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The FCAC was founded in 2001 under the Financial
Consumer Agency of Canada Act. We were established
to consolidate and strengthen oversight of consumer
protection measures in the federally regulated financial
sector, and to expand consumer education. While some
consumer protection activities existed previously, they
were dispersed among various federal entities.
The FCAC's creation was one in a series of initiatives resulting from an extensive period of study and public consultation on financial sector reform.
The five-year process was launched in December 1996
with the establishment of the Task
Force on the Future of the Canadian Financial Services
Sector. In September 1998, the Task Force presented
the federal government with its report, Change,
Challenge, Opportunity (known as the MacKay
Report). One of the Task Force’s findings was that "the
current framework for consumer protection is not as
effective as it should be in reducing the information
and power imbalance between institutions and consumers."
The Task Force Report was reviewed by two Parliamentary
committees, which held public consultations across the
country and presented their own recommendations.
What emerged through this process was a broad consensus
on ways to improve the sector. In June 1999 the government
released a policy paper, Reforming
Canada's Financial Services Sector: A Framework for
the Future, containing 57 reform measures. Among
them was a proposal to create a financial consumer agency
to oversee consumer interests and improve consumer protection.
Legislation to implement the reform package was passed
on June 14, 2001.
For more information, visit the Department of Finance’s
Web page on financial
sector reform.
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