CAMVAP is a program that allows disputes between consumers and vehicle manufacturers to be resolved through binding arbitration. Disputes about alleged defects in the assembly of a vehicle or implementation of the new vehicle warranty are eligible for arbitration under the CAMVAP program.

CAMVAP is available at no charge to the consumer and can be accessed in all Provinces and Territories in Canada.

CAMVAP is an effective way to settle disputes. An independent and neutral arbitrator is assigned to each dispute and makes a decision that is fair to both the vehicle owner and the vehicle manufacturer.

CAMVAP is available to owners and lessees of new and used vehicles. Vehicles owned by businesses may be eligible if they meet the program’s eligibility requirements.

You agree to submit your dispute to an arbitrator for a decision. The arbitrator will hold a hearing where they will listen to both your side and the manufacturer’s side of the dispute. After considering all the evidence presented by both you and the manufacturer, the arbitrator will make a decision that is final and binding.

In some instances, the consumer and manufacturer may be able to settle the dispute before going to arbitration.

CAMVAP Arbitrators can order the manufacturer to:

1. Repair your vehicle at its expense;

2. Buy your owned or leased vehicle back at a price set by a formula (with or without a reduction for use);

3. Reimburse you for previous repairs;

4. Reimburse you up to $500 for diagnostic testing of your vehicle done prior to the date of your hearing;

5. Reimburse you for certain out-of-pocket expenses up to $1,000;

6. Reimburse you up to $100 of your total costs to summons witnesses.

7. Reimburse you up to $200 for the removal and/or reinstallation of an aftermarket part if the arbitrator determines that the aftermarket part was not the cause of the current defect claimed by the consumer.

The arbitrator can also order that:

1. The manufacturer has no liability for your claim; or

2. The arbitrator has no jurisdiction (authority) over your claim.

3. That you must remove an aftermarket part from your vehicle prior to your case proceeding on an allegation of a current defect that is caused by or related to an aftermarket part.

But a CAMVAP arbitrator cannot order:

1. Exemplary, punitive or other damages (except as allowed by the by the available CAMVAP remedies);

2. That the agreement to buy or lease your vehicle be voided or set aside;

3. Reimbursement of expenses to buy or lease your vehicle;

4. A Buy-back if you exceed the Buy-back eligibility requirements, even if repairs cannot be made;

5. A Buy-back amount that exceeds the price paid for thean owned vehicle as shown on the retail sales contract;

6. Extended service contracts or warranty extensions;

7. The repair, removal or addition of an Aftermarket Part;

8. The repair, removal or addition of any computer software.

A Quick Check...

1. Is your dispute with the manufacturer about allegations of a defect in the assembly of your vehicle or how the manufacturer is administering the new vehicle warranty?
2. Are you a resident of Canada and was your vehicle originally purchased from a manufacturer authorized dealer in Canada?
3. Is your vehicle used primarily for personal or family use? (See our website for more information about business use)
4. Is your vehicle from the current or four previous model years?
5. Has your vehicle travelled less than 160,000 kilometers?
6. Have you followed the manufacturer’s dispute resolution process (check your owner’s handbook)?
7. Have you given each the dealer and the manufacturer a reasonable amount of time and opportunity to resolve the problem?

Need More Information?

If you answered yes to all the questions above you are likely eligible for CAMVAP. Please contact our program administrators at 1-800-207-0685 for more information or request a call-back here.

You can download our document Is CAMVAP For Me?

As a consumer, the choice is yours. You can file a claim with the courts or you can use CAMVAP, but you can’t do both.

If your case proceeds to a hearing, it will be held in or near your home community.

At the hearing you should present all of the information needed to convince the arbitrator to decide your claim in your favour. This includes the testimony of witnesses and documents. You will find detailed help with your presentation in a companion guide called Getting Ready for CAMVAP.

Yes. You should track your efforts to resolve the problem with your vehicle by noting who you spoke with at the dealership or manufacturer and when. You should also keep all relevant documents such as invoices, letters, service records, bills of sale, work orders, receipts for out-of-pocket expenses, lease agreements or other contracts. These may be necessary to prove the facts of your case.

You do not need a lawyer for CAMVAP, but if you feel more comfortable having a lawyer advise you and make your presentation, you may do so at your expense. You also have the option of having a friend or family member assist you.  Manufacturers do not usually bring lawyers to CAMVAP hearings.

You can and should bring to the hearing anyone who has relevant information to help prove your claim.

CAMVAP hearings are conducted in one of Canada’s official languages, English or French. For all other languages CAMVAP can arrange an interpreter at your expense.

No. You may discuss your involvement in the plan, including the arbitrator’s Award, as you see fit.

CAMVAP periodically posts case results on its website or reports publicly on case outcomes, but it does not circulate copies of Awards to arbitrators or other parties and it will not disclose information that identifies you personally.

For a copy of our Annual Report, please visit our 'News and Reports' section.

CAMVAP’s arbitrators are arms-length service providers who have completed training that is specific to the plan. They sign a contract with CAMVAP to uphold its standards and ethics. They are not automobile experts but can call upon technical expertise at any time during your case.

In each Canadian province or territory the courts oversee the arbitration process and arbitration legislation sets out when you can ask a court to set aside an arbitrator’s decision or order a new hearing.

CAMVAP Is Fair

You will receive a fair hearing before an impartial arbitrator. Consumers with vehicle problems or warranty concerns like yours have used CAMVAP since 1994 and have given CAMVAP arbitrators high ratings for being courteous, professional and fair.

CAMVAP Is Fast

From start to finish, the CAMVAP process takes about 70 to 90 calendar days. Your hearing should be set up within fifty (50) calendar days of receiving your completed application. Then, within fourteen (14) calendar days after your hearing, we will send you a copy of the arbitrator’s Award. If an inspection of your vehicle is ordered by the arbitrator about twenty (20) calendar days is added to the process. If a decision regarding program eligibility is required by an Arbitrator, an eligibility hearing will be held. This will add about twenty (20) calendar days to the process.

CAMVAP works to meet the timeframes set out in the Agreement for Arbitration, but sometimes there may be delays that will lengthen the time it takes to complete the CAMVAP process. Also, some time process timeframes are extended over the new year’s holiday season, however, the times to submit an application and for implementation of the award are not extended.

CAMVAP Is Friendly

If your hearing is held in person, it will be held in a hotel meeting room, a business office setting, community centre or similar facility as close to your home as possible. Alternatively, it may be held by teleconference or video conference if both you and the manufacturer agree to do so.

Hearings are less formal than court. Witnesses take an oath or make a solemn promise to tell the truth but you do not have to use special language. Other than common courtesy, there are no special rules about how to behave.

Although CAMVAP is less formal than court, the general pattern of a CAMVAP hearing is similar to court. The arbitrator leads everyone through the process. You (the “claimant”) make the first presentation. The manufacturer’s representative (the “respondent”) goes second. Then you may reply to anything new that the respondent brings up.

CAMVAP Is Free

There are no fees to use CAMVAP but it will cost you time to prepare and present your claim and possibly fees and expenses for your lawyer, witnesses or interpreter.

CAMVAP Is Final

Once the arbitrator makes a decision, it is final. You and the manufacturer have limited rights to ask a court to set aside an arbitrator’s decision or allow a new hearing, but this will not happen just because one of you does not like the final outcome.

When the manufacturer fully carries out the Award, your claim is over and the manufacturer is released from any responsibility for it.

CAMVAP is entirely voluntary and you are in the best position to judge whether it is right for you. You may go to court for your dispute or you may use CAMVAP, but you may not do both.

Before deciding on CAMVAP, research other available options such as going to court, negotiating with the manufacturer, selling or trading in your vehicle or taking no action at this time. Check into consumer protection laws in your province or territory. Weigh the pros and cons of CAMVAP and any other options that you have, then pick the option that makes the most sense for you.

To qualify for CAMVAP, you must meet certain, specific conditions. These are called eligibility criteria and they are spelled out in detail in the Agreement for Arbitration.

You qualify if:

• Your dispute is about:
  • The application or administration of the Manufacturer’s new vehicle warranty as it applies to your Vehicle; or
  • Allegations of a current defect in vehicle assembly or materials specific to your vehicle as delivered to an authorized dealer where the defect is currently causing symptoms in your vehicle that have not been repaired properly;
• Your vehicle is a passenger car, light duty truck, van, sport utility vehicle or multi-purpose passenger vehicle which weighs no more than 4,536 kg (10,000 lbs) gross vehicle weight (GVW);
• Your vehicle has traveled not more than 160,000 kilometres at the time of the hearing;
• Your vehicle is of the current of 4 previous model years. For example, in 2021 after September 30 it must be a 2017 or newer model; in 2022 after September 30 it must be a 2018 or newer model;
• You were the registered owner of the vehicle when the dispute arose;
• Your vehicle is registered to a business that you own and you or a family member is the principal driver;
• Your vehicle is registered to a corporation of which you are an officer or director and you or a family member is the principal driver;
• Your vehicle is leased (for at least 12 months) and the lessor signs the claim form;
• Where your vehicle is leased to a business or corporation (for at least 12 months) and you are also the business owner or an officer or director of the corporation and you or a family member is the principal driver;
• You continue to own or lease the vehicle throughout the arbitration of your claim;
• You live in a Canadian province or territory;
• You followed the dispute resolution process described in your warranty booklet or owner’s manual;
• You gave both the dealer and the manufacturer a reasonable amount of time and opportunity to resolve the problem;
• You allowed the manufacturer to complete the work for a recall under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act or a manufacturer initiated service campaign (whether or not the recall or service campaign relates to your claim) where:
  • You were notified about the recall in writing; and
  • The recall work will be done at no cost to you.

But you do not qualify if:

• Your dispute involves any personal injury and/or third party property damage (including property damage to your own vehicle) even if you allege a defect in vehicle assembly or materials;
• You are claiming consequential or incidental damages, loss of profits, inconvenience, loss of use or availability of your vehicle, or punitive damages;
• Your claim was already settled with the manufacturer or an authorized dealer;
• The dispute is between you and an authorized dealer, not you and the manufacturer;
• Your claim is or was arbitrated, mediated or settled outside CAMVAP;
• Your claim is being litigated in the courts by you or as part of a class action;
• Your vehicle is used primarily for business or commercial purposes;
• Your vehicle is a motor home;
• Your claim is based solely on loss of confidence with your vehicle for which there is no current defect with your vehicle;
• Your claim is based on allegations of a defect in the design of your vehicle or the design of any of the materials of your vehicle;
• You vehicle is or was used as an ambulance, taxicab, limousine, police, fire or municipal service vehicle, snowplow or hearse;
• Your vehicle was modified for driver education purposes.
• Your vehicle was:
  • Written off or declared a total loss by an insurance company; or
  • Identified as a total loss by the manufacturer and confirmed as such through an Insurance Bureau of Canada report; or
  • Registered by a provincial or territorial transportation ministry as irreparable, salvage or rebuilt;
• Your vehicle is built to non-Canadian specifications and intended for sale outside Canada;
• Your dispute is about a service contract, extended warranty, or third party warranty which is not part of the manufacturer’s new vehicle warranty;
• You allege a tire defect, even if the manufacturer warrants tires under its new vehicle warranty;
• Your dispute is about after-market options or accessories not ordered and installed by the manufacturer or dealer at the time of the original retail sale;
• Your dispute is about rust proofing that the manufacturer did not apply;
• Your dispute is about fuel efficiency unless you allege that a fuel efficiency problem is caused by one or more defective components;
• Your vehicle currently or has been used as a daily rental vehicle.