Letter addressed to the Honourable Minister of Finance and National Revenue regarding the Anti-Fraud Strategy and Economic abuse

October 31, 2025

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, P. C., M.P.
Minister of Finance and National Revenue
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

 

Dear Minister Champagne,

As the Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime, I hear concerns from survivors and stakeholders around economic abuse and the urgent need for action to help protect and empower survivors. That is why I support the Government of Canada’s first National Anti-Fraud Strategy (the Strategy) to be introduced in Budget 2025.

Economic abuse was raised during my Office’s 2024-25 systemic investigation on the experiences of survivors of sexual assault (final report to be released on November 19, 2025). As part of this investigation, we heard from hundreds of survivors and stakeholders through interviews, surveys, and consultation tables. We spoke with leading advocates including the Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment (CCFWE), Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and Catherine Fitzpatrick, a former bank executive in Australia and a leading advocate against financial abuse.

One of the issues highlighted in our consultations with CCFWE, FINTRAC, and Ms. Fitzpatrick was the critical role financial institutions can play to disrupt violence and address coercive and controlling behaviours.

Following these discussions and the alarms raised by stakeholders and survivors, my Office sent a letter to the Canadian Bankers Association highlighting four areas for immediate action:

1. Interac e-Transfer as a Tool of Abuse: We heard about abusers sending small amounts of money with a threatening message to survivors. Organizations have called for change such as AI models being able to detect and block abusive messages and a “hide references” feature allowing transfers without displaying messages.
   • It is positive to see that since this letter, Interac e-Transfer has collaborated with CCFWE to add an Opt-Out feature which allows for funds to be received and the messages attached to be hidden.
2. Insurance Policies - Protection, Not Exploitation: We heard about abusers weaponizing joint insurance policies with survivors. Some have recommended verifying victim consent, adding a clause to allow for claims of property damage, and legislative changes to protect survivors from financial abuse within insurance agreements.
3. Enhanced Protections for Survivors: We heard about abusers damaging credit scores of survivors and depleting their resources, forcing survivors to remain in unsafe relationships. We support recommendations made by CCFWE around fast access to new no-cost or low-cost accounts and flexible repayment plans for survivors.
4. Rapid Reporting to FINTRAC: We heard about the importance of banking institutions to report suspicious transactions to FINTRAC for analysis as quickly as possible, which can increase life-saving interventions for survivors and prevent further harm.

There is a clear need for action and I am encouraged to see progress being made. This innovative Strategy will

• change legislation to ensure banks have policies to prevent and tackle fraud
• create a new Financial Crimes Agency to combat complex financial crime, and
• develop a voluntary Code of Conduct for the Prevention of Economic Abuse

This last point will be developed in collaboration with stakeholders, including the CCFWE, a leading organization in combatting economic abuse.

I look forward to the release of this Strategy.

 

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Benjamin Roebuck
Federal Ombudsperson for Victims of Crime

 

CC: Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment