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For privacy, I don't want to identify which discount broker in Canada. Last week, I received this surprising letter.

Based on information received by our Compliance Department, we have decided to terminate our relationship with you. You are advised to close your account by May 21, 2021.

I answered all questions on my account opening application truthfully. I'm a Canadian citizen and permanent resident in Canada. I can think of just one reason for Broker to terminate my contract.

I emailed their Compliance Department multiple times because their service keeps getting disrupted and their customer service is so shoddy. They never improved, so then I emailed Head of Compliance. Their phone lines are always busy – no reasonable person can wait for hours. Their trading software glitches! Their staff don't answer emails punctually – obviously customers shouldn't have to chase for replies!

When they do reply, they apologized. They never denied my complaints, or ask me to stop complaining – not once! But I know it's difficult to prove that Broker terminated my contract just because I complained against them. Broker's lawyers can just fabricate some legitimate reason for closing my account.

2 Answers2

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Whether or not you are entitled to maintain the account in perpetuity depends on the contract. Most likely they have the right under the terms of the contract to unilaterally close the account, just as you have that right – you don't have to justify closing your account. So the first thing to do is check the contract. The second thing to do is determine the actual reason, if they are willing to offer a reason. They (probably) cannot maintain an account for a person who is not a permanent resident of Canada, and they may not have the required evidence that you are a permanent resident of Canada.

user6726
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  • Thanks. I edited my post to confirm that I'm permanent resident in Canada. But broker never asked me to prove this. Why didn't they, if they want evidence? –  Apr 27 '21 at 04:10
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Yes

A business can choose who they do business with and who they don't. Businesses routinely make decisions to stop serving a particular market or customer because the profits don't justify the effort. Forcing people to provide services against their wishes is called slavery and, while it still happens, it was universally outlawed in the 19th century.

While businesses cannot discriminate on the basis of protected classes, in many jurisdictions this applies only to certain businesses and only certain aspects of business: customers are often not captured by such laws. However, if you were dropped because you are a serial complainer (justified or not), that is not a protected class so the discrimination is not unlawful.

Dale M
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    If a contrast specifies that one party is obtaining services for a fixed period, such as a year, perhaps in exchange for a fee, then the service provider cannot terminate the arrangement except for causes listed in the contract, or materiel breaches of the contract. But the question did not mention any such contract. This answer, however, would imply that service contracts may be terminated at will, which is not correct as a general rule. – David Siegel Apr 26 '21 at 03:28