Tired of banking fees? Ottawa pushes for more no-, low-cost accounts

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says she is directing the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) to work on making no- and low-cost bank accounts more readily available for Canadians.

This is part of a suite of measures Freeland announced Tuesday afternoon aimed at addressing the ongoing cost of living crisis.

“Charges can rack up, for example, when it comes to online payments, debit transactions, e-transfers, or digital banking services — which have become staples of how so many Canadians make payments and handle their banking today,” Freeland said.

The deputy prime minister added Ottawa is looking at what measures the federal government may be able to bring forward to shift some properties away from short-term rental markets like Airbnb and Vrbo and back to the long-term market.

Freeland added they are currently at an exploratory phase, as much of the regulation around rentals like this takes place at the provincial and municipal level.

Her comments come after the B.C. government on Monday introduced legislation to more closely regulate the short-term rental market.

2:09 B.C. government to crack down on short-term rentals

“We are looking around and saying, what can we do right away that makes more homes available for Canadians? And the short-term rental is one of spaces,” Freeland said.

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“Some estimates I’ve seen suggest that in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver alone you could get up to 30,000 more units right away for people.”

Freeland said there will be more to announce in the weeks to come.

As for other banking provisions, Freeland said she is calling on banks to ensure Canadians who are renewing mortgages are aware of all options, like extensions, in order to ease the burden of increased interest rates.

The FCAC published guidelines in July that standardize how federally-regulated financial institutions are expected to offer mortgage relief to struggling homeowners, including waiving some fees and penalties.

The government is also looking at ways to reduce or eliminate certain bank fees that Freeland said disproportionately affect the most vulnerable. Freeland said there will be more on this in the government’s fall economic statement.

Finally, Freeland announced that the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments will be Canada’s lone external complaints body for the banking sector.

— with files from Global News’ Craig Lord