no soup for you

[freakonature]

A major aviation fuel supplier in Canada will no longer take
cash for the payment of fuel. Is it legal to refuse cash for
payment in Canada? Not that anybody's pocket's would hold
enough cash to fill a tank.

[fougapilot]

To the best of my knowledge it is illegal to refuse cash payment in Canadian dollars in Canada. On each bill, you will find the text "this note is legal tender" and it must be accepted as payment. Even the stores that says they do not accept $50 or $100 bills are not 100% legal.

If my memory serves me right, Sears tried this a few years ago. They would no longer accept cash for payment of their credit card. The bill would have to be paid via any electronic format; Interac card or another credit card. Some costumers protested and won. sears was forced to change its policy. Canadian Dollars are a legal form of payment.

My 0.002$ CASH

F

[oldtimer]

This is just a guess but I would think the reason is that since everyone else pays with plastic, the refueler have no provisions to handle cash in large amounts.
How do you make change?
What do you do with the money?
What if you do not have a safe?
But as others have alluded to, cash is legal tender and has to be accepted.
As for the $100 bills, there was a lot of counterfeit bills floating around and someone would buy something worth less than 5 bucks and pay with a counterfeit $100.
Just ask a counter person at a fast food restaurant a question and expect an intelligent answer.
Solution is to ask for plastic.

[canadas#1av8r]

what about canadian tire money???

[Redtail]

Is it legal to refuse cash for
payment in Canada?

Legal to refuse a cash payment? Of course it is.

It may or may not be good business but it is certainly legal (not illegal) to refuse any form of payment.

According to the RCMP's website...
The method of payment (e.g. cash, debit or credit card) used in a transaction is a private agreement between the buyer and the seller. Each has the right to accept or refuse a bank note when accepting payment or receiving change.

Also...
The government (CRA) no longer accepts cash payments for regular payments either - go figure!

Redtail

[Lommer]

"Legal tender" is perhaps one of the most misunderstood legal terms out there. I, as the seller of an item, can choose to accept whatever payment method I should choose. Legal tender only indicates that cash must be accepted when settling a debt. This is why the sears case won. Also note, that if you go to a bar and drink several beers, when they give you the bill they must accept cash because it is now a debt that you owe them, and you can hardly return the beer in useable condition. If you go to the corner store and pick up a can of soup, they have every right to demand you pay with currency valued at less than $20. If you don't have anything that satisfies them, they can simply keep the can of soup.

One should also be advised that pennies and small change only constitute legal tender up to a certain dollar value. Thus, if you run up a $60 bar tab they can still refuse your payment in pennies and demand that you pay them using something more reasonable.

The case of gas is an interesting one; I suppose the FBO could go drain an equivalent amount of gas back out of your sumps, but I'd bet they'll settle for the cash if you gave them no other option. Either way it won't be a fun experience for either you or the salespeople. This isn't new though, when I worked for an FBO several years ago we rarely had enough cash on hand to repay people who got ripped off by the vending machine. Bottom line is pay for your fuel using interac or credit, is it that much of an inconvenience to you?

[costermonger]

This is just a guess but I would think the reason is that since everyone else pays with plastic, the refueler have no provisions to handle cash in large amounts.
How do you make change?
What do you do with the money?
What if you do not have a safe?

In two years of fuelling, I never had anybody try to pay with cash.

[Highflyinpilot]

There's a first time for everything.


Anyone hear of getting rid of pennies all together, i heard this on a local morning radio show but could not tell if they were just making conversation, or if it was a legit thing.

[Guido]

There's a first time for everything.


Anyone hear of getting rid of pennies all together, i heard this on a local morning radio show but could not tell if they were just making conversation, or if it was a legit thing.

They did it in Australia about the time they had the Olympics there, and it went over well, I think. Haven't heard anything official around here, but who knows...

[DHQ]

Both pennies and nickels are gone in New Zealand and everything is rounded to one decimal place. I think it's great.

[altiplano]

/

[CID]

You can not refuse cash money with a few exceptions -

Wrong. Legal Tender just means that it's offically recognized and backed by the signing authority, in this case the Bank of Canada.

Anyone doing business can set the terms of payment as well as the acceptable currency or transaction method. People here are confused about what "legal tender" is. It's not something that someone is forced by law to accept as payment. Unless of course you are talking about debt payable to the government or if cash is included as an acceptable form of payment in a contract.

If I'm selling you something, I don't have to take your pennies or any Canadian currency if I don't want to. Things are different if for example you're renting and apartment and the terms of payment include cash. Then your landlord is bound to the contract.

Mulroney is learning the hard way that he should have refused a cash payment from a certain former "business associate".

[altiplano]

/

[mayfleur]

A business or institution cannot arbitrarily refuse cash. There must be a reasonable circumstance to support a no cash policy.

This is from the Bank of Canada website:

"What is "legal tender"?

A "tender" is an offer of payment of a debt. In Canada, legal tender consists of coins issued by the Royal Canadian Mint and bank notes issued by the Bank of Canada.

This does not mean that a merchant is obliged to accept bank notes. The method of payment can be whatever is mutually acceptable to both parties — cash, credit card, cheque, etc. Thus, a merchant may refuse to accept bank notes in payment for goods or services, without contravening the law. "
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/banknotes/law.html

[CID]

Well CID, I say you're wrong.

Okee Dokie! It's your right to disagree with facts.

[paddy]

I try to pay with cash on internet transactions but no one will accept it...

[co-joe]

This reminds me of the People vs Larry Flint where he pays his contempt of court fine in pennies!