Liberals say new anti-fraud measures coming with federal budget
By Canadian Press on October 20, 2025.
OTTAWA — The federal Liberals say they plan to direct banks to have new policies and procedures in place to detect and prevent fraud.
The proposed legislative amendments would require that banks obtain the express consent of account holders before enabling transfers and payment capabilities that fraudsters use to steal money.
The changes — part of a pre-budget announcement today — would allow account holders to disable features they do not want and adjust transaction limits to protect themselves.
The government also says it will work with banks and others to develop a voluntary Economic Abuse Code of Conduct that would set clear guidelines for situations where one person abusively controls another’s access to money or credit.
The Liberals say they also will introduce legislation by next spring to create a Financial Crimes Agency to investigate money laundering, online fraud and scams, and to recover illicit proceeds.
The Liberals promised such an agency in their 2021 election campaign platform.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2025.
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
11-10
How far of reach into our privacy are we going to allow??
I agree that there are fraudsters out there almost everywhere today, but how much of our privacy, are freedom are we willing to give up?
Banks already have changed policies which exceed demands of FINTRAC, (Canada’s financial intelligence unit and anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing supervisor, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) ensures the compliance of businesses subject to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and generates actionable financial intelligence for Canada’s law enforcement and national security agencies while ensuring the protection of personal information under its control.) and many are not aware!
If you want to get change for even a five dollar bill, when you go the teller of the mainstream bank, you have to put in your debit card, login at the teller so they see who you are, just to get loonies, quarters or other change, and the teller asks you where you got the $5 dollars from.
I took $40 (2 $20) into my bank of 20 years, for a roll of loonies and a $10 and $5 bill. I had to log in, to my account at the teller, give her my $40 and then she gave my change, BUT then she asked “where did you get the $40 from?” According to the bank manager, this was a non-mandatory question that I had a choice not to answer, but as we all know, what is currently non-mandatory, often becomes mandatory.
Will we have to account for every dollar we spend to our bank? Will we have to tell them where we are going to spend our cash we withdraw at some point?
Even investigators in law enforcement state tracking small amounts less than $10,000 is no help!
If I walk into the bank to the teller, login to my account, and request a roll of loonies from the funds in my account, there are no questions . . . yet! Will they ask in the future what I am going to use the loonies for?
Many are not aware of how much of our lives are now tracked, but I will not comment on datamining to profile people, that is another loss of freedoms!