Quebec Minister Introduces Bill to Tighten Ticket Resale Rules

Quebec’s Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, has authored a bill that would make it illegal for individuals to resell tickets for more than their original price.

Why it matters:

• Under the new legislation, tickets could only be sold above face value with the consent of the event organizer.

• As per The Ticketing Business, to do this a reseller must inform a buyer that they’re using a resale platform and not the official seller’s site, and that tickets may be available for less from the official vendor.

• Resellers would “also be required to disclose the name of the original ticket vendor,” as well as the name of the ticket’s previous owner and its original price.

• Resellers would also have to let consumers know of any changes to an event’s time or location.

• Vendors could no longer charge ticket-holders a fee to transfer their ticket.

Existing legislation:

• As The Ticketing Business points out, ticket resale legislation from 2011 is already in place in Quebec.

• It stops merchants from reselling tickets above face value without “an agreement with the event’s producer.”

• That law does not, however, apply to individuals, meaning people can still markup tickets on resale platforms.

• Jolin-Barrette’s bill would close that loophole.