OMVIC fines Ottawa Chrysler Jeep Dodge $13,000 for six advertising breaches after ignoring a warning letter

OMVIC’s Discipline Tribunal fined Ottawa Chrysler Jeep Dodge Inc. $13,000 on December 29, 2025, the heaviest discipline penalty in the recent docket. The order followed a May 2024 mystery shop and a later review of the dealer’s website that turned up six separate advertising breaches. The dealer must also offer to fund the MVDA Key Elements Course for every current and future salesperson within 90 days. The decision rests on an Agreed Statement of Facts dated November 5, 2025 and a joint submission on penalty.

What pushed the quantum above the usual all-in pricing range is the sequence. On May 16, 2024 OMVIC ran a mystery shop at the dealership. Six days later, on May 22, 2024, the Registrar sent a warning letter telling the dealer it was failing the all-in price advertising rule in s. 36(7) of O. Reg. 333/08. Then in August and September 2024, roughly four months after that letter, a Registrar representative reviewed the dealer’s website and found it was still breaking advertising rules. The panel named the warning letter “just four months before the impugned transactions” as the aggravating factor.

Six advertising breaches, three kinds

The September 6, 2024 review grouped the problems into three categories, two listings each.

Unclear advertising

Two listings, both 2023 Ram 1500 Classic Express trucks (Stock #230324 and #230347), carried multiple price points for a single vehicle and referred to unclear discounts. The advertisements did not set out the price in a clear, comprehensible manner. The panel found these breached s. 4(1), s. 4(2), and s. 9(3) of the Code of Ethics.

Unclear financial disclosures

Two more listings, a 2024 Chrysler Pacifica Touring (Stock #240133) and a 2024 Dodge Hornet (Stock #240014), failed to give clear or complete disclosure of the cost of borrowing. That engaged s. 61 of O. Reg. 17/05 made under the Consumer Protection Act, the cost-of-borrowing advertising rule, alongside the same Code sections.

All-in pricing

A 2022 Jeep Cherokee and a 2024 Ram 1500 Sport (Stock #240055) carried a disclaimer reading that “Prices and payments do not include… titles, tags, finance charges, documentation charges, emissions testing charges, or other fees required by law, vehicle sellers or lending organizations.” The advertisements did not indicate which fees actually fell on the consumer, so the advertised price was not an all-in price and misrepresented the real cost. The panel found these breached s. 4(2) and s. 9(3).

The disclaimer is the instructive part. A blanket statement that the price excludes a long list of possible charges is the opposite of what s. 36(7) requires. The rule says the advertised price has to be the total a consumer would pay, with sales tax the only general exclusion. Listing “other fees required by law, vehicle sellers or lending organizations” outside the price tells the buyer nothing about the number on the contract.

Why the fine reached $13,000

The panel set out its reasoning plainly. There were six violations, all advertising-related: two unclear ads, two unclear financing disclosures, and two all-in pricing breaches. The aggravating factor was the warning letter four months earlier on the very same all-in price issue. None of the comparison cases the panel was shown involved six infractions, and none involved a recent warning letter on the same issue. On that basis a $13,000 fine, “while higher than the cited cases,” was held to reflect the extent of the conduct.

The mitigating factors were the usual ones: a first appearance before the Discipline Tribunal, and acceptance of responsibility through the Agreed Statement of Facts and joint submission. The dealer-funded Key Elements Course offer is the remediation piece, requiring the dealer to pay for the training that prevents a repeat, without compelling any individual to enrol.

The pattern echoes Riverside Chevrolet, where a 2022 warning letter on all-in pricing drove the fine to the top of the range. Ottawa Chrysler goes further because the breaches stacked: three different advertising rules, six listings, one ignored warning.

What to learn

• A disclaimer that lists excluded fees is an all-in pricing breach, not a defence. Section 36(7) requires the advertised price to be the all-in total. A line saying the price excludes finance charges, documentation charges, or “other fees” does the opposite of what the rule demands.
• A Registrar warning letter resets the stakes. Continuing to advertise the same way four months after a written warning on that exact rule is the fact a tribunal will point to when it sets a fine above the comparison cases. The warning is the dealer’s chance to fix it before the file becomes a discipline order.
• One bad ad can break three rules at once. Unclear pricing engages s. 4(1) and s. 4(2), and the failure to prevent the error engages s. 9(3). Incomplete financing terms add a Consumer Protection Act cost-of-borrowing breach on top. Six listings reviewed, six findings.