The federal government has unveiled the country’s first whole-of-government national anti-fraud strategy and established a new financial crimes agency.
The Budget 2025 initiatives aim to tackle financial scams and abuse, according to the finance department. François-Philippe Champagne, minister of finance and national revenue, said that the measures are a response to the rapid evolution of fraud and financial crime.
Under the national anti-fraud strategy, the government will legally require banks to implement fraud prevention and response policies while increasing consumers’ control over bank accounts. Moreover, the government will consider policy actions to address financial fraud across sectors like technology and telecommunications. These measures build on current initiatives like the Canadian Anti-Scams Coalition.
A limit of consumer liability for unauthorized credit card transactions of $50 is currently the sole federal legislative consumer protection requirement combatting fraud. The Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services removes liability from consumers for losses in circumstances beyond their control, like unauthorized debit card use.
The financial crimes agency will concentrate on sophisticated financial crimes. It will be tasked with recovering stolen funds from criminals and with investigating complex money-laundering cases, organized criminal activity, and online financial scams. Champagne is set to collaborate with the justice and public safety ministers to introduce laws supporting the agency by next spring.
“Today’s financial criminals make use of every modern tool at their disposal to try to defraud Canadians. Our government’s new strategy is tackling head-on the threat posed by these fraudsters. A stand-alone agency to fight financial crime is critical to maintaining confidence in our financial system, and keeping people, and their money, safe,” said Gary Anandasangaree, public safety minister, in a statement.
Stakeholders and banks will also partner with the federal government to develop a voluntary Code of Conduct for the Prevention of Economic Abuse. The code will establish expectations for how financial institutions can detect, limit, and handle economic abuse.
Economic abuse covers the restriction of access to money, employment sabotage, and debt forcing; according to the government, it is a form of gender-based violence and financial harm. This abuse also impacts seniors who are exploited or controlled by family members and caregivers.
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada will monitor banks that sign on to the code to ensure transparency and accountability, the government said.