Statistics Canada is suspending its plan to obtain the personal banking data of 500,000 Canadians and has halted collecting credit records from a major international credit bureau.

Privacy experts say there is little people can do to verify if their information has been obtained by the national statistical agency.

In an exclusive interview with Global News, Canada's chief statistician Anil Arora says a project to harvest the detailed financial information of 500,000 Canadians -- without their consent -- is crucial to the federal agency's mission.

Conservatives hammer Trudeau government for the second straight day over Statistics Canada’s plan to collect personal banking data.

Global News has learned that since the fall of 2017 Statistics Canada has scooped up all the credit rating information from a major international credit bureau.

Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen grilled Trudeau after a Global News report revealed StatCan is asking banks for the transaction data of 500,000 randomly chosen Canadians.

Statistics Canada is asking banks across the country for financial transaction data and personal information of 500,000 Canadians — without their knowledge.