The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) recently released for consultation a draft Guideline on Whistleblowing Policies and Procedures for Banks and Authorized Foreign Banks (the Guideline), which is intended to provide guidance with respect to banks' implementation of the new Bank Act (the Act) whistleblowing provisions coming into force on June 30, 2022.

What you need to know

• The FCAC expects that banks will develop whistleblowing programs that are effective, accessible, and protective of employees.
• The FCAC expects banks to develop policies and procedures to provide for fair, timely, and impartial investigation of reports of wrongdoing (including the allocation of adequate resources to achieve these results); to provide for regular and ongoing training of employees with respect to whistleblowing; and to protect employees who report wrongdoing by maintaining their confidentiality and by protecting them from reprisals.
• While the Guideline provides some additional clarification with respect to the whistleblowing provisions (and the FCAC's expectations), key questions remain outstanding, including with respect to the application of the whistleblowing regime to third parties.
• The deadline to provide comments in response to the Guideline is January 29, 2022.

Background

The Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2 introduced amendments to the consumer protection provisions of the Act, including new whistleblowing provisions (see our bulletin on the provisions). The...

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