Consumer-Driven Banking Act (S.C. 2026, c. 3, s. 224)

External Complaints Process

Marginal note:Purpose

113 The purpose of sections 114 to 118 is to enhance the process for dealing with complaints by establishing a regime composed of a sole external complaints body that performs its functions and activities in a transparent, effective, timely and fair manner based on the principles of accessibility, accountability, impartiality and independence.

Marginal note:Designation of corporation

• 114 (1) The Minister may, on the recommendation of the Bank, designate a corporation incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act or under a provincial Act equivalent to that Act to be the external complaints body responsible for dealing with complaints referred to in paragraph 105(1)(a) that have not been resolved by its member participating entities to the satisfaction of the persons who made the complaints or that have not been dealt with within the period set out in section 106.

• Marginal note:Matters for consideration

  (2) Before designating a corporation, the Minister must take into account all factors that the Minister considers relevant, including whether the corporation has

  • (a) the reputation required under paragraph 115(a); and

  • (b) policies and procedures and terms of reference that would enable it to perform its functions and activities in a manner that is consistent with the purpose set out in section 113 and to comply with paragraphs 115(b) to (u).

• The following provision is not in force.

  Marginal note:Obligation to be member

  (3) Every participating entity must be a member of the external complaints body.

• Marginal note:Not agent of His Majesty

  (4) The external complaints body is not an agent of His Majesty.

• Marginal note:Designation to be published

  (5) A designation made under subsection (1) must be published in the Canada Gazette.

Marginal note:Requirements

115 The external complaints body must

• (a) maintain a reputation for being operated in a manner that is consistent with the standards of good character and integrity;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (b) make its services available across Canada in both official languages and offer those services free of charge to persons who make complaints;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (c) establish policies, procedures and terms of reference that are satisfactory to the Bank with respect to, among other things, dealing with complaints and consulting, at least once a year, its member participating entities and consumers to allow them to raise concerns about the external complaints body;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (d) establish the manner of calculating, to the satisfaction of the Bank, the fees it charges to each of its member participating entities for its services;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (e) make information available to consumers about their rights and responsibilities in relation to the external complaints handling regime, respond to their inquiries and requests for information and offer them assistance in making complaints;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (f) inform the parties to a complaint about the external complaints body’s terms of reference and procedures for dealing with complaints and, on request, provide the parties with any additional information and assistance to enable them to understand the requirements of those terms of reference and procedures;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (g) deal with complaints in a manner that affects only the parties to the complaints;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (h) inform the Bank in writing within 30 days after the day on which the external complaints body determines that a complaint raises a potential systemic issue;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (i) if it determines that all or part of a complaint is not within its terms of reference, provide the person who made the complaint with written reasons for that determination and the name of any entity to which the person may make a complaint, within 30 days after the day on which it receives the complaint;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (j) obtain confirmation from the member participating entity to which each complaint relates regarding whether the period set out in section 106 has ended, unless the person who made the complaint has provided the external complaints body with the written acknowledgment referred to in paragraph 105(4)(a);

• The following provision is not in force.

  (k) impartially deal with complaints referred to in paragraph 105(1)(a) that have not been resolved by its member participating entities to the satisfaction of the persons who made the complaints or that have not been dealt with within the period set out in section 106;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (l) no later than 120 days after the day on which it has all of the information that it requires to deal with a complaint, make a final written recommendation to the parties;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (m) immediately inform the Bank, in writing, of cases in which a member participating entity does not comply with a final recommendation;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (n) within 90 days after making a final recommendation, make available on its website free of charge a summary of the final recommendation that includes

  • (i) a description of the nature of the complaint that is the subject of the final recommendation,

  • (ii) the name of the member participating entity that received the complaint,

  • (iii) a description of any compensation provided to the person who made the complaint or to the consumer referred to in paragraph 108(d),

  • (iv) the reasons for the final recommendation, and

  • (v) any other information that is provided for in the regulations;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (o) within 60 days after the end of each quarter, submit to the Bank, in a form satisfactory to the Bank,

  • (i) in relation to all investigations completed during the quarter, a copy of the record of the complaint, and

  • (ii) any other information that is provided for in the regulations;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (p) within 60 days after the end of each financial year, meet with the Bank to discuss, among other things, complaints, operations and market trends and issues respecting consumer-driven banking that have the potential to impact consumers;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (q) within 135 days after the end of each financial year, file with the Bank a written report on the performance of its functions and activities in respect of consumer-driven banking for that year, which report is to include

  • (i) information about

    • (A) its constitution, governance and terms of reference and the identity of its member participating entities,

    • (B) all sources of funding for its functions and activities, including the fees charged to each of its member participating entities for its services and the manner in which those fees are calculated, and

    • (C) the results of the most recent evaluation referred to in paragraph (s),

  • (ii) a summary of the results of any consultation with its member participating entities and with persons who made complaints,

  • (iii) in respect of each of its member participating entities, the number and nature of complaints that it received, the number of complaints that it determined were within its terms of reference, the number of final recommendations that it made and the number of complaints that, in its opinion, were resolved to the satisfaction of the persons who made them,

  • (iv) the average length of time taken to deal with complaints,

  • (v) the number of complaints that it determined were not within its terms of reference and the reasons for that determination,

  • (vi) the number of complaints for which a member participating entity did not comply with a final recommendation,

  • (vii) the number of final recommendations in which compensation was recommended, and

  • (viii) the average and total compensation provided with respect to complaints that it determined were within its terms of reference;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (r) immediately after the report referred to in paragraph (q) is filed with the Bank, make that report available on its website free of charge and provide any person who requests it with a copy;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (s) submit, every five years, to an evaluation of the performance of its functions and activities in respect of consumer-driven banking that is conducted, at the discretion of the Bank, by the Bank or a third party in accordance with terms of reference that the external complaints body establishes in consultation with the Bank;

• The following provision is not in force.

  (t) accept as a member any participating entity that makes a request to it for membership, other than a participating entity that is exempted or is a member of a class that is exempted under subsection 119(1); and

• The following provision is not in force.

  (u) meet any other requirements that are provided for in the regulations.

Marginal note:Clear, simple and not misleading

117 If a participating entity or the external complaints body is required under sections 105 to 116 to provide information, it must do so in a manner, and using language, that is clear, simple and not misleading.

Marginal note:Request for information

118 The external complaints body must, within the time and in the manner specified by the Bank, provide the Bank with any information that the Bank requires for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act.

Exemption

Marginal note:Minister’s order

• 119 (1) If the Minister is of the opinion that a participating entity is a member of or is otherwise supervised by — or that the members of a class of participating entities are members of or are otherwise supervised by — a body that exercises powers and performs duties and functions that are substantially similar to those that are conferred on the external complaints body under this Act, the Minister may, by order, exempt the participating entity or the class of participating entities from the application of subsection 114(3).

• Marginal note:Effect of order

  (2) A participating entity that is exempted or is a member of a class that is exempted under subsection (1) must not be a member of the external complaints body for the purposes of this Act and the provisions of this Act respecting the external complaints body do not apply in respect of the participating entity or class.

Duties of Accredited Third-Party Service Providers

Disclosure Protection

Marginal note:Disclosure — employee of participating entity

• 123 (1) An employee of a participating entity who has reasonable grounds to believe that the participating entity or any individual or other entity has committed or intends to commit a wrongdoing may report the particulars of the matter to the Bank, a government authority, a regulatory body or a law enforcement agency.

• Marginal note:Disclosure — employee of technical standards body

  (2) An employee of the technical standards body who has reasonable grounds to believe that the technical standards body or any individual or other entity has committed or intends to commit a wrongdoing may report the particulars of the matter to the Bank, a government authority, a regulatory body or a law enforcement agency.

• Marginal note:Confidentiality

  (3) The Bank, government authority, regulatory body or law enforcement agency must keep confidential the identity of the employee and any information that could reasonably be expected to reveal their identity.

• Marginal note:Exception — investigation

  (4) Despite subsection (3), the Bank, government authority, regulatory body or law enforcement agency may disclose to one another the employee’s identity and information that could reasonably be expected to reveal the employee’s identity for purposes related to an investigation.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (5) If the Bank, government authority, regulatory body or law enforcement agency discloses the identity of the employee or information under subsection (4), they must make every reasonable effort to inform the employee of the disclosure.

• Marginal note:Definition of wrongdoing

  (6) In this section, wrongdoing means a contravention of this Act or the regulations and, with respect to a participating entity, a contravention of a policy or procedure established by the participating entity in relation to its compliance with this Act.