Appearance before the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy (BANC) (February 4, 2026)

Overview

Fraud

• Serious cross sectoral concern; shared responsibility.
• New fraud measures will better enable FCAC to protect financial consumers:
  • monitor trends, identify risks to inform supervision, stakeholder ecosystem, tailor financial literacy initiatives and provide data to inform Finance’s policy work
• Current mandate: supervise market conduct obligations for unauthorized debit and credit card transactions.
• Banks must investigate each case and take all relevant factors into account prior to finding a consumer liable, regardless of the method or technology used to process a transaction.
• Consumers should:
  • contact their bank and the authorities if criminal activity suspected, file a complaint with their bank if unsatisfied, option to escalate to OBSI.

Complaints

• Consumer Information Centre responds to all enquiries (approx. 9,000 – 10,000/year)
  • Provide info on rights and help navigate their bank’s complaint handling process
• Current mandate: supervise bank’s compliance with complaint handling obligations in the Financial Consumer Protection Framework, and to supervise OBSI.
• Banks must report certain complaints data to FCAC quarterly. This data helps us identify market conduct risks and track trends affecting consumers.
• Consumers should address the issue directly with their bank. The bank must follow the requirements outlined in legislation, i.e. deal with complaint within 56 days.
  • If unsatisfied, consumer has the right to bring dispute to OBSI. To date, all banks have complied with OBSI’s rulings.

Supervision and enforcement

• Goal: prevent harm to consumers by detecting risks early so financial entities can take corrective actions, including making affected consumers whole.
• Priority is supervising entities at higher risk of non-compliance, and issues with higher risk of causing financial harm.
• On average, FCAC issues one enforcement action each day to bring entities into compliance.
• Following an investigation FCAC may issue a Notice of Breach level 1, 2 or 3.
  • Level 1: severity is low. Enhanced monitoring to return entity to compliance.
  • Level 2: severity is elevated. Specific action required to return entity to compliance
  • Level 3: severity is high. Entity required to escalate the concerns internally. More significant enforcement measures may be taken (in the normal course of action, FCAC will draft a Compliance Report, which may lead to a Notice of Violation).
• Additional enforcement actions:
  • Action Plans: detail the corrective measures required to address a breach (issued instead of, or in addition to any level of Notice of Breach).
  • Compliance Agreements: written agreement on corrective and preventive measures, including timeframe for completion (issued instead of, or in addition to any level of Notice of Breach).
  • Notice of Violation: issued for breaches of legal obligations or Compliance Agreements.
    • Violations (most serious cases): publish the name of the entity; the nature of the violation, and as appropriate, impose an administrative monetary penalty.

Protecting vulnerable Canadians, including seniors

• Certain groups—such as seniors—may be more vulnerable to fraud and economic abuse. For example:
  FCAC survey data (2024) show women and adults 55+ are more likely to experience phishing or unauthorized debit/credit card use.

• When determining the appropriate level of enforcement for a market conduct breach, we factor in the vulnerability of the consumers impacted.

Financial fraud

Issue:

Canadians are reporting increased instances of financial fraud.

Key messages:

• Fraud can have significant human consequences. Canadians are facing increasingly sophisticated forms of financial fraud that exploit personal vulnerabilities and gaps in consumer protections.
• Fraud is a shared concern, and a shared responsibility, across all levels of government, industry—including banking and telecom—and public safety communities.
• Canada’s new National Anti-Fraud Strategy (announced pre-Budget) aims to combat rising fraud through cross-sector collaboration.
• FCAC’s role will be to oversee proposed fraud prevention measures in Bill C-15 once these come into effect.

If pressed on an individual case of fraud:

• While I can’t speak to the specifics of the situation you are describing, consumers should contact their bank directly if they suspect they have been the victim of financial fraud.
• They also have a right to file a complaint about an unauthorized transaction.
• Although FCAC’s role is not to resolve individual complaints, we can help consumers understand the complaints process. Our role is to oversee banks’ complaint handling processes and the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments.

If pressed on unauthorized transactions:

• Under the current legislation, FCAC supervises market conduct obligations specifically for unauthorized debit and credit card transactions.
• Banks must thoroughly investigate all reports of unauthorized debit and credit card transactions, accounting for all relevant factors.
• If FCAC finds that a regulated entity breached its market conduct obligations, we take action to bring the entity into compliance.

If pressed on liability:

• Cardholder liability can’t be based solely on the fact that the correct chip and PIN were used; in other words, the presence of the correct credentials alone does not prove the consumer was negligent.
• Liability for electronic fund transfers is typically described in bank account terms and conditions. For example:
  • “Consumers using electronic fund transfers services may be held liable for losses arising from system vulnerabilities, third-party actions, or simple human error.”

If pressed on fraud complaint process:

• Anyone who has experienced a problem with their bank can contact FCAC’s Consumer Information Centre to obtain information about their rights, including how to file a complaint with their financial institution.
• Banks are required to have a comprehensive complaint-handling process in place to deal with complaints in a timely, fair and consistent manner.
• Banks’ complaint-handling policies and procedures must be easy for consumers to locate, navigate and understand.
• Consumers can bring their complaint to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) if they are not satisfied with their bank’s response to their complaint.
• OBSI is independent and impartial and is supervised by FCAC.

Supplementary information:

Fraud-related complaints data

Budget 2025 announced that banks will be required to report fraud data to FCAC.

Currently, banks report complaints data to FCAC about specific financial products and services – not about fraud specifically.

In 2024–2025, regulated entities reported to FCAC on nearly 269,000 complaints they received from consumers.

OBSI opened 966 cases concerning consumer complaints to their bank about fraud in 2024 according to its 2024 annual report.

This number is 38% of the total new cases opened by OBSI that year and was up 2% from the previous year.

According to OBSI, a significant number of these complaints were about electronic fund transfers fraud.

Complaint handling

Issue:

Consumers have the right to complain to their banks when they have problems. Any consumer expression of dissatisfaction is a complaint.

Key messages:

• Effective and timely complaint handling is a cornerstone of trust in our financial system.
• Banks are required to resolve complaints within 56 days and to support consumers throughout the process.

If pressed on misinformation regarding "unresolved complaints":

• I welcome the opportunity to clarify some inaccuracies in the media article mentioned.
• That number represents 3 years of data from FCAC’s Consumer Information Centre, which responds to an average of 9-10K enquiries per year.
• FCAC responds to every enquiry received.
• We provide clear, unbiased information about Canadians’ financial rights and responsibilities.  We can help consumers understand their bank’s complaint handling process and advise them on how to escalate their complaint to OBSI if they are unsatisfied with how their bank dealt with the issue.
• Issues that fall within our mandate are referred to the supervision team for additional review.

If pressed on banks' obligations:

• Banks must have procedures for handling complaints and must help their customers with the process.
• Consumers can escalate their complaint to the external complaints body for an independent and impartial review if they are dissatisfied with their bank’s response.
• FCAC supervises banks’ complaint-handling procedures, and the external complaints body. The Agency does not resolve individual complaints.

If pressed on FCAC's role:

• FCAC also supervises the external complaints body, OBSI.
• FCAC’s Consumer Information Centre responds to all enquiries and helps consumers find and understand their bank’s complaints process.
• Consumer complaint data reported by banks to FCAC helps to monitor trends and emerging issues and identify areas of potential concern.

Supplementary information:

Expanded definition of complaint

Any consumer expression of dissatisfaction about a product or service that is offered, sold or provided by the institution must be treated as a complaint.

Timeframe for dealing with complaints

Banks must deal with complaints within 56 days from receipt.

• 97% of reportable complaints in the first quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year were handled within 56 days (year-over-year improvement since the 2022-23 fiscal year: 86%; 95% in 2023-24; 96% in 2024-25).

While improving, FCAC supervises banks’ full adherence to legislated timeframes and is working with entities to bring them into compliance.

Substantive written response

When a complaint is resolved, banks must provide the complainant with a written response outlining the final decision and any offer from the bank.

Complaint handling requirements for banks

Examples - banks must:

• provide consumers information about their CHP
• treat all expressions of dissatisfaction as complaints
• deal with complaints within 56 days
• provide consumers a written response to their complaint
• inform consumers of their right to escalate complaints to the external complaints body, OBSI
• submit reportable complaints data from consumers to FCAC

Complaint data banks report to FCAC

• In 2024–25, FCAC received nearly 269,000 reportable complaints from regulated entities.
• Complaint information can provide insights into potential areas that may benefit from additional supervision, policy, regulations, research and consumer education resources.

Consumer information centre data

FCAC receives questions and enquiries on a wide range of topics, including:

• Merchant rights: Inquiries from businesses about the information that payment card service providers must disclose to them.
• Procedural assistance: How to submit a formal complaint to a financial institution.
• Banking operations: Questions about bank branch closures, changes in service, or branch relocations.

FCAC reviews the information it receives directly from consumers to determine whether it is within the scope of FCAC’s supervision mandate.

Most enquiries are outside of our supervision mandate. For example:

In 2023–2024, FCAC received 6,772 questions and enquiries. Of these, only 283 related to consumer protection measures that we oversee.

Issues that fall within our mandate are referred to the supervision team for additional review.

This is one of many sources of data that informs our Market Conduct Risk Assessment Model, which is a data-driven, proactive, tailored, and entity-specific approach to oversight.

If a risk is identified, we increase the intensity of supervision and resource allocation and escalate as required to get the entity back into compliance.

FCAC supervision and enforcement

Issue:

FCAC’s supervision of regulated entities is effective in ensuring financial consumers benefit from compliance with consumer protections.

Key messages:

• Our principle of putting consumers first guides all our work, including our supervisory interventions.
• Our work builds trust and confidence in financial institutions, which in turn contributes to the safety and soundness of Canada’s financial system.
• When consumers benefit from the protections to which they are entitled, they are empowered to make informed financial decisions and achieve positive financial outcomes.

If pressed on enforcement:

• If FCAC finds that a regulated entity breached its market conduct obligations, it takes enforcement action to bring the entity into compliance.
• The goal of enforcement is to make affected consumers whole and to promote industry compliance through transparency.

If pressed for examples of effectiveness:

• In 2023, FCAC issued the Mortgage Guideline, setting expectations for federally regulated financial institutions to offer tailored support to consumers with an existing residential mortgage.
• As of September 2025, mortgage holders had avoided more than $7.52 million in penalties and fees that they would have incurred if they had had to deal with late or missed mortgage payments.

If pressed on financial consumer protection framework:

• The Financial Consumer Protection Framework in the Bank Act protects Canadians in their dealings with banks and federal credit unions. It came into force in 2022.
• It includes more than 60 enhanced consumer provisions, including the right for consumers to:
  • access basic banking
  • receive key information so they can make informed decisions (e.g. e-alerts, product disclosure statements)
  • access a fair, timely and effective complaints process when they have problems

Supplementary information:

FCAC’s supervision approach aims to prevent harm to consumers by detecting risks early so financial entities can take corrective actions.

Our top priority is supervising financial entities that are at higher risk of non-compliance, and issues that have a higher risk of causing financial harm to consumers.

This approach fosters compliance, supports a competitive and predictable industry environment, and ultimately protects consumers by preventing problems before they become systemic.

Remediation

$104 million in 2024–2025:

• Over $38 million was reimbursed to more than 745,000 consumer and business accounts during 2024–2025.
  • An additional $71 million in reimbursements is underway from a 2024 enforcement action against TD Bank (Notice of Violation dated June 13, 2024).
    • Of that amount, $66 million has already been returned to affected consumers.

Example of a breach requiring remediation: if the cost of a product or service differed from what was disclosed to consumers.

Administrative monetary penalties

Since 2022, regulated entities have paid penalties totalling $26.8 million for violations of consumer provisions.

FCAC can impose a penalty of up to $10 million per violation.

Administrative monetary penalties are not considered re-spendable revenues and are therefore not part of the Agency’s funding.

Proceeds of penalties are payable to the Receiver General.

Transparency / confidentiality of supervision and enforcement

Issue:

Amendments to the FCAC Act that took effect on April 30, 2020, require FCAC’s Commissioner to make public the name of the institution that committed it a violation, and the amount of the penalty imposed.

Key messages:

• Canadians benefit from financial consumer protection rules that promote fairness, transparency, and trust in the financial system.
• FCAC publishes supervisory data in its annual reports and in supervision highlights that share key findings, observations, and insights resulting from its supervisory activities and regulatory approach.
• In the case of a violation, FCAC publishes the name of the regulated entity, the nature of the violation, the amount of any penalty imposed, and requires reimbursement for affected consumers.
• For example, on Monday, February 2, 2026, FCAC published Summary of Proceeding #4:
  • BMO paid a penalty of $4 million in a Notice of Violation issued by FCAC for having committed two violations of its disclosure obligations under the Bank Act relating to personal deposit accounts.
  • The violations relate to erroneous charges for monthly plan fees that should have been waived or discounted for certain personal deposit accounts.
  • From 2010 to 2024, BMO failed to disclose all charges applicable to these accounts. Additionally, between 2022 and 2024, BMO failed to clearly disclose information regarding when monthly plan fees would begin. A total of 101,091 customers were financially impacted.
  • BMO issued refunds and redressed interest to impacted customers totalling more than $3 million.
  • For the amount that could not be refunded to accounts, BMO made a charitable donation of $601,570.17.

If pressed on aggregated nature of publicly available supervision data:

• While legislation does not allow us to identify certain details of our supervisory work for confidentiality reasons, we do make public aggregated information on compliance trends and issues that result in concrete corrective actions to ensure compliance.
• For example:
  • We recently published the findings of 2 reviews of small and medium sized banks’ compliance with consumer protection provisions introduced in the Financial Consumer Protection Framework and identified several areas of non-compliance.
  • One review focused on requirements to send electronic alerts to customers when their account balance hit a minimum threshold amount, the other review assessed the implementation of complaint handling processes.
  • Each of the banks involved in these reviews was informed of the findings specific to their institution and was required to take corrective actions.

Supplementary information:

All federally regulated financial institutions are expected to review the findings of FCAC Decisions and Summaries of Proceedings and apply them to their own practices, as appropriate, to achieve the highest levels of compliance.

Code of conduct - economic abuse

Issue:

Budget 2025 announced a Code of Conduct for the Prevention of Economic Abuse to be overseen by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

Key messages:

• FCAC’s research findings and data also inform the development of Codes of Conduct, which is led by the Department of Finance.
• Principles guiding this new Code:
  • an inclusive and victim-centred approach
  • promoting financial empowerment and independence
  • a collaborative approach among stakeholders
  • continuous improvement

If pressed on enforcement of codes

• Once a regulated entity has signed a Code of Conduct (or a Public Commitment) it is required to comply with the market conduct obligations that therein.
• If FCAC identifies a breach of these obligations, we would take appropriate action under our Supervision Framework by issuing a Notice of Non-Compliance specifying the nature of the breach and subject to the process set out in the Guidelines for Adjudicative Process (no administrative monetary penalty, entity not named).

Supplementary information:

Examples of FCAC’s efforts to protect vulnerable Canadians from economic abuse:

• The Seniors Code (2019) requires banks to have fraud detection systems in place to mitigate against financial harm to seniors.
• Since 2023, banks must allow individuals without standard identification—such as victims of human trafficking—to open basic retail deposit accounts by using flexible verification methods. Banks must maintain anti-money laundering compliance. (Joint Guidance by FCAC and FINTRAC).

Code of conduct - seniors

Issue:

The banking industry adopted a Code of Conduct for the Delivery of Banking Services to Seniors (the Senior’s Code) in 2019.

Key messages:

• The Senior’s Code sets out principles that apply to banks to guide them when they deliver banking products and services to Canada's seniors.
• The principles cover topics such as policies and procedures, effective communication, training, and resources for employees and representatives.
• Key principles of the Code include:
  • Principle 5: Banks who signed on to the Senior’s Code are required to mitigate potential financial harm to seniors.
  • Principle 6: Banks are also required to take into account market demographics and the needs of seniors when proceeding with branch closures.

If pressed on enforcement of codes

• Once a regulated entity has signed a Code of Conduct (or a Public Commitment) it is required to comply with the market conduct obligations that therein.
• If FCAC identifies a breach of these obligations, we would take appropriate action under our Supervision Framework by issuing a Notice of Non-Compliance specifying the nature of the breach and subject to the process set out in the Guidelines for Adjudicative Process (no administrative monetary penalty, entity not named).

Supplementary information:

The Seniors’ Code applies to banks operating under the Bank Act.

Codes of Conduct are developed by the Department of Finance through engagements with industry and other stakeholders.

FCAC’s research findings and data also inform the development of Codes of Conduct.

FCAC initiatives to help vulnerable Canadians & seniors

Study of banking fees

Issue:

The government has asked the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada to prepare a report on the structure, level, and transparency of fees charged by Canadian banks.

Key messages:

• The government will review fees charged by banks and other federally regulated financial institutions including Interac e-Transfer fees and ATM fees.
• FCAC’s will apply a consumer protection and consumer education lens to this study, which will support the Department of Finance’s focus on improving competition and innovation in the banking sector, including better understanding the relationship between banking fees and competition.
• FCAC will provide an update on this work in 2026.

If pressed on setting of fees:

• FCAC does not oversee the setting of fees, including electronic fund transfers fees or credit card transaction fees. These are business decisions by the entities offering this service.
• FCAC’s Account Comparison Tool enables Canadians to compare the features and costs of hundreds of chequing and savings accounts from different banks and credit unions, including the fees charged for electronic fund transfers.
• FCAC’s role is to supervise banks’ compliance with their obligations to disclose fees, including for electronic fund transfers.

Supplementary information:

FCAC advances the rights and interests of consumers by conducting research, developing evidence-based analysis and advice on emerging issues, and contributing to policy development.

In-scope fees include those associated with personal retail banking accounts (i.e. account fees), such as fixed monthly account fees, overdraft, ATM (in/out-of-network, cash withdrawal), electronic fund transfers, paper statements, account closures and switching, and dormant account fees.

FCAC’s study will rely on federal engagement (e.g., Bank of Canada, Competition Bureau), data gathering (e.g., consumer surveys, data providers), and environmental scans. FCAC will publish the results later in 2026.

Consumer-driven banking

Issue:

Budget 2025 included changes to the oversight of Consumer-Driven Banking in Canada.

Key messages:

• FCAC has been working with the Bank of Canada and the Department of Finance on the smooth and orderly transition of responsibilities.
• The Budget changes will leverage the Bank of Canada’s existing resources, expertise, and infrastructure for supervising payment service providers.
• The Department of Finance or the Bank of Canada would be better placed to provide information on proposed legislation included in Bill C-15.

If pressed on policy changes:

• The Department of Finance or the Bank of Canada would be better placed to provide information on proposed legislation included in Bill C-15.

If pressed on FCAC's CDB role:

• FCAC’s Consumer-Driven Banking team laid the groundwork that established a strong foundation for the progress of Consumer-Driven Banking in Canada.
• FCAC will maintain a role in helping Canadians understand how to safely share their financial data through consumer-driven banking.

Supplementary information:

FCAC’s CDB work:

• Public opinion research into Canadians’ knowledge and understanding of open banking to inform consumer awareness campaigns and financial literacy efforts.
• Engaged with provincial and territorial governments to create the CDB FPT Advisory Committee.
• Engagement with international counterparts to develop best practices based on lessons learned from their open banking implementations.
• Developed business processes and designed IT solutions to support accreditation.

New data provisions – Budget 2025

Issue:

The Bank Act will require banks to report data on fraud to FCAC, among other provisions.

Key messages:

• Fraud is a shared concern, and a shared responsibility, across all levels of government, industries, both banking and telecom, and public safety communities.
• We welcome the proposed amendments. Requiring banks to report data on consumer-targeted fraud to FCAC is an initial step to improve visibility into trends and scope.
• FCAC’s role will be to supervise the compliance of federally regulated financial institutions with these provisions when they come into force.
• Having access to new data about fraud will enrich our ability in 3 areas:
  • oversight of financial institutions’ compliance with their market conduct obligations
  • providing information to Canadians to strengthen financial literacy
  • advising and collaborating with our Financial Institutions Supervisory Committee partners and informing future policymaking on financial fraud

If pressed on frequency of reporting:

• The bottom line is we will have access to new data to monitor risks to consumers that were previously not a requirement for banks to provide.
• Along with other sources of supervisory data, this data will feed into FCAC’s risk assessments and better enable us to identify patterns, monitor ongoing compliance, and respond proactively to emerging risks.

If pressed on transparency / confidentiality of aggregated fraud data:

• Canadians benefit from regulated entities’ compliance with financial consumer protections that promote fairness, transparency, and trust in the financial system.
• While the legislation does not allow us to identify certain details of our supervisory work for confidentiality reasons, we do make public aggregated information on compliance trends and issues that result in concrete corrective actions to ensure compliance, including the results of thematic compliance reviews (recently, e-alerts and complaints handling, upcoming: appropriate products).
• If FCAC finds that a regulated entity breached its market conduct obligations, we take enforcement action to bring the entity into compliance.
• If, as the result of an adjudicative process, an entity is found in violation, FCAC publishes the name of the institution, the nature of the violation, and as appropriate, imposes administrative monetary penalties and requires reimbursement for affected consumers.

Supplementary information:

The government proposes to amend the Bank Act to require banks to:

• have policies and procedures to detect and prevent consumer-targeted fraud and to mitigate its impacts,
• report data on fraud to the Commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada which would be aggregated in an annual report from the Commissioner to the Minister,
• obtain express consent of consumers to enable or disable certain account features,
• permit consumers to disable certain account features, and
• allow consumers to adjust maximum transaction amounts and make related amendments.

As indicated in C-15, the specific requirements regarding the reporting of data on consumer-targeted fraud will be established in the regulations which are currently being developed by the Department of Finance.

FCAC contributed to policy deliberations with the Department of Finance on how to strengthen measures to prevent financial fraud. Proposed changes, such as permitting consumers to establish maximum transaction thresholds, were a part of those discussions.

Holds on cheques – Budget 2025

Issue:

In Budget 2025, the government proposed to amend the Bank Act to make the funds from deposited cheques available sooner.

Key messages:

• Canadians will be able to access more cash, more quickly when depositing cheques, and FCAC will oversee compliance with these requirements once they come into force.

Supplementary information:

The proposed amendment will:

• raise the first amount of immediately available deposited cheque funds from $100 to $150
• remove the timing distinction between funds deposited in person and via other means
• introduce regulations to apply the change to trust and loan companies
• reduce the number of days a bank may hold a cheque
• raise the current value threshold of $1500 below which shorter cheque hold periods apply. This measure is expected to increase the number of cheques eligible for earlier access to funds and benefit consumers reliant on cheque payments

Supporting credit union growth

Issue:

Budget 2025 includes proposed changes to make it easier for provincial credit unions to join the federal system and for existing federal credit unions to grow.

Key messages:

• FCAC supports consumer choice and recognizes the importance of credit unions in the financial marketplace.
• We are working with our regulatory partners to support the new process to enable provincial credit unions to transition into the federal regulatory regime.

Supplementary information:

Provisions supporting the growth of provincial credit unions are included in Bill-C-15 (Division 17).

The Department of Finance would be best placed to discuss the amendments to legislation supporting credit union growth.

FCAC supervises the compliance of regulated entities with the market conduct obligations currently in force.

Supporting competition

Key messages:

• The competitiveness of the marketplace is overseen by the Competition Bureau, but FCAC supports competition in several ways.
• Better informed consumers are more empowered to switch products and services or negotiate better offerings, which helps drive competition.
• Our consumer tools and resources available on Canada.ca help consumers shop around and choose products and services based on their needs. For example:
  • Our Account Selector Tool allows Canadians to compare account features, find low- and no-cost accounts, helping them shop around and choose products and services that suit their needs.
  • Our web content provides consumers with clear, objective information on things to consider and steps to take when transferring different types of products and services to another financial institution.
• As announced in Budget 2025, FCAC is undertaking a study on the structure, level, and transparency of fees charged by Canadian banks which will inform the Government’s proposed measures to help Canadians switch between financial institutions and to increase fee transparency.
• Finally, all federally regulated banks and credit unions must comply with same consumer protection requirements – there are no exceptions. This levels the playing field for all competitors while promoting consumer rights and interests.

Supplementary information:

FCAC’s Account Comparison Tool helps consumers compare the features and costs of hundreds of chequing and savings accounts from different banks and credit unions, including low and no fee options.

FCAC also has a Credit Card Comparison Tool that allows Canadians to compare features for different credit cards, including interest rates, annual fees and rewards to find options that best suits their needs.

Branch closures – Budget 2025

Issue:

Budget 2025 introduced measures to support Canadians during branch closures.

Key messages:

• FCAC will supervise these requirements once they come into force.
• The closure of a branch is a business decision. FCAC does not have authority to compel a bank to keep a branch open.
• Banks and federally regulated trust and loan companies must notify FCAC of their intent to close a branch and inform customers prior to closing.
• The consultation process provides consumers time to contact their financial institution and find alternative service options.

Supplementary information:

Proposed amendments:

• Banks will be required to publish notices of branch closures on their websites
• Banks will be prohibited from charging certain account-switching or closure fees; from the time the bank gives notice of its intent to close a branch until 12 months following their branch closure

Previous/existing branch closure notice requirements:

• Urban area OR rural area with another branch within 10 km
• 4 months’ notice to customers and the public.
• Rural area with NO other branch within 10 km
• 6 months’ notice to customers and the public.

Public meeting requirement: FCAC may require a bank to hold a meeting about a proposed branch closure if both conditions are met:

• Bank did not properly consult the community (as assessed by FCAC); and
• a locally affected person requests it, and the request is not frivolous or vexatious.

Stablecoins – Budget 2025

Issue:

Budget 2025 introduced a federal framework to regulate fiat-backed stablecoins under Bank of Canada oversight.

Key messages:

• In September 2025, FCAC published the results of its public opinion research on consumers’ awareness, use and understanding of stablecoins.
• The research provided evidence‑based insights that inform policy development and consumer information materials to help Canadians make better-informed financial decisions.

Supplementary information:

FCAC’s research on stablecoins

The research was conducted between December 2023 and January 2024. It explored consumer knowledge, experiences, and perceptions of risk about the use and regulation of stablecoins in Canada.

Key findings:

• The use and prevalence of stablecoins was increasing but still relatively low: 91% of respondents had never owned stablecoins.
• About half of previous and current owners had negative experiences with stablecoins, including losing funds due to the collapse of a stablecoin platform, fraud, or a hacking incident.
• 58% of those surveyed did not know whether stablecoins were currently regulated in Canada.

Debanking

Key messages:

• FCAC supervises banks’ compliance with consumer protections as set out in legislation and regulations to ensure that Canadians can have access to basic banking services and that they are treated fairly in their dealings with banks.
• However, banks may make a business decision to stop providing services to a customer.
• Banks may also be subject to obligations from other regulators regarding the opening and closing of bank accounts. For example, FINTRAC may be able to provide more information regarding the reporting of suspicious transactions.

Financial Consumer Protection Framework

Key messages:

• The Financial Consumer Protection Framework in the Bank Act (the Framework) protects Canadians in their dealings with banks and federal credit unions (came into force in 2022).
• The Framework applies to Canadian banks, authorized foreign banks and federal credit unions (collectively referred to as Banks).
• It includes more than 60 enhanced consumer provisions, including the right for consumers to:
  • access basic banking
  • receive key information so they can make informed decisions (e.g. e-alerts, product disclosure statements)
  • access a fair, timely and effective complaints process when they have problems

Supplementary information:

Consumer provisions

Examples of higher standards for bank sales practices in the Framework:

• offer products and services that are appropriate for consumers’ needs
• provide advance notice for the renewal of products and services
• provide separate agreements for each optional product or service a consumer agrees to buy
• refrain from providing false or misleading information or applying undue pressure

FCAC powers

The Framework legislation also provided FCAC with more powers to better protect financial consumers (came into force in 2020).

They include the power to impose a penalty of up to $10 million on banks per violation of their legal obligations

• Since 2022, regulated entities have paid nearly $27 million in penalties for violations of consumer provisions.
• Since 2024, more than $100 million has been reimbursed to consumer and business accounts.

Mortgage Guideline

Key messages:

• In early 2023, data from FCAC’s Monthly Financial Well-being Survey signalled that Canadians were facing an exceptionally challenging economic environment that could lead to severe financial stress among some mortgage holders.
• In response, FCAC issued a Mortgage Guideline setting expectations for federally regulated financial institutions to offer tailored support to consumers with an existing residential mortgage loan on their principal residence who were experiencing severe financial stress and at risk of mortgage default.
• Banks have been providing FCAC with quarterly reports on their implementation of the Guideline.
• As of September 2025:
  • Banks had proactively offered more than 35,000 relief measures for principal residence mortgage accounts at risk.
  • Mortgage holders had avoided more than $7.52 million in penalties and fees that they would have incurred if they had had to deal with late or missed mortgage payments.

Remediation and administrative monetary penalties

Key messages:

• If FCAC finds that a regulated entity breached its market conduct obligations, it takes enforcement action to bring the entity into compliance.
• The goal of enforcement is to make affected consumers whole and to promote industry compliance through transparency.
• FCAC publishes the name of the regulated entity and nature of the violation, and as appropriate, imposes administrative monetary penalties and requires reimbursement for affected consumers.

Supplementary information:

Remediation

$104 million in 2024–2025:

• Over $38 million was reimbursed to more than 745,000 consumer and business accounts during 2024–2025.
• An additional $71 million in reimbursements is underway from a 2024 enforcement action against TD Bank (Notice of Violation dated June 13, 2024).
  • Of that amount, $66 million has already been returned to affected consumers.

Example of type of breach requiring remediation: if the cost of a product or service differed from what was disclosed to consumers.

Administrative Monetary Penalties

Since 2022, regulated entities have paid penalties totalling $26.8 million for violations of consumer provisions.

FCAC can impose a penalty of up to $10 million per violation.

Administrative monetary penalties are not considered re-spendable revenues and are therefore not part of the Agency’s funding.

Proceeds of penalties are payable to the Receiver General.

Electronic transfer fees

Key messages:

• FCAC’s role is to supervise the compliance of federally regulated financial entities, such as banks, with their obligations to disclose fees, including for electronic fund transfers.
• FCAC does not oversee the setting of electronic fund transfers fees. These are business decisions by the entities offering this service.
• The Competition Bureau and the Department of Finance are best positioned to speak to the competitiveness of Canada’s financial sector.

Supplementary information:

Empowering consumers to make informed decisions plays a key role in consumer protection by helping consumers to choose the products they need among the many options and features available in a competitive market.

FCAC’s Account Comparison Tool enables Canadians to compare the features and costs of hundreds of chequing and savings accounts from different banks and credit unions, including the fees charged for electronic fund transfers.

NSF fee regulations

Key messages:

• Non-sufficient fund (NSF) fees on personal deposit accounts will be capped at $10 per account when new regulations come into force in March 2026.
• FCAC will supervise banks’ compliance with these regulations.
• FCAC will also publish information for consumers on Canada.ca explaining their rights regarding NSF fees.

Supplementary information:

These new rules will help all consumers, especially those who are financially vulnerable.

Multiple NSF fees can add up to substantial amounts in a short period and disproportionately impact the financial well-being of financially vulnerable Canadians.

Currently, NSF fees typically range from $45 to $48. These fees are often applied regardless of the size of the account shortfall and can be charged in rapid succession as a result of multiple declined payments.

The new regulations include the following consumer protections:

• consumers cannot be charged more than $10 in NSF fees when they do not have enough money in their personal deposit account to cover a payment
• consumers will not be charged an NSF fee more than once in a period of 2 business days for the same personal deposit account
• consumers will not be charged NSF fees on a personal deposit account if the overdraft is less than $10

Definition of NSF fees

Banks may charge NSF fees when a consumer’s account has insufficient funds to cover a payment, as well as if a consumer exceeds their overdraft protection.

Low-cost no-cost commitment

Key messages:

• As of December 1, 2025, Canadians now benefit from modern low-cost and no-cost accounts costing no more than $4 per month.
• The Commitment has been signed, so far, by 14 federally regulated financial institutions, including Canada’s 6 largest banks.
• FCAC will monitor the implementation of the modernized Commitment by signatories and will supervise their compliance with all its obligations.

Supplementary information:

As a result of Budget 2024 and based on data from our research and consultations with Canadians, stakeholders and industry, the 2014 Commitment was revamped to:

• reflect consumers’ evolving banking needs, with modern transaction types such as electronic fund transfers.
• support financially vulnerable Canadians: more groups will be eligible for an account costing $0 per month, including newcomers to Canada in their first year.

All Canadians can access low-cost accounts. Eligible groups for $0 accounts include:

• Seniors receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement
• Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) beneficiaries
• Youth (Canadians aged 18 and under)
• Students
• Newcomers to Canada (for 1st year in Canada)

Signatories also agreed to add at least one of the following groups, to be selected by each signatory:

• Indigenous peoples
• Canadians receiving social assistance payments from select provincial or territorial programs
• recipients of the Disability Tax Credit

List of 14 signatories (others can join at any time):

• Alterna Bank 
• Bank of China (Canada)
• BMO 
• CIBC  
• Hana Bank Canada
• ICICI Bank  
• Industrial Commercial Bank of China  
• Innovation Federal Credit Union
• Laurentian Bank 
• National Bank
• Royal Bank of Canada  
• Scotiabank
• Tangerine Bank
• TD Bank

Credit card fees and charges

Key messages:

• FCAC does not approve the rates and fees charged for credit cards. These are business decisions by financial institutions offering credit cards.
• FCAC oversees the obligations for banks to:
  • disclose rates and fees before consumers enter into a credit card agreement
  • obtain consumers’ express consent that they accept the card
• We also provide information and resources to help consumers make informed decisions about purchasing and using financial products, such as credit cards.

Supplementary information:

FCAC’s information for consumers about credit cards on Canada.ca includes:

• how to choose a credit card by comparing features such as interest rates, fees, rewards and benefits
• how interest is calculated and how payments are applied to outstanding balances
• how to make a complaint to the card issuer

FCAC also provides free and easy-to-use online tools and calculators.

• The Credit Card Comparison Tool enables consumers to compare features for hundreds of different credit cards—including interest rates, annual fees and rewards—to help them find the credit card that best suits their needs.
• Our credit card payment calculator helps consumers determine how long it will take to pay off their credit card debt and explore options to pay it back faster.

TD Bank - Summary of proceeding 3

Key messages:

• FCAC applied an administrative monetary penalty of $5.5 million on the Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) for a violation of consumer provisions in the Bank Act.
• TD miscalculated principal and interest payment amounts when certain customers requested a change to their loan payment frequency.
• This error had the effect of extending the amortization period for the loans subject to the payment frequency change.
• 160,658 loan accounts were affected, representing a financial impact of over $12.1 million.
• The Bank committed this violation from September 1, 2001, to February 22, 2024.
• TD had reimbursed affected consumers by May 30, 2025, including a credit for redress interest.

Supplementary information:

The violation is described in Summary of Proceeding #3, published September 29, 2025.

TD failed to provide consumers of certain mortgage, home equity lines of credit, personal loans and small business loans (Loan Accounts) with accurate disclosure of the cost of borrowing, contrary to the obligations in the Bank Act.

The violation relates to an error in the Bank’s calculation of the principal and interest payment amounts following a request from certain customers for a change to their loan payment frequency.

Accurate disclosure is a foundational element of the consumer protection provisions of the Bank Act. For consumers to make informed financial decisions, they must be provided information that is accurate and, at a minimum, meets regulatory requirements.

All federally regulated financial institutions are expected to review the findings of FCAC Decisions and Summaries of Proceedings and apply them to their own practices, as appropriate, in an effort to achieve the highest levels of compliance with protections for financial consumers.

Definition Summary of Proceeding

A regulated entity is deemed to have committed a violation if it pays the penalty. In such instances, FCAC publishes a Summary of Proceeding.

A Summary of Proceeding includes the nature of the violation, the name of the regulated entity that committed the violation and the amount of the penalty.

FCAC’S funding model

Key messages:

• FCAC operates mainly on a cost recovery basis, with the majority of its funding obtained through assessments of the regulated entities it supervises.
• This funding model is commonly used in regulated sectors so that industry, and not taxpayers, pays the cost of regulation and the administration of the organization’s activities.

Supplementary information:

FCAC’s financial assessment methodology is available online.

The use of assessments is reported through FCAC’s Financial Statements, which are included in its annual report to Parliament.

In addition to funding from assessments, FCAC receives an annual statutory funding allocation of $5 million from the Government of Canada to support the financial literacy of Canadians.

Administrative Monetary Penalties

Administrative monetary penalties are not considered re-spendable revenues and are therefore not part of the Agency’s funding (proceeds of penalties are payable to the Receiver General.)

Data insights on financial fraud

Strategic context:

• The OECD Consumer Finance Risk Monitor reports that financial scams and fraud have increased in most jurisdictions, driven by accelerating digitalization.
• OSFI’s 2025-2026 Risk Outlook identifies integrity and security risks—including money laundering, fraud, and cyber-attacks—as key threats to Canadian institutions and supervisory priorities, noting that criminal activities are becoming increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect.
• The National Financial Literacy Strategy prioritizes expanding digital access and digital literacy (Priority 3) while strengthening consumer protection measures (Priority 6).
• In Budget 2025, the government proposes to amend the Bank Act to require banks to have policies and procedures to detect and prevent consumer-targeted fraud and to mitigate its impacts, to report data on fraud to the Commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

Increases in financial fraud

Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC)

• Most incidents of financial fraud (90–95%) go unreported to the CAFC.
• According to the CAFC data, Canadians lost $645 million to fraud in 2024, representing nearly a 300% increase since 2020.
• In 2024, investment scams accounted for 49% of total dollar loss and seniors (age 60+) made up 27.9% of the overall dollar loss.
• Top 10 fraud types saw an increase (2024 vs 2023): Bank Investigator Fraud (+16.5%), Phishing (+6.8%). Extortion decreased by 10%, though there was a significant increase in the dollar amount lost by victims ($8.6M increase).
• Overall, victimization rates were consistent across Canada (65–77.5%).
• Seniors are more likely to be defrauded through conventional methods, such as direct telephone calls, rather than cyber-enabled fraud.
• Younger age groups are increasingly being victimized by nuanced and age-specific forms of fraud, such as through the use of digital platforms.

The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI)

OBSI’s fraud complaint data indicate that:

• Fraud accounted for 38% of all banking cases (966 out of 2,553) in 2024 and 40% (950 out of 2,388) in 2023, making it the most reported banking issue.
• The most common fraud types involved electronic fund transfers fraud, credit and debit card frauds.
• In investments, crypto asset fraud was a notable issue, with 14% of investment cases involving crypto assets.

FCAC’s Canadian Financial Capability Survey (CFCS)

• 46% of Canadians reported having been a victim of unauthorized card use, phishing, and/or investment fraud in 2024, compared to 22% in 2019
  • investment scams have tripled (from 3 to 9%)
  • phishing has tripled (from 4 to 13%)
  • unauthorized use of bank or credit card numbers has doubled (from 18 to 36%).

Anyone can be a potential victim of fraud. However, some may be more susceptible to specific types of fraud than others. According to the Canadian Financial Capability Survey:

• More women experienced phishing (14% vs 11%) and unauthorized bank or credit cards use (39% vs 33%).
• Canadians who are 55 years or older experienced phishing and unauthorized bank or credit cards use more than younger age groups.
• Men were more likely than women to experience investment fraud (10% vs 8%).

September 2025 Equifax survey on cybersecurity

• 82% worried about children being taken advantage of online.
• 75% worried about their information being hacked from their personal computer.
• 71% worried about someone using technology to trick them into giving away personal information.
• 61% worried about someone impersonating them on social media.

FCAC initiatives

Legislation, regulations, codes of conduct and public commitments overseen by FCAC

Acts

• Bank Act
• Cooperative Credit Associations Act
• Insurance Companies Act
• Trust and Loan Companies Act
• Payment Card Networks Act

Regulations

• Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act Regulations
• Bank Act Regulations
• Insurance Companies Act Regulations
• Trust and Loan Companies Act Regulations
• Co-operative Credit Associations Act Regulations

Codes of Conduct

• Code of Conduct for the Delivery of Banking Services to Seniors
• Code of Conduct for Federally Regulated Financial Institutions: Mortgage prepayment information
• Canadian Bankers Association: Code of Conduct for Authorized Insurance Activities
• Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services
• Code of Conduct for the Payment Card Industry in Canada
• Canadian Bankers Association: Model Code of Conduct for Bank Relations with Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses
• Principles of Consumer Protection for Electronic Commerce: A Canadian Framework

Public Commitments

• Canadian Bankers Association: Commitment to Provide Information on Mortgage Security (2014)
• Canadian Bankers Association: Commitment on Powers of Attorney and Joint Deposit Accounts (2014)
• Canadian Bankers Association: Commitment on Modification or Replacement of Existing Products or Services (2012)
• Canadian Bankers Association: Guidelines for Transfers of Registered Plans
• Commitment on Low-Cost and No-Cost Accounts
• Canadian Bankers Association: Online Payments
• Plain Language Mortgage Documents CBA Commitment

BANC Committee member profiles