The Canadian government has announced plans to create the country's first financial crimes agency to combat online fraud.
Announced as part of a wider “Fraud Strategy”, the government says the agency will “bring together the necessary expertise to investigate crimes such as money laundering, online fraud and financial fraud, and to recover the illicit proceeds of criminals”. The government aims to launch the agency in the first half of 2026, with more information to come with the release of the 2025 budget on November 4.
However, for now, Carney's liberals have outlined some reasons for the need for such action. First, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center (CAFC) reported that in 2024 alone, Canadians had an estimated $643 million stolen due to fraud, which represents a nearly 300 per cent increase from 2020. Additionally, the CAFC estimates that this figure actually represents only five to ten percent of total fraud losses in Canada, as many victims often do not report incidents.
You deserve to know that your hard-earned money is safe.
We fight fraud and financial crime to protect your savings, your pension and your loved ones. pic.twitter.com/FxYvnRHdE3
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) October 20, 2025
In addition, the government says it will also make changes to banking laws to further crack down on online fraud. As the government notes, Canada's only legal requirements affecting banks are a $50 limit on consumer liability for unauthorized credit card transactions and a provision in the Canadian Consumer Debit Card Code of Practice that states consumers are not liable for losses in circumstances beyond their control, such as unauthorized use of their cards.
In summary, the Anti-Fraud Strategy proposes:
- New policies and procedures to detect and prevent fraud
- Requiring the explicit consent of personal deposit account holders before enabling account features that are vulnerable to fraud.
- Allow personal deposit account holders to adjust transaction limits
- Financial fraud data must be collected and reported to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC).
We will find out more about the entire Fraud Strategy, including the Financial Crimes Agency, on 4 November.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: Treasury Canada
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