If you’ve bought or received Kingsville Bucks to support Kingsville businesses, make sure you spend them before they expire — in about three months.
“I don’t think that’s fair to the consumer,” says Jake Kelza, a local social media influencer who’s behind the Made in YQG accounts.
“If you get it for a Christmas gift, it’s expiring in essentially two months.”
Normally, Kelza uses Made in YQG to showcase Windsor-Essex businesses and events. But in a recent video post, he expressed misgivings about Kingsville Bucks. “It kind of pissed me off a little bit,” he told viewers. “Everything with this promotion is a little sketchy for me.”
Every year, during this season, the Kingsville Business Improvement Association embarks on its Kingsville Bucks promotion: vouchers that can be redeemed at a long list of Kingsville-area retailers, restaurants, service providers and establishments.
The vouchers cost members of the public $17 for a $20 redemption value — representing a 15 per cent savings to customers, according to the Kingsville BIA.
Royal Bank of Canada issues the vouchers. But they aren’t legal tender, and businesses won’t accept them after Feb. 28, 2026. The Kingsville BIA is upfront about this expiry date.
After Feb. 28, unused vouchers can be brought back to RBC for reimbursement of the original $17 purchase price — up until March 31, 2026.
Following that date, the vouchers can brought to the BIA offices for $17 reimbursement, at any time of the year.
Similar promotions by the Tecumseh BIA and the Essex Centre BIA don’t have expiry dates on their vouchers.
Yet, the shelf life of Kingsville Bucks hasn’t deterred the public from snapping them up. The Kingsville BIA posted that $100,000 worth of vouchers were printed, and they were all sold within a few hours of them becoming available for purchase, on Nov. 13.
“They’re so popular in Kingsville that this year, we actually had the most businesses ever participating,” says Jason Martin, chair of the Kingsville BIA.
“People in this community love supporting the businesses in this community, and we have a nice variety.”
Martin feels there’s a good reason for the Feb. 28 expiry date: The promotion was originally intended to motivate customers “in those times when it’s slow for local businesses.”
“Here in Kingsville, that time is January, February,” Martin explains. “So our intention was to not have these Bucks linger around into the spring and summer, when most businesses locally are busy anyway.”
“We really want to focus on driving business in those slow months. That’s the decision the board made.”
Kelza says he often buys BIA vouchers as gifts for family and friends, as part of his advocacy for small businesses in the region. “(Kingsville Bucks) just kind of caught me off guard, because normally things like this don’t expire.”
Not only does Kelza have concerns about Kingsville Bucks from a consumer perspective, he worries that “the terms are kind of anti-business.” He points out that after Feb. 28, 2026, businesses turning in Kingsville Bucks only get the reduced rate.
“They wouldn’t get the full $20 in value, which works out a little bit weird.”
But Martin — who accepts Kingsville Bucks at his own business, Cindy’s Garden — doesn’t feel the timing window is unreasonable for businesses.
“We need to move the process along. We can’t just let it linger forever. It’s really just an incentive for the businesses to get those (bucks) turned in so that we can get the accounting done and make sure the program is complete in a timely manner.”
David Robins, a lawyer with Strosberg Wingfield Sasso LLP, notes that under Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act, gift cards should not have expiration dates.
“The BIA ‘bucks’ sound like gift cards,” Robins says. “There could be an argument that if the expiration of the gift cards is found to violate the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, that it may constitute an unjust enrichment.”
“But having said that, I’m not sure that anyone would necessarily take the (Kingsville BIA) to task and bring some sort of court proceeding against them. It’s a well-intentioned program and I’m sure many people would want to support it.”
Martin says the Kingsville BIA checked with its own legal counsel, who have determined that Kingsville Bucks aren’t gift cards — they’re vouchers, similar to the limited-time offers available via Groupon.
As such, their expiry date is legal. “This program goes back eight or nine years. When we started doing it, gift card legislation was different back then,” Martin says.
“The wording in our terms and conditions on the website was not specifically 100 per cent clear. We’ve acknowledge that, and we’ve updated the messaging.”
Kelza says he understands the Kingsville BIA is trying to help promote local businesses — and thus, the Kingsville community. “For sure, they are. But I think they have to look into what exactly the terms are, and if it’s actually supporting them.”
“Because, for me, living in Windsor, I would stash (my Kingsville Bucks) away for a couple months, and then they would be expired by the next time I go to Kingsville, right?”
Martin’s response: Why not come to Kingsville sooner to spend your Kingsville Bucks?
“Take advantage of it while you can, right?” Martin says. “That’s the point of having them.”
