Canada: Budget Implementation Act establishing framework to share financial data passed first reading

On 18 November 2025, Bill C-15, the Budget Implementation Act, passed its first reading in the House of Commons. Division 9 of Part 5 repeals the Consumer-Driven Banking Act and establishes a framework for individuals and businesses to share financial data with authorised entities. The Act applies to data from deposit accounts, investment accounts, payment products, credit facilities, mortgages, and other regulated products, excluding commercially enhanced derived data. Data sharing must occur through systems that prevent receiving entities from altering the provider’s data. Participating entities include listed banks, accredited federal and provincial financial institutions, registered payment service providers, and other accredited entities. Concerning obligations, entities must share consumer data upon instruction, follow technical standards, implement security safeguards, and report breaches to the Bank of Canada. Consumers must be notified if breaches pose risks to financial, identity, reputational, or physical safety. Consent must be explicit, renewed annually, clearly describe the data and its purpose, and cannot be coerced or misrepresented. Consumers may withdraw consent at any time, and entities must confirm authentication, consent validity, and applicable products before sharing data. Consumer dashboards must provide transparency and control over data-sharing arrangements. Finally, entities must publicly display their status, maintain accessible consumer information policies, protect against security threats, including foreign interference, and comply with record-keeping and accreditation fee requirements. The Bank of Canada may request information to verify compliance.