Backgrounder: About the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) is a federal government agency that was established in 2001 to protect consumers of financial products and services. To fulfill this responsibility, FCAC monitors and supervises federally-regulated financial entities and strengthens the financial literacy of Canadians through education, research and collaboration. Through this work, FCAC contributes to the federal financial oversight framework of promoting public confidence in a strong, stable and competitive financial system.

Supervision

FCAC oversees and promotes the compliance of federally-regulated financial entities with their legislative obligations, codes of conduct and public commitments.

FCAC supervises the following entities:

• federally-regulated financial institutions, which includes banks, federal credit unions, federal insurance companies, and federal trust and loan companies
• external complaints bodies that deal with customer complaints about banking products and services
• payment card network operators, such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Interac

Consumer education and information

FCAC provides unbiased and fact-based information to assist Canadians in making informed financial decisions, relevant to their circumstances.

This includes web content on Canada.ca to help consumers better understand financial products and services, as well as their rights and responsibilities when dealing with financial institutions. The information is presented in an easy-to-read format.

Topics include:

• Managing your money
• Pensions and retirement
• Debt and borrowing
• Managing your financial health in challenging times
• Financial rights and responsibilities

FCAC also offers tools and resources to help Canadians understand and manage their finances, such as FCAC’s free, interactive Budget Planner that makes budgeting easy and was developed based on the latest research and insights on consumer behaviour.

Our free online tools and calculators include:

• Budget Planner
• Financial Goal Calculator
• Account Comparison Tool
• Credit Card Comparison Tool
• Credit Card Payment Calculator
• Mortgage Calculator
• Mortgage Qualifier Tool
• Canadian Financial Literacy Database
• Financial Literacy Self-Assessment Quiz
• Savings and investments

Educational programs

FCAC, in collaboration with organizations across the country, develops educational programs and workshops to help Canadians manage their finances and make informed financial decisions, such as the online, self-paced learning program “Your Financial Toolkit” and the “Financial Basics” workshop.

Consumer complaints

FCAC reviews complaints from Canadians related to the legal obligations of federally-regulated entities to consumers, ranging from account-opening requirements to information that must be provided to customers. FCAC investigates complaints that involved possible breaches of market conduct. Canadians can file a complaint with FCAC by calling toll-free at 1-866-461-3222 or sending us a message.