Department of Finance of Canada

06/26/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/26/2026 13:06

Government pre-publishes regulations to prevent fraud and facilitate the next phase of consumer-driven banking

Government pre-publishes regulations to prevent fraud and facilitate the next phase of consumer-driven banking

From: Department of Finance Canada

News release

The Government of Canada is strengthening Canada's financial sector and making it work better for Canadians, including by combatting fraud and increasing competition. Today, proposed regulatory measures to support this plan were included in the Canada Gazette, Part I.

June 26, 2026 - Ottawa, Ontario - Department of Finance Canada

The Government of Canada is strengthening Canada's financial sector and making it work better for Canadians, including by combatting fraud and increasing competition. Today, proposed regulatory measures to support this plan were included in the Canada Gazette, Part I.

Proposed regulations to combat consumer-targeted fraud were pre-published for a 30-day comment period, as a first step ahead of the government's broader work to develop a National Anti-Fraud Strategy.

These new regulations are needed to operationalize the amendments to the Bank Act enacted through Bill C-15, which require banks to have policies and procedures to detect and prevent consumer-targeted fraud and to mitigate its impacts. The regulations specify that banks must obtain consumers' express consent prior to enabling electronic funds transfer capabilities like wire transfers as well as which capabilities consumers can disable, the timelines for banks to process requests to change transaction limits, and what information banks must collect and report for each case of fraud and when it must be reported to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

In addition, proposed Consumer-Driven Banking Regulations were pre-published for a 60-day comment period, supporting the coming into force of the Consumer-Driven Banking Act.

This marks a key step toward implementing the Consumer-Driven Banking Framework, which will increase competition in the financial sector, allow Canadians and businesses to securely share their financial data with the approved service providers of their choice, give consumers greater control over their financial data, and better tools to manage their finances.

The proposed Regulations will come into force in a staggered approach beginning with accreditation, followed by requirements related to common rules and assessment fees within one year of final publication. Further details on the approach to coming into force for different products and services will be set out when the final regulations are published.

This also aligns with the government's 2026 Spring Economic Update commitment to advancing initiatives to promote competition and lower financial costs for Canadians.

Quotes

"We are taking action to ensure Canadians can feel confident that their financial systems are secure, while at the same time strengthening economic resilience, increasing innovation and competition in the financial sector, as well as fostering new industry partnerships."

- The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue

Quick facts

  • In 2025, data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre indicates that Canadians lost over $704 million to fraud, with reported losses since 2022 now surpassing $2.4 billion, while only 5 to 10 per cent of scams are reported.

  • On March 30, 2026, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue, formally launched consultations on Canada's first-ever whole-of-government National Anti-Fraud Strategy, as announced on October 20, 2025 and in Budget 2025.

  • As a first step of the National Anti-Fraud Strategy, Bill C-15 introduced amendments to the Bank Act to require banks to: 

    • have policies and procedures to detect and prevent consumer-targeted fraud and to mitigate its impacts for consumers; 
    • obtain the express consent of consumers before enabling prescribed account capabilities; 
    • allow consumers to disable prescribed account capabilities; 
    • allow consumers to adjust withdrawal and transaction limits associated with their accounts; and
    • annually report prescribed fraud-related data to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC). 

  • The legislative amendments also require the Commissioner of the FCAC to submit to the Minister of Finance an annual report on the consumer-targeted fraud reports they receive from banks.

  • The proposed Consumer-Driven Banking Regulations would operationalize the Consumer-Driven Banking Act by further specifying requirements related to data scope, accreditation, national security, duties of participating entities, liability, duties of accredited third-party service providers, the technical standards body, evidentiary privilege, assessment fees, and violations.

  • Bill C-15 completed the consumer-driven banking legislative framework. In the absence of a secure framework, approximately nine million Canadians currently share financial data through screen scraping, exposing them to security, liability, and privacy risks. Consumer-driven banking will replace this practice with secure, API-based data sharing.

  • In accordance with the Consumer-Driven Banking Act, the Bank of Canada would oversee compliance with the Act and proposed Regulations including by supervising participating entities, accredited third-party service providers, the technical standards body, and the external complaints body. The Bank would also maintain a public registry of participating entities and accredited third-party service providers to promote transparency and consumer trust in the framework.

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Media may contact:

John Fragos
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Finance and National Revenue
[email protected]

Media Relations
Department of Finance Canada
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613-369-4000

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Department of Finance of Canada published this content on June 26, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 26, 2026 at 19:06 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]