Annual report 2025 to 2026

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Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
427 Laurier Ave. West
Ottawa, ON K1R 7Y2

www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency

Cat. No. FC1E-PDF (electronic PDF, English)

ISSN 1706-0532

©His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Finance Canada, October 2026.

Aussi disponible en français sous le titre : Rapport annuel 2025 à 2026

A message from the FCAC Commissioner

Accountability in action

Through our supervisory work, more than $103 million was reimbursed to consumer and business accounts this year. Behind those numbers are Canadians who recovered fees they should never have paid and who received redress when financial institutions fell short of their obligations. These reimbursements demonstrate how effective oversight can promote accountability and strengthen confidence in the financial marketplace.

Supporting Canadians when it matters

Protecting consumers from financial harm and helping them build financial confidence and resilience remained at the core of our work. By strengthening our risk-based approach to supervision and advancing the National Financial Literacy Strategy, we focused our efforts where they could have the greatest impact. This included tailored support for financially vulnerable mortgage holders, behavioural interventions to reduce credit card debt, research on effective budgeting practices, and initiatives to strengthen financial confidence among young women. Together, these efforts helped Canadians better manage financial challenges and make informed financial decisions.

Addressing new and emerging Risks

At the same time, we continued to monitor and address emerging risks, including fraud, artificial intelligence, and cryptoassets. By combining research, supervision, stakeholder engagement, and policy advice, we strengthened our understanding of how these developments affect consumers and supported measures to help keep consumer protections effective, consistent, and reliable.

Building for the future

We continued to strengthen our capabilities by investing in data, technology, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. Guided by our new 2026-29 Strategic Plan, we are focused on fostering trust in Canada’s financial system by protecting financial consumers and empowering them to make informed decisions.

Working together for Canadians

Protecting financial consumers is a shared responsibility. I thank FCAC employees and our partners across Canada and internationally for their dedication and collaboration. Together, we are improving outcomes for Canadians and strengthening confidence in the financial marketplace.

Marking 25 years of service

In October 2026, FCAC will celebrate its 25th anniversary. This milestone is an opportunity to reflect on a quarter century of advancing consumer protection and financial literacy, recognize the contributions of employees and partners, and renew our commitment to serving Canadians.

The year in numbers

More than 1.5 million visits to FCAC's "Making the Most of Your Money" campaign webpage, connecting Canadians with trusted financial information and tools

About FCAC

Our mission and mandate

Mission

Our mission is to foster trust in Canada’s financial system by protecting financial consumers and empowering them to make informed decisions.

Mandate

As a federal agency, we are mandated to protect the rights and interests of consumers of financial products and services in Canada.

To fulfill our mandate, we:

• supervise the compliance of FRFEs with federal consumer protection laws, public commitments, and codes of conduct
• oversee financial institutions' complaint-handling obligations and the independent process for reviewing unresolved banking complaints
• strengthen the financial literacy of Canadians
• monitor and evaluate trends and emerging issues that impact financial consumers in Canada
• provide information to Canadians on their rights and responsibilities, to help them make informed financial decisions, and
• conduct and leverage research to inform policy and legislative frameworks and strengthen protections for financial consumers.

These activities are carried out in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, both in Canada and internationally, including federal, provincial and territorial partners.

25 years of protecting financial consumers 

Since its establishment in 2001, FCAC has adapted to a rapidly changing financial landscape while remaining focused on improving consumer protection, strengthening financial literacy, and promoting positive outcomes for Canadians.

2001

FCAC is established
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act comes into force on October 24, 2001.

2005

Launch of FCAC’s interactive Credit Card Comparison Tool
Allows Canadians to compare credit cards quickly and easily on-line.

2007

Enhanced enforcement powers
Maximum penalties for financial institutions double to $200,000.

2010

Bank Act expands FCAC’s mandate
Now includes oversight of federal credit unions and protections for merchants accepting credit and debit card payments.

2011

Launch of Financial Literacy Month
Every November, FCAC and its partners promote financial literacy through education and outreach.

2014

Stronger protections for prepaid card users
Federal regulations strengthen prepaid payment product protections and oversight by FCAC.

2015

Launch of the first National Strategy for Financial Literacy
FCAC launches “Count Me In, Canada,” the first national strategy to strengthen the financial literacy of Canadians.

2018

Publication of Domestic Bank Retail Sales Practices Review
Identifies risks to consumers and helps shape new consumer protections under Canada's Financial Consumer Protection Framework.

2019

New protections for banking seniors
Banking industry adopts a Code of Conduct for the Delivery of Banking Services to Seniors, supervised by FCAC.

2020

FCAC's enforcement powers strengthened
Legislative amendments expand FCAC’s powers to order compliance, require consumer reimbursements or credits, impose higher penalties, and name non-compliant institutions.

2021

Renewal of the National Financial Literacy Strategy
FCAC launches “Make Change that Counts,” a renewed 5-year strategy focused on building Canadians’ financial resilience.

2022

A new Financial Consumer Protection Framework
Legislative changes give consumers new and enhanced protections in their dealings with banks.

2023

New expectations for mortgage relief measures
FCAC issues guidance requiring financial institutions to support consumers at risk of defaulting on their mortgage.

2024

Banking complaints system strengthened
The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) becomes Canada's single external banking complaints body, under FCAC oversight.

2025

New protections for banking consumers
Non-sufficient fund (NSF) fees for personal deposit accounts capped at $10 and banks commit to enhance free and low-cost bank accounts.

Our organizational structure and leadership

As part of the Agency’s ongoing renewal, this past year we undertook an organizational restructuring to strengthen how we operate and deliver on our mandate. This change is designed to optimize our structures and processes, identify efficiencies in line with the Government of Canada’s Comprehensive Expenditure Review (CER), and position FCAC to operate as a more aligned, effective, and future‑ready organization.

The financial consumer environment

Canadians are navigating a financial environment that is changing rapidly and becoming increasingly complex, with rising costs, evolving fraud risks, and new financial technologies contributing to that change.

This section highlights the key trends FCAC is monitoring and responding to.

Financial stress

During the reporting period, Canadian households remained highly indebted relative to their income, which increased their vulnerability to financial shocks such as job losses or unexpected expenses. Statistics Canada reported in March 2026 that household debt continued to outpace disposable income for a fifth consecutive quarter, reaching $1.77 for every dollar earned.^{Footnote 2} 

Results from FCAC’s Monthly Financial Well-Being Monitor reinforce these trends, showing that many Canadians are still struggling to keep up with bills and everyday expenses, build emergency savings, or manage persistent debt.

These findings underscore the growing need to help Canadians strengthen their financial resilience and navigate financial challenges with confidence. They highlight the value of the resources, tools, and programs offered by FCAC and our partners, and of the Agency’s role in promoting the fair treatment of consumers and helping ensure Canadians have access to financial products and services that are appropriate to their needs.

Key indicators on Canadians’ financial well-being, 2025^{Footnote 3}

Financial fraud

Fraud is affecting more Canadians than ever before, with consumers losing money through unauthorized transactions. In 2025, Canadians reported $704 million in losses to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre—a nearly 300% increase since 2020—though actual losses are estimated to be significantly higher due to underreporting.

FCAC research shows that fraud does not affect all Canadians the same way, highlighting the need for targeted, risk-based prevention strategies. For example, women and seniors commonly report phishing and unauthorized card use, while men are more vulnerable to investment fraud.

Addressing fraud is a priority across the financial ecosystem. FCAC continues to work with partners to support the development of the Government of Canada's National Anti-Fraud Strategy, which includes proposed regulatory measures to better protect consumers when their personal deposit accounts are compromised by fraudsters. The measures would also require banks to provide fraud data to FCAC, strengthening the evidence available to better understand fraud trends and inform future policy development.

Innovation and emerging technologies

Innovation is reshaping the financial marketplace. New entrants are emerging, and traditional institutions are evolving their business models through technologies such as AI. These advances offer clear benefits: expanding access, improving efficiency, and enabling more personalized financial services.

At the same time, innovation is introducing new risks—particularly related to fraud, market conduct, transparency, and the potential for exclusion. As the ecosystem evolves, these risks must be carefully managed to ensure consumers are protected and not left behind. This includes strengthening Canadians’ awareness, use, and understanding of financial products and emerging technologies, so they can navigate an increasingly complex marketplace with confidence.

In this context, FCAC is working closely with federal partners to monitor emerging developments and to bring a strong consumer and supervisory perspective to financial sector policy and oversight. Our goal is to ensure that innovation and consumer protection advance together and translate into meaningful protection and improved outcomes for Canadians.

Supervisory oversight of federally regulated entities

We leverage a risk-based approach to promote, monitor, and enforce the compliance of FRFEs with their obligations to protect consumers through a range of tools and activities, as described in FCAC’s Supervision Framework.

Promoting compliance

Compliance is facilitated when obligations are clearly identified and widely understood by regulated entities and stakeholders. FCAC promotes sound business practices and responsible market conduct by communicating its expectations and interpretations.

We regularly update supervisory guidelines to align our expectations for industry with evolving regulatory frameworks, and to promote clarity for stakeholders. In 2025-2026, this work included publishing updated guidelines for the new Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry:

• on the responsibility of payment card network operators (PCNO) to ensure compliance with the code by the payment service providers (participants) that use PCNO networks. The guideline sets out FCAC’s expectations for PCNOs to effectively monitor and enforce participants’ compliance with the code.
• on the requirements for participants to disclose information to merchants in agreements and monthly statements, and to handle merchants’ complaints in a timely manner.

In 2023, FCAC issued a Guideline on Existing Consumer Mortgage Loans in Exceptional Circumstances. The guideline sets out how FCAC expects federally regulated financial institutions to provide tailored support to consumers with mortgages on their principal residence who are experiencing severe financial difficulty. As of March 31, 2026, regulated entities had contacted more than 180,000 at-risk mortgage accounts. As a result, Canadians had avoided more than $8.31 million in penalties and fees that they would have incurred if they had had to deal with late or missed mortgage payments.

Monitoring compliance

FCAC identifies potential compliance issues through multiple sources, including mandatory reports from regulated entities, supervisory activities, information received from regulatory partners, and market monitoring. This information helps us to assess compliance, identify risks, and determine whether enforcement action may be required.

In 2025–2026:

• We received 413 reportable compliance issues from regulated entities. Each reported issue is reviewed and assessed and, where warranted, leads to further investigations to determine if supervisory or enforcement action is required.
• We undertook more than 350 bilateral supervisory engagements with regulated entities, to address potential consumer protection risks to financial consumers, and to provide clear expectations on required actions, as warranted.
• We launched a compliance examination program to assess how financial institutions manage specific market conduct obligations. Examination findings and expectations for improvement are communicated to institutions, and FCAC monitors the implementation of corrective actions to strengthen compliance and better protect consumers.
• We published the results of a thematic review of small- and medium-sized banks’ implementation of enhanced obligations for complaint-handling that were introduced in 2022. While the banks took steps towards meeting the new requirements, we found several areas for improvement. For example, the banks reviewed did not treat all expressions of dissatisfaction from consumers as complaints and did not always deal with complaints within the prescribed period of 56 calendar days. We are monitoring the implementation of corrective actions by the banks reviewed.
• We launched a review of banks’ implementation of the legislative obligation to offer financial products and services that are appropriate for consumers’ needs and circumstances. We expect to publish the results in the next fiscal year.

Enforcing compliance

Enforcement involves assessing and investigating potential breaches of market conduct obligations. Following an investigation, the Agency takes appropriate action based on the evidence and findings of the investigation.

In 2025–2026:

• More than $103 million was reimbursed to consumer and business accounts through our supervision and enforcement work.
• We opened 17 Action Plans and Compliance Agreements and closed 16 of them following the completion of corrective actions. (There are times when FCAC may require FRFEs to establish Action Plans or Compliance Agreements to address a breach of a market conduct obligation, to prevent recurrence and support compliance. The duration of an Action Plan or Compliance Agreement varies, and they may begin in one fiscal year and conclude in another.)
• We issued 210 Notices of Breach and 1 Notice of Violation to FRFEs following our investigations into non-compliance with market conduct obligations. The enforcement actions that follow are aligned with the severity of the breach and are described in our Supervision Framework.
• We reviewed more than 70 whistleblower reports submitted by bank employees. FCAC’s Whistleblower Program provides bank employees with a secure and confidential mechanism to report suspected wrongdoing related to market conduct obligations. FCAC protects the confidentiality of whistleblowers’ identities and assesses reports to inform its supervisory and enforcement activities.
• The Commissioner published 2 summaries of proceedings for violations of legal obligations committed by FRFEs. The banks who committed these violations paid administrative monetary penalties of $5.5 million and $4 million respectively. The violations highlight the financial harm consumers can experience when key product information is not fully disclosed. All Canadian banks are expected to review the published violations, assess their compliance, and address any issues or deficiencies in a timely manner.

Obligation to report consumer complaints

By law, federally regulated financial institutions (banks and federally regulated trust, loan and insurance companies) are required to have a procedure for handling complaints. These institutions must also submit reports to FCAC on certain complaints they receive from consumers. The reports provide summary information about each complaint record.

To resolve a complaint, consumers must contact their financial institution directly. The Agency oversees the compliance of regulated entities with their complaint handling obligations but does not handle individual complaints or provide compensation to consumers.

In 2025–2026, the Agency received 236,324 reportable complaints from federally regulated entities, a 5.5% increase from the last fiscal year.

The following table presents the top 5 products or services most frequently complained about to regulated entities.

Note: Totals may exceed the total number of reportable complaints, as individual complaints can be assigned to more than one product or service.

The information on consumer complaints that FCAC collects from regulated entities helps us fulfill our mandate. It assists us in identifying concerns about the market conduct of financial institutions, and in gathering information on trends and emerging issues. The information can provide insights into areas that may benefit from additional policy, regulations, research, and consumer education resources. It also helps us to identify risks of non-compliance with market conduct obligations.

Timeframe for complaint handling by banks

Under the Financial Consumer Protection Framework, banks are required to deal with consumer complaints within 56 days of receiving them. FCAC’s monitoring shows steady improvement, with the proportion of complaints dealt with within 56 days increasing from 86% in 2022–2023 to 95% in 2023–2024 and 96% in both 2024–2025 and 2025–2026. The average time required by banks to deal with complaints also decreased over this period, from 33 days in 2022–2023 to 21 days in 2025–2026, reflecting more timely outcomes for consumers.

Our key results

This section highlights the key results we achieved in delivering the commitments we made in our 2025–2026 Business Plan. These commitments are in addition to, and enhance, the core business functions that we undertake to fulfill the Agency’s mandate, as set out in the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act and other statutes.

1. A risk-based, data-driven approach to supervision

We use a risk based approach to supervise how federally regulated financial entities (FRFEs) comply with their market conduct obligations, focusing our efforts where the risk of financial harm to consumers is greatest. Our supervision covers institutions of all sizes, across a range of business models. To strengthen our approach, we have developed a new Market Conduct Risk Assessment Model, which marks a significant shift towards a more data-driven and entity-specific approach that is tailored to the realities of both large and small entities.

The new model enables FCAC to better assess the risks of non-compliance by FRFEs, using multiple risk factors. It also places greater focus on ongoing engagements with industry, to promote clear and transparent communications of regulatory expectations.

2. Access to low-cost banking services

A new commitment by the banking industry, which gives Canadians access to bank accounts at low cost, took effect on December 1, 2025^{Footnote 5} . It modernizes the previous commitment that had been in place since 2014. Negotiated by FCAC, the new commitment was implemented by several federally regulated financial institutions, including Canada’s 6 largest banks. Canadians can now access modern, affordable bank accounts offering up to 50% more debit transactions per month. These include widely used transaction types such as electronic fund transfers (e.g., Interac e-transfers). All Canadians can access these accounts for no more than $4 per month. In addition, more groups are eligible for accounts costing $0 per month, including Indigenous peoples and newcomers to Canada in their first year.

3. Stronger protections for merchants

Canadian merchants that accept payment cards (e.g., credit and debit cards) benefit from new and enhanced protections under the updated Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry in Canada, which was fully implemented in April 2025. FCAC supervises the code, which gives merchants more information on fees, access to an improved complaint handling process, and greater flexibility in exiting agreements without penalty. Together, these enhancements make it easier for merchants to understand their costs, resolve issues, and make choices that work for their businesses.

All major payment card network operators (PCNOs)—including American Express Canada, Discover, Mastercard Canada, Visa Canada, and Interac—have implemented the code. These PCNOs are responsible for compliance with the code by companies using their networks, such as payment processing companies and card issuers. FCAC published 2 industry guidelines to support the code’s implementation.

4. Strengthening regulatory effectiveness through partnerships

In 2025–2026, FCAC deepened its collaboration with regulatory partners across Canada and internationally to better protect consumers in a fast changing financial marketplace. We strengthened existing partnerships and built new ones to support fair consumer treatment, improve information sharing, and address risks that increasingly cut across jurisdictions.

We placed a particular emphasis on strengthening federal–provincial cooperation. This year, FCAC joined the Market Conduct Working Group of the Credit Union Prudential Supervisors Association (CUPSA). This working group supports coordinated supervision, sharing of best practices, and regulatory alignment. FCAC also advanced efforts to formalize partnerships through memoranda of understanding on matters of shared interest. These agreements are designed to support more consistent consumer protection and more timely regulatory responses across jurisdictions.

We continued to work closely with partners on the Financial Institutions Supervisory Committee (FISC) and the Senior Advisory Committee (SAC) to coordinate regulatory responses and shape financial sector policy. This work also supported the sharing of data and insights among federal partners and ensured alignment across supervisory and consumer protection mandates.

FCAC contributes to and draws on international best practices through its work with the International Financial Consumer Protection Organisation (FinCoNet). Over the past year, FinCoNet members focused on emerging consumer protection challenges, including innovation, digitalization, fraud and scams, and the use of complaints data to strengthen oversight. Insights from these discussions help inform FCAC’s supervisory approach and support stronger financial consumer protection in Canada.

We also contributed to international regulatory policy frameworks through our engagements with the G20-OECD Task Force on Financial Consumer Protection. This included contributions to the revised Compendium of Effective Approaches for the G20/OECD High-Level Principles on Financial Consumer Protection, and to the OECD Consumer Finance Risk Monitor 2026.

5. Mobilizing partners to strengthen financial literacy

The National Financial Literacy Strategy 2021–2026 (National Strategy) is now in its final year. Launched as a 5 year framework to build a more accessible, inclusive, and effective financial ecosystem for all Canadians, the National Strategy has served as a common foundation for collaboration, shared outcomes, and learning across Canada’s financial literacy community.

Tracking collective progress

To track progress and measure results under the National Strategy, FCAC introduced Counting Change: A Measurement Plan. The plan helps members of the financial ecosystem speak a common language—by providing shared definitions, indicators, and outcome frameworks—and helps them align their work with the National Strategy and share measures and results. At the end of fiscal year 2025–2026, 38 organizations had adopted the Measurement Plan to track the outcomes and impact of their financial literacy initiatives. This measurement work supports organizations in determining how best to monitor, improve, and evaluate the financial outcomes and resilience of Canadians, and scale the impact of financial literacy initiatives.

Financial literacy partnerships 

FCAC engages with approximately 400 stakeholders across sectors to advance the National Strategy, reinforcing our leadership in mobilizing the financial literacy ecosystem.

This year, through behavioural experiments and pilot initiatives, the Agency continued to work with partners to reach Canadians at various stages—from students and young adults building financial skills for the first time, to seniors at risk of fraud and financial abuse, to households working to manage rising costs. These initiatives delivered practical results, helping people save more, manage debt, budget effectively, and build confidence in their finances. Highlights of this work are outlined in the sections below.

Engagement was also driven through national and regional financial literacy networks representing hundreds of organizations, as well as key forums, including the FCAC Research Committee on Financial Literacy, the federal Interdepartmental Committee on Financial Literacy, and the Financial Literacy Working Group for Indigenous Peoples. Insights from this work are informing the assessment and renewal of the National Strategy.

Internationally, FCAC contributed to global best practices through the OECD International Network on Financial Education (OECD/INFE) Working Group on Measurement, Evaluation and Impact. This work included contributions to the OECD/INFE Toolkit for Measuring Financial Literacy, Inclusion and Well-Being 2026, which features a widely used financial literacy questionnaire designed to capture outcomes across diverse populations.

Research and data sharing

In 2025–2026, FCAC advanced its Research and Data Exchange (RDX) platform, strengthening the evidence base for the ecosystem. Key developments included launching a Financial Well-Being Dashboard—an interactive tool to track and compare outcomes across demographic groups—and developing new data stories that translate complex survey findings into clear, actionable insights on topics such as saving for education, retirement planning, speaking about fraud, getting financial advice, and making mortgage renewal decisions. FCAC continued to strengthen the RDX platform as a mechanism to share evidence, support partners, and amplify the reach and impact of data and insights across the financial ecosystem.

6. Insights on financial consumer behaviours

FCAC conducts and leverages research on trends and issues affecting financial consumers to inform supervision and shape practical tools, content, and interventions that protect consumers and improve Canadians’ financial well being.

Through national surveys—including FCAC’s Monthly Financial Well Being Monitor—we track spending patterns, budgeting practices, debt levels, and Canadians’ ability to withstand financial shocks. These insights highlight key risks such as over indebtedness, low financial resilience, and limited financial or digital literacy.

Highlights from 2025–2026 include:

Mortgage decision making gaps

A FCAC survey of mortgage holders found that 1 in 5 Canadians did not compare lenders when taking out or renewing a mortgage, and 13% were unaware that mortgage terms or rates could be negotiated. This highlights important awareness gaps, particularly among younger, lower-income, and self employed Canadians.

Use of financial advice

FCAC published research showing that Canadians vary in how they seek and trust financial advice, with only 35% reporting that they sought advice in the past year, and higher uptake among younger Canadians than among those aged 35 and over.

Awareness and understanding of payday loans and stablecoins

FCAC published research on payday loans and stablecoins, showing that many Canadians have a limited understanding of how these products work, including their costs, risks, and safeguards.

7. Supporting financial decisions for Canadians

FCAC applies behavioural insights to support Canadians in making better financial decisions and adopting positive financial behaviours, which leads to better outcomes. Working with partners across the financial ecosystem, we design, test and scale low-cost interventions that make financial information easier to understand and act on.

Highlights from 2025–2026 include:

Reducing credit card debt

In collaboration with academic researchers, FCAC tested the effect of short digital nudges that encouraged Canadians to pay down credit card debt. Results show that low-cost interventions can significantly help Canadians reduce their credit card debt—at a time when about half of Canadians carry a credit card balance from month to month.

Rethinking budgeting

A longitudinal study found that even occasional budgeting can improve financial outcomes. FCAC’s research also showed that people who face barriers to budgeting benefit from tailored, practical support to help them get started.

Boosting financial confidence among young women

FCAC continued to scale up a gamified learning intervention delivered to students in grades 6 through 12 through the ChatterHigh educational technology platform. Results show that this intervention strengthens students’ financial literacy and close the gender gap in financial knowledge in several areas, while narrowing the gender gap in financial confidence.

8. Financial information, tools and resources

FCAC provides tailored, unbiased and fact-based information, tools and resources that empower consumers to know their rights and make informed financial decisions. This work also helps to increase awareness of our mandate and expand our reach and impact.

Highlights from 2025–2026 include:

Advertising campaign: Managing money in a complex economy

FCAC launched a national multimedia advertising campaign to help Canadians manage their money and improve their financial well-being in uncertain times. Under the theme “Making the most of your money,” the campaign promoted practical and trusted resources and tools through digital, out-of-home, and audio advertising nationwide, generating over 1.5 million web visits to Canada.ca/it-pays-to-know.

Celebrating 15 years of Financial Literacy Month

Financial Literacy Month 2025 marked the 15th edition of this national initiative led by FCAC in support of the National Financial Literacy Strategy. Building on the 2024 “Talk Money” campaign, FCAC encouraged open conversations about money, shared trusted tools, and mobilized partners across Canada to reach diverse audiences, including young adults and underserved Canadians. Grounded in research showing that talking about money builds financial confidence and improves decision making, FCAC provided adaptable digital toolkits that were used by libraries, community groups, industry associations, and governments nationwide. Through digital platforms, community events, and broad government amplification, Financial Literacy Month delivered visible, accessible, and credible financial literacy content to millions of Canadians.

Consumer information

In 2025–2026, FCAC updated consumer information for Canadians and merchants to help them understand their rights and protect their money. This included updates and new, plain‑language information on:

• low‑cost and no‑cost bank accounts, reflecting the modernized commitment in place as of December 2025, helping Canadians access more affordable everyday banking.
• limits on NSF fees, explaining new rules that cap non‑sufficient funds fees at $10 at federally regulated banks, reducing the cost of banking for Canadians.
• merchant rights under the updated Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry, helping businesses that accept card payments better understand fees, their rights, how card payments work, and complaint options.

Helping Canadians protect themselves from fraud

During Fraud Prevention Month (March 2026), FCAC’s campaign focused on equipping Canadians with the knowledge and confidence to recognize fraud, safeguard their financial information, and report suspicious activity. This included promoting FCAC resources to:

• recognize credit card fraud and debit card fraud
• understand how to report suspicious activity and resolve unauthorized transactions.

Consumer Information Centre

The Agency responds to enquiries from Canadians through its Consumer Information Centre (CIC), which provides information on consumer rights, financial products and services, and complaint-handling processes of banks. Insights from CIC enquiries help FCAC identify emerging trends and issues in the marketplace and inform the development of tools and resources to support financial well-being.

In 2025–2026, the most common reasons for contacting FCAC were difficulty accessing funds, credit and collection issues, and fraud. Across these areas, concerns about complaint handling—including delays and unresolved disputes—were a frequent topic of enquiries.

9. Advancing and shaping financial sector frameworks

FCAC plays an active role in advancing and shaping financial sector frameworks to help ensure that consumer protections keep pace with a changing marketplace. Drawing on our research, data, and supervisory experience, we inform policy, as well as legislative and regulatory initiatives led by the Department of Finance Canada. This work highlights the importance of FCAC’s consumer protection mandate, and reinforces our role in ensuring Canadians benefit from fair treatment, clear rules, and consistent protections across the financial sector.

10. Consumer-driven banking

In Budget 2025, the Government of Canada announced that responsibility for overseeing consumer driven banking would transfer to the Bank of Canada, building on its experience supervising payment service providers. FCAC worked closely with Finance Canada and the Bank of Canada to support a smooth transition, drawing on our foundational work in designing a secure data sharing system for Canadians. These efforts will help set the framework up for success by ensuring continuity, regulatory clarity, and strong protections so consumers can confidently benefit as Canada’s consumer driven banking system evolves.

11. Employee well-being and equity, diversity and inclusion

Throughout the year, FCAC continued to focus on fostering a diverse, skilled, and healthy workforce. We advanced employee well being and professional development through continuous learning opportunities and by implementing targeted action plans in key areas, including official languages (OL), equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), mental health and wellness, and accessibility.

Highlights from 2025–2026 include:

Learning and engagement

Employees participated in courses and sessions that encouraged reflection on themes such as Indigenous perspectives, addressing antisemitism and racism in the workplace, mental health, and financial wellness.

Employee feedback

We continued to engage with employee groups, including the Workplace Advisory Committee and the EDI Ambassadors and OL Ambassadors communities. We shared results from the 2024 Public Service Employee Survey and held engagement sessions to gather employee input. This feedback directly informed action plans to address people-management priorities and enhance workplace well being.

Awareness and inclusion

FCAC marked important events such as Mental Health Week, Pride Season, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Black History Month, and the Rendez vous de la Francophonie.

Accessibility

FCAC published its Accessibility Plan for 2026–2028, setting out concrete actions to identify, remove, and prevent barriers, and to strengthen equal access and inclusion in the workplace.

Notes:

1. The term "Indigenous peoples" aligns with international usage and in this report replaces the legislative term "Aboriginal peoples" that appears in the Employment Equity Act.
2. The percentage of FCAC employees is the percentage of indeterminate employees and employees hired for a term of at least 3 months who self-identify as a member of this employment equity group.
3. Labour market availability is based on Statistics Canada data, the 2021 Census, and the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability.

Notes:

1. The percentage of FCAC employees is the percentage of indeterminate employees and employees hired for a term of at least 3 months who identify their first official language as English or French.
2. The data source for the Canadian population is Snapshots of Official Languages in Canada (2024) from the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages, based on 2021 Census data.

12. Data and technology

FCAC continued to invest in the tools, skills, and capabilities needed to make better use of data and new technologies. The responsible adoption of AI was central to these efforts.

Highlights from 2025–2026 include:

• Rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot to all employees, supported by ongoing training and resulting in a 95% adoption rate.
• Exploring opportunities to use AI across the organization through collaboration with other government departments.
• Enabling employees to use AI agents to support productivity.
• Applying machine learning techniques to analyze large datasets, including complaints data used in thematic supervisory reviews.

This work is steadily advancing FCAC’s evolution into a more data driven organization. By strengthening how we collect, analyze, and use information, we are improving our ability to identify emerging risks, understand consumer experiences in real time, and support better, faster decision-making across the Agency.

13. Data security and integrity

This year, FCAC continued to strengthen how it manages and protects information by improving information management practices, investing in cybersecurity tools, and expanding training and awareness across the organization. These efforts help ensure that employees can use data effectively and responsibly—while safeguarding sensitive information—in support of FCAC’s mandate.

Highlights from 2025–2026 include:

• Strengthening employee awareness of information classification practices, with a particular focus on email security.
• Standardizing data terminology across the organization, and continuing the shift to enterprise wide approaches.
• Establishing a reference data working group to better identify and manage key Agency data.
• Advancing secure data handling approaches to support high priority initiatives, including FCAC’s study on banking fees.

The work we achieved this year further positions the Agency to strengthen its data and analytics capabilities in a controlled, secure, and sustainable way—adding new capabilities where they are needed to support effective oversight of federally regulated entities and to inform consumer education and financial literacy efforts.

Spending and human resources

As a financial sector regulator, FCAC delivers high-quality programs and services to meet the needs of Canadians, all while ensuring financial discipline and exercising prudent financial management practices.

The Agency recovers its costs mainly through assessments against the regulated entities it supervises. In addition to revenues from these assessments, the Agency receives an annual statutory authority of a maximum of $5 million to support the financial literacy of Canadians. In 2025–2026, FCAC received an additional $6.5 million in statutory authority to support its expanded mandate to oversee, administer and enforce Canada’s Consumer-Driven Banking Framework. As announced in Budget 2025, this funding ended and was transferred to the Bank of Canada effective April 1, 2026. 

Note: Totals may not add due to rounding. Expenses are presented on an accrual basis.

FCAC's total expenses for 2025-2026 were $13.6 million lower than planned. This variance reflects the Agency's responsible management of resources and its responsiveness to evolving priorities, including the cessation of consumer-driven banking work, the implementation of measures related to the Government of Canada's Comprehensive Expenditure Review (CER), and lower spending on professional services and IT expenditures.

In line with the government’s Budget 2025 commitment to manage workforce reductions to the greatest extent possible through attrition while minimizing involuntary departures, FCAC reassigned employees impacted by the transfer of consumer-driven banking to other roles within the Agency and will certify applications under the Early Retirement Incentive program in 2026–2027.

Additional information on FCAC’s finances and human resources can also be found in the GC InfoBase, as well as in FCAC’s Financial Statements for 2025–2026.

Annex A: Information about the Departmental Results Framework

As per the Treasury Board of Canada’s Policy on Results, Government of Canada entities are expected to identify core responsibilities and describe at a high level what the organization does, what it is trying to achieve, and how it will assess its progress.

FCAC’s core responsibility is to protect financial consumers. The Agency achieves this by implementing 2 programs: Supervision and Enforcement, and Research, Policy and Education. FCAC’s budgetary resources, employees, and activities are organized around this core responsibility and these 2 enabling programs.

Program 1: Supervision and Enforcement

This program promotes, monitors, and enforces compliance on the part of regulated entities subject to market conduct obligations established by legislation, codes of conduct, and public commitments.

Program 2: Research, Policy and Education

This program strengthens the financial literacy and resilience of Canadians. Carried out in collaboration with stakeholders (including through mobilizing the financial ecosystem), this program relies on evidence-based research and collaboration to propose policies, educate consumers, and encourage Canadians to take beneficial financial actions. The scope of this program is covered comprehensively by the National Financial Literacy Strategy.

Internal services

FCAC’s programs are supported by a solid foundation of advice and services provided by its marketing, communications, stakeholder relations, legal services, human resources, information technology, finance, and administration teams.

Annex B: Risk and compliance reporting

The Risk and Compliance Process (RCP) is a self-assessment designed to help deputy heads verify that they have controls and practices in place to meet their accountabilities under legislation and Treasury Board policy, and to effectively manage risks within their departments.

In 2025–2026, FCAC completed the RCP self-assessment. Overall, RCP self-assessment results indicate that the Agency is compliant and performing well across most areas of focus.

FCAC’s RCP self-assessment identified several areas of strength. Governance and oversight structures are well established, with clear accountabilities and effective senior management oversight of plans and performance. The Agency is fully compliant in terms of values and ethics and workplace health and well-being, supporting these areas through targeted training, clear guidance, and effective preventative measures. Technology and service-planning functions are compliant and anchored in multi-year planning that supports decision making.

One area identified for improvement was security. While security requirements were being followed and monitored, some procedures and guidance had not yet been formally documented at the time of the assessment. Since then, the Agency has incorporated updates to its security documentation and processes into its 2025–2026 and 2026–2027 planning activities to strengthen and formalize existing practices.

Where we work and how to contact us 

Our offices

FCAC’s employees work in modern and fully accessible offices equipped with the tools and technology needed to support their work—both from our headquarters in downtown Ottawa and our Toronto office located in the city’s financial district.

Contact us

Website: canada.ca/fcac

Telephone (Consumer Information Centre):

toll-free: 1-866-461-3222

in Ottawa or outside Canada: 613-960-4666

TTY (for persons with hearing impairment):

toll free: 1-866-914-6097

in Ottawa or outside Canada 613-947-7771

Email: Contact us

X (formerly Twitter): @FCACan

YouTube: FCACan

Facebook: FB.com/FCACan

Instagram: fcac_can

LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/company/fcacan

Postal address:

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
427 Laurier Ave. West, Suite 500
Ottawa, Ontario  K1R 7Y2