Consumer-Driven Banking In Canada: Key Updates And Issues

Following up on our prior bulletin, on March 26, 2026, Bill C-15, the Budget Implementation Act, 2025, No. 1 received Royal Assent.¹ Among other measures, Bill C-15 includes the legislation that completes the consumer-driven banking legislative framework. After years of policy development and consultation aimed at establishing consumer-driven banking (also known as "open banking"), the regime has now entered its implementation phase pursuant to the Consumer-Driven Banking Act ("CDBA").

Open banking enables consumers and businesses to authorize the secure sharing of financial data, held by their financial institutions, with third-party service providers of their choice.² Historically, consumers have relied on data-sharing methods such as "screen scraping" that pose significant security risks.³ The CDBA expressly prohibits screen scraping, which is considered an offence under the Act.

The Bank of Canada Mandate

Under the CDBA, the Bank of Canada will, among other things, be responsible for accrediting entities seeking to participate in the consumer-driven banking framework, and maintaining a public registry of each participating entity.

The Bank of Canada will conduct its regulatory oversight with the following objects:

1. supervise participating entities, accredited third-party service providers, the external complaints body and the technical standards body to determine whether they are in compliance with the CDBA and its regulations, and any orders made, undertakings required, compliance agreements entered into and directions made under the CDBA;
2. monitor and evaluate trends and emerging issues that may have an impact on consumers of consumer-driven banking, including trends and issues in respect of products, services and market developments, and make information on those trends and issues public;
3. foster participation in consumer-driven banking in cooperation with any department, agency or agent corporation of the Government of Canada or any department, agency or agent or mandatary corporation of the government of a province, financial institutions and consumer and other organizations; and
4. foster competition in the financial sector in the interests of consumers.

Liability

One major hurdle to the adoption of the consumer-driven banking framework in Canada is understanding who will be liable should something go wrong. The CDBA brings some level of clarity to the issue, with further details to follow.

Pursuant to the CDBA, and subject to the regulations (which have not yet been published), unless a consumer has demonstrated gross negligence or, in Quebec, gross fault, in safeguarding their authentication information, the consumer is not liable for any financial loss that arises directly from a loss of, unauthorized access to or unauthorized use of their data that occurs in relation to the sharing of data in accordance with the CDBA.

Indeed, the CDBA confirms that it is the participating entity who will be liable to a consumer for any financial loss that arises directly from a loss of, unauthorized access to or unauthorized use of the consumer's data that results from a breach of the participating entity's security safeguards.

Further, if a consumer reports to a participating entity that their authentication information has been lost or stolen or is otherwise at risk of being used in an unauthorized manner, the consumer is not liable for any financial loss that is incurred, after the participating entity receives the report, as a result of the unauthorized use of their authentication information in relation to the sharing of data, unless the participating entity demonstrates, on a balance of probabilities, that the consumer contributed to the unauthorized use.

Looking Forward

While the CDBA establishes the overarching framework for open banking in Canada, significant further development is required before the regime becomes fully operational, with its practical benefits highly dependent on regulations and standards that have not yet been finalized.

Footnotes

1. Government of Canada, Legislation passes to implement Budget 2025: Canada Strong.

2. Government of Canada, Budget 2025: Canada's Consumer-Driven Banking Framework.

3. Government of Canada, Archived – Final Report – Advisory Committee on Open Banking.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.