At the October 23, 2024 Federal Finance Committee meeting, Conservative finance critic Jasraj Singh Hallan spoke out on concerns with respect to money laundering (e.g., TD Bank debacle in the US) and stated, “bad actors can operate inside within existing financial institutions without anyone stopping them.” He added, “The damning TD money laundering scandal in the US should show the urgency for every member in this place to addressing money laundering crimes and put an end to Canada’s status as a major money laundering country of concern.”
And finally, Hallan said, “Canadians should be able to trust that criminals are not taking advantage of the financial institutions where we keep our savings, invest and rely on for loans and mortgages. Oversight in Canada must be improved.”
One of the most vulnerable targets of these criminals are our seniors who are losing their retirement nest eggs to these more sophisticated scams that are perpetrated on them through removing them of their money deposited in financial institutions.
To this end, proof of Hallan’s and the Conservative Party’s commitment in this regard came out this week in a federal election platform delivered by Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre in Montreal on April 15, 2025. See his Party’s pledge below to help seniors avoid losing their money and safeguard their savings. Let’s look to how other federal party’s address this serious issue of seniors’ scams in our country.
Poilievre will require banks and cell phone companies to improve scam detection, flag risks and block criminals who target Canadian seniors.
Montreal, QC – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced his plan to protect Canadian seniors by cracking down on financial scammers who target them. A new Conservative government will ensure that Canadian banks and cell phone companies do a better job detecting scams, alerting victims before they are scammed, and reporting and blocking suspected fraud in real-time. We will also increase fines and prison sentences for the callous criminals who defraud vulnerable Canadians.
To do this, Poilievre will:
- Require mandatory scam detection systems for banks and cell phone companies, especially for high-risk accounts such as seniors over 65.
- Require real-time flagging and blocking of suspicious activity, including unusual or suspicious money transfers, repeated phishing text patterns, and robocall patterns—backed by heavy penalties for non-compliance.
- Create a Senior Transaction Shielding Protocol (STSP): a mandatory 24-hour transaction delay for high-risk transactions on seniors’ accounts–or on the accounts of anyone else who requests such protection–during which time a verification call and fraud check must occur.
- Mandate public reporting by banks and telcos on fraud prevention statistics, volume of scam data blocked, and customer reimbursements made.
- Impose a mandatory minimum one-year jail sentence for fraud over $5,000, three years for fraud over $100,000, five years for fraud over $1 million and minimum fines of ten times the amount defrauded.
- Impose penalties of up to $5 million per violation for willful neglect for failure to implement adequate scam prevention tools.
- Create a new Criminal Code offence of “willful blind profiteering from fraud,” targeting executives who ignore red flags and knowingly allow scam traffic or activity to continue.
“Imagine working your whole life and saving carefully for retirement, only to have it all stolen by a scammer in seconds,” said Poilievre. “Over the Lost Liberal Decade, this nightmare has been the reality for thousands of Canadians. It’s devastating for the victims and for any Canadian who worries about their family members being targeted. That is why a new Conservative Government will protect seniors—For a Change.”
Since 2015, scam reports have skyrocketed. Yet, banks and telecom companies—the institutions with the power to stop it—are not legally required to act. A new Conservative Government will ensure banks and cell phone companies have the incentive to deploy cutting-edge technology to protect Canadians from scams. No longer will seniors and their loved ones be left at the mercy of scam artists.
“Fear of scams is a serious source of anxiety for Canadian seniors. A new Conservative government will protect seniors and bring peace of mind to their families by forcing banks and telecom companies to up their game and stop the scam before it happens, not after,” said Poilievre.
“We’ll mandate state-of-the-art real-time fraud detection, transaction shielding for seniors, and public transparency. And will punish scammers with real consequences for their crimes: jails and fines ten times the amount defrauded. Our seniors have earned the right to feel secure in their retirement. It’s time we had a government that puts their safety first—For a Change.”
