Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act (S.C. 2001, c. 9)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this section and in sections 3 to 34.

Agency

Agency means the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada established under section 3. (Agence)

bank holding company

bank holding company means a bank holding company as defined in section 2 of the Bank Act; (société de portefeuille bancaire)

Commissioner

Commissioner means the Commissioner of the Agency appointed under section 4. (commissaire)

consumer provision

consumer provision means

• (a) paragraph 157(2)(e), sections 195.1, 273.1, 627.02 to 627.998 and 979.1 to 979.4 of the Bank Act together with any regulations made under or for the purposes of those provisions;

• (a.1) sections 992 to 1003 of the Bank Act as those sections apply to any notice, document or other information that is required under the provisions referred to in paragraph (a);

• (b) paragraphs 167(2)(f) and (g), subsection 382.2(3) and sections 385.05 to 385.28 of the Cooperative Credit Associations Act together with any regulations made under or for the purposes of those provisions;

• (b.1) sections 487.01 to 487.12 of the Cooperative Credit Associations Act as those sections apply to any notice, document or other information that is required under the provisions referred to in paragraph (b);

• (c) paragraphs 165(2)(f) and (g), subsection 469.1(3), sections 479 to 489.3, subsection 542.061(3) and sections 598 to 607.2 of the Insurance Companies Act together with any regulations made under or for the purposes of those provisions;

• (c.1) sections 1034 to 1045 of the Insurance Companies Act as those sections apply to any notice, document or other information that is required under the provisions referred to in paragraph (c);

• (d) paragraphs 161(2)(e) and (f), subsection 418.1(3) and sections 425.1 to 444.3 of the Trust and Loan Companies Act together with any regulations made under or for the purposes of those provisions;

• (d.1) sections 539.01 to 539.12 of the Trust and Loan Companies Act as those sections apply to any notice, document or other information that is required under the provisions referred to in paragraph (d); and

• (e) subsection 469.1(3) as set out in paragraph 17(1)(f) of the Green Shield Canada Act and the provisions referred to in paragraph 17(1)(f.1) of that Act as they apply to Green Shield Canada in accordance with section 17 of that Act together with any regulations made under or for the purposes of those provisions. (disposition visant les consommateurs)

Deputy Commissioner

Deputy Commissioner means a Deputy Commissioner appointed under section 8. (commissaire adjoint)

external complaints body

external complaints body has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Bank Act. (organisme externe de traitement des plaintes)

financial institution

financial institution means

• (a) a bank as defined in section 2 of the Bank Act;

• (b) an authorized foreign bank as defined in section 2 of the Bank Act;

• (c) a company to which the Trust and Loan Companies Act applies;

• (d) a retail association as defined in section 2 of the Cooperative Credit Associations Act;

• (e) a company or foreign company to which the Insurance Companies Act applies; and

• (f) Green Shield Canada. (institution financière)

Financial Literacy Leader

Financial Literacy Leader[Repealed, 2018, c. 27, s. 336]

governing statute

governing statute means

• (a) in relation to a bank or authorized foreign bank as defined in the Bank Act, that Act;

• (b) in relation to a retail association to which the Cooperative Credit Associations Act applies, that Act;

• (c) in relation to a company or foreign company to which the Insurance Companies Act applies, that Act;

• (d) in relation to a company to which the Trust and Loan Companies Act applies, that Act; and

• (e) in relation to Green Shield Canada, the Green Shield Canada Act. (loi d’application)

insurance holding company

insurance holding company means an insurance holding company as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Insurance Companies Act. (société de portefeuille d’assurances)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Finance. (ministre)

participating entity

participating entity means a participating entity under the Consumer-Driven Banking Act. (entité participante)

payment card network operator

payment card network operator means an entity, as defined in section 3 of the Payment Card Networks Act, that operates or manages a payment card network, as defined in that section, including by establishing standards and procedures for the acceptance, transmission or processing of payment transactions and by facilitating the electronic transfer of information and funds. (exploitant de réseau de cartes de paiement)

penalty

penalty means an administrative monetary penalty. (pénalité)

prescribed

prescribed means prescribed by regulation. (Version anglaise seulement)

Senior Deputy Commissioner

Senior Deputy Commissioner means the Senior Deputy Commissioner for Consumer-Driven Banking appointed under subsection 7.2(1). (commissaire adjoint principal)

technical standards body

technical standards body means the technical standards body designated under subsection 8(1) of the Consumer-Driven Banking Act. (organisme de normalisation technique)

Purpose of Act

Marginal note:Supervision and protection

2.1 The purpose of this Act is to ensure that financial institutions, the external complaints body, payment card network operators, participating entities and the technical standards body are supervised by an agency of the Government of Canada so as to contribute to the protection of consumers of financial products and services and the public and to the safety and security of consumer-driven banking, including by strengthening the financial literacy of Canadians.

Establishment of Agency

Marginal note:Establishment

• 3 (1) There is hereby established an agency of the Government of Canada called the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada over which the Minister shall preside and for which the Minister shall be responsible.

• Marginal note:Objects

  (2) The objects of the Agency are to

  • (a) supervise financial institutions and the external complaints body to determine whether they are in compliance with

    • (i) the consumer provisions applicable to them, and

    • (ii) the terms and conditions or undertakings with respect to the protection of customers of financial institutions that the Minister imposes or requires, as the case may be, under an Act listed in Schedule 1 and the directions that the Minister imposes under this Act;

  • (b) strive to protect the rights and interests of consumers of financial products and services and the public, taking into account the need of financial institutions to efficiently manage their business operations;

  • (b.1) [Repealed, 2018, c. 27, s. 338]

  • (c) promote the adoption by financial institutions of policies and procedures designed to implement provisions, terms and conditions, undertakings or directions referred to in paragraph (a) — as well as voluntary codes of conduct that are adopted by financial institutions, and any public commitments made by them, that are designed to protect the rights and interests of their customers — and monitor the implementation of those voluntary codes and public commitments;

  • (c.1) promote the adoption by the external complaints body of policies and procedures designed to implement the provisions, terms and conditions, undertakings or directions referred to in paragraph (a);

  • (c.2) monitor and evaluate trends and emerging issues that may have an impact on consumers of financial products and services, and make information on those trends and issues public;

  • (d) strengthen the financial literacy of Canadians and promote consumer awareness about the obligations of financial institutions and the external complaints body under the consumer provisions applicable to them and about all matters connected with the protection of consumers of financial products and services; and

  • (e) foster, in co-operation with any department, agency or agent corporation of the Government of Canada or of a province, financial institutions and consumer and other organizations, an understanding of financial services and issues relating to financial services.

  • (f) [Repealed, 2018, c. 27, s. 338]

  • (g) [Repealed, 2018, c. 27, s. 338]

• Marginal note:Objects — payment card network operators

  (3) The objects of the Agency are also to

  • (a) supervise payment card network operators to determine whether they are in compliance with the provisions of the Payment Card Networks Act and its regulations;

  • (b) promote the adoption by payment card network operators of policies and procedures designed to implement the provisions of the Payment Card Networks Act and its regulations;

  • (c) monitor the implementation of voluntary codes of conduct that have been adopted by payment card network operators and that are publicly available, and to monitor any public commitments made by them regarding their commercial practices in relation to payment card networks; and

  • (d) promote public awareness about the obligations of payment card network operators under a voluntary code of conduct or under the Payment Card Networks Act.

• Marginal note:Objects — consumer-driven banking

  (4) The objects of the Agency in relation to consumer-driven banking are to

  • (a) supervise the participating entities, the external complaints body and the technical standards body to determine whether they are in compliance with

    • (i) the provisions of the Consumer-Driven Banking Act that are applicable to them, and

    • (ii) any terms and conditions or undertakings with respect to consumer-driven banking that the Minister imposes or requires, as the case may be, under an Act listed in Schedule 1 and the directions that the Minister imposes under this Act;

  • (b) monitor and evaluate trends and emerging issues that may have an impact on consumers of consumer-driven banking, including the trends and issues in respect of products, services and market developments, and make information on those trends and issues public;

  • (c) foster — in co-operation with any department, agency or agent corporation of the Government of Canada or of a province, financial institutions and consumer and other organizations — participation in consumer-driven banking; and

  • (d) foster an understanding of consumer-driven banking and related issues among consumers.

Commissioner of Agency

Marginal note:Appointment of Commissioner

• 4 (1) The Governor in Council shall appoint an officer to be called the Commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. The Commissioner has the rank and all the powers of a deputy head of a department.

• Marginal note:Tenure of office and removal

  (2) The Commissioner holds office during good behaviour for a term of not more than five years, but may be removed for cause by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Further terms

  (3) The Commissioner, on the expiration of any term of office, is eligible to be re-appointed for a further term of office.

• Marginal note:Absence or incapacity

  (4) In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Commissioner, or if the office of Commissioner is vacant, the Minister may appoint a qualified person to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Commissioner, but no person may be so appointed for a term of more than 90 days without the approval of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Remuneration

  (5) The Commissioner shall be paid the remuneration fixed by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Expenses

  (6) The Commissioner and any person appointed under subsection (4) are entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses incurred in the course of performing their duties while absent from their ordinary place of work.

• Marginal note:Deemed employment

  (7) The Commissioner and any person appointed under subsection (4) are deemed to be employed in the public service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act and to be employed in the federal public administration for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulations made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.