressed.
She said consumers should make note of the dollar value of the cards they purchase and to ensure the card is not lost. “Some companies may not have a return policy on it if it’s lost, and you’re out the money,” she said.
Friedland advises consumers to be wary of buying gift cards from pre-paid centres because it is impossible to know whether or not that card has been activated with the retailer.
She also said Ontario and Manitoba are the only provinces that have this new law which may affect people who want to send gift cards to other provinces.
There is no retroactive program for already expired cards according to the ministry of government and consumer services, and the law does not apply to spas or other service based businesses.