Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• Jocelyn David claimed $381.68 in contractual damages from the Club de soccer Saint-Lazare Hudson, alleging that communications with coaches were made only in English and that his son lost interest in soccer as a result.
• The defendant did not respond to the claim within the prescribed time, so the matter proceeded by default, though the plaintiff still bore the same burden of proof as in a contested case.
• Testimony from the plaintiff and Nancy Gagnon was found not very reliable or precise, and the evidence showed only one English email was sent by a volunteer coach, with the child losing interest after two sessions.
• Whether the registration contract was a consumer contract governed by sections 188 and following of the Consumer Protection Act was a central legal issue; case law holds these provisions do not apply to volunteer-run sports organizations.
• No provision of the Charter of the French language allowed the plaintiff to claim damages on the facts of the file.
• Under the club's refund policy, the plaintiff was entitled to a refund of $132.50, but the $16.18 cost of the demand letter was refused because the full-refund claim was unjustified and the TimBit jersey was never returned.

Facts of the case

Jocelyn David registered his son with the Club de soccer Saint-Lazare Hudson and later claimed $381.68 from the club as contractual damages. He alleged that, despite repeated complaints, communications from the coaches to his son were made exclusively in English, that nothing changed at subsequent games and practices, and that his son — unable to understand the instructions — lost all interest in an activity he had enjoyed for years. The claim was notified to the club on December 21, 2025, and the club did not inform the clerk of its chosen option within the prescribed time, so the case proceeded by default. Because the file alone did not permit judgment on the record, a hearing was held on March 23, 2026, after a postponement requested by the plaintiff. The special clerk found the testimony of Mr. David and Ms. Nancy Gagnon not very reliable or precise, and concluded the allegations in the claim were not accurate: the evidence showed that only one English email had been sent by a volunteer coach, and that the child lost interest in soccer after just two sessions. At the hearing, the plaintiff and Ms. Gagnon confirmed that the season consisted of 16 practice sessions and that the TimBit jersey had not been returned to the club.

Policy terms and contractual clauses at issue

Email exchanges filed as Exhibit P-2 were central. In a May 26, 2025 reply after the first session, the club explained it was an amateur sports club relying on volunteer parents, stated that at the administrative and technical level it communicated all information in both national languages, but noted it could not guarantee that volunteer coaches would always have time to translate their communications. After the plaintiff's second complaint — in which he demanded, at minimum, a refund of sessions his son had not attended and preferably a full refund — the club responded that it would refund according to its refund policy, instructing internally that $30 in administration fees, $50 in affiliation fees, the uniform cost, and 50% of the remaining amount be retained. A follow-up email dated June 27 set out the calculation: $381.68 minus $6.68 in Spordle fees, $30 in administration fees, $50 in affiliation fees, and $30 for the uniform, leaving $265, of which 50% produced a refund of $132.50. The email also required the TimBit jersey to be returned. Notably, the club's refund policy itself was never filed in evidence.

The court's reasoning and analysis

The special clerk qualified the agreement as a contract of services governed by article 1458 and articles 2098 and following of the Civil Code of Québec, under which the club, as service provider, was bound to act in the best interests of its client with prudence and diligence. A key question was whether the contract was also a consumer contract subject to the sequential-performance rules in sections 188 and following of the Consumer Protection Act. Relying on the case law — including Cabana c. Association du hockey mineur de Cap-Rouge/Saint-Augustin inc., Derome c. Association de hockey mineur de Candiac inc., and Ramos c. Club de soccer Montréal-Nord — the clerk concluded those provisions did not apply, since organizations run by unpaid volunteers are excluded from the definition of "merchant" under section 188 and the registration fee was not set according to an hourly, daily, or weekly rate. The clerk also examined the Charter of the French language carefully and found no provision allowing the plaintiff to claim damages given the facts of the file. On damages, article 1613 of the Civil Code limits contractual recovery to foreseeable damages, and the clerk held he was bound to recognize the club's refund policy, under which the plaintiff was entitled to $132.50. Although demand-letter costs are generally foreseeable contractual damages, the $16.18 in extrajudicial demand costs was refused because the plaintiff was not justified in demanding a full refund and the TimBit jersey was never returned.

Ruling and outcome

The claim was allowed only in part, making Jocelyn David the successful party to a limited extent while falling far short of his $381.68 demand. The Club de soccer Saint-Lazare Hudson was ordered to pay him $132.50, with interest at the legal rate of 5% per year plus the additional indemnity under article 1619 of the Civil Code of Québec, running from June 27, 2025, the date the club was put in default under Exhibit P-2. Applying article 340, paragraph 1, the clerk ordered the plaintiff to bear his own legal costs.