CAMVAP: Canada's free national arbitration program for new-vehicle warranty disputes

Our page on mandatory arbitration clauses covers provinces voiding a seller's ability to force you into arbitration by contract. The Canadian Motor Vehicle Arbitration Plan, known as CAMVAP, is a different animal entirely — a voluntary, no-cost arbitration program that exists precisely so a consumer who wants a fast, informal alternative to court has one, funded by the industry it holds accountable. It's worth knowing what it actually covers, because the gap between what people assume it covers and what it actually covers is exactly where confusion tends to start.

What CAMVAP actually is

CAMVAP has operated since 1994 as a national arbitration program for new-vehicle disputes, funded through the automobile industry's own trade associations rather than through government or a consumer fee. It handles on the order of a few hundred cases a year across Canada, though the count moves with the year — CAMVAP's own published annual reports are the current source, not a fixed figure. A dispute goes before a neutral, independent arbitrator, with a hearing typically held in the consumer's own home community, and the process is designed to run start to finish in roughly 70 to 90 days — a genuinely different timeline from civil litigation.

What it covers: the manufacturer's own new-vehicle warranty, and alleged defects

CAMVAP's jurisdiction is specifically disputes over an alleged defect in a vehicle's assembly or materials, or over how a participating manufacturer is applying or administering its own new-vehicle warranty. That scope matters: it's squarely about the factory warranty that comes with the vehicle, described on our extended warranty vs. manufacturer warranty page as the warranty backed by the manufacturer itself, not a separately purchased add-on.

What it doesn't cover — and this is the part people get wrong

CAMVAP's own eligibility rules exclude a dispute over a service contract, extended warranty, or third-party warranty that isn't part of the manufacturer's original new-vehicle warranty. If your dispute is with an independent administrator or a dealer over an extended service contract you paid extra for — the product covered generally on our extended warranty page — CAMVAP is not the venue for it, regardless of how the seller marketed that product to you. Participation by manufacturers is also voluntary, not universal or guaranteed to stay constant over time — check CAMVAP's own current list of participating manufacturers before assuming your vehicle's brand is covered, rather than relying on a general reputation that CAMVAP "covers new cars in Canada."

The eligibility rules that actually gate a claim

Beyond the coverage question, CAMVAP applies real, checkable eligibility limits: the vehicle generally needs to be within the current model year or one of the four previous model years, with fewer than 160,000 kilometres and a gross vehicle weight under 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds), purchased or leased from an authorized Canadian dealer by a Canadian resident. CAMVAP is also meant to be a next step, not a first call — you're expected to have already tried to resolve the dispute directly with your dealer and the manufacturer before applying.

How binding it actually is

An arbitrator's decision under CAMVAP binds the manufacturer, but not the consumer. If the outcome doesn't satisfy you, going to court afterward generally remains an option — a genuinely asymmetric arrangement compared to the mandatory arbitration clauses covered on our arbitration clauses page, which (before the provinces there acted) could bind a consumer to arbitration and away from court entirely. CAMVAP's asymmetry is a design feature of a voluntary industry program, not a rule imposed by any of the provincial statutes covered on that page.

If your dispute is over an insurance-backed product instead

Where a home warranty or vehicle service contract is itself structured and licensed as an insurance product — as it can be in Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan (see our provincial pages) — a complaint that isn't resolved directly with the provider may be a candidate for Canada's General Insurance OmbudService (GIO), a free, member-based dispute-resolution service that already handles home, auto, and business insurance complaints. GIO's coverage runs by insurer membership, not by product category, so whether it actually applies to your specific contract depends on whether your provider's underlying insurer is a GIO member — worth asking your provider or GIO directly, rather than assuming either way.

Ask this before you buy an extended service contract, not after a dispute: "if something goes wrong, is this dispute going to CAMVAP, to an insurance ombudservice, or nowhere but this seller's own internal process?" A legitimate seller should be able to answer that plainly — point 1 of our standard calls for exactly this kind of term to be disclosed before you pay, not discovered only once you already have a complaint.