OBSI Annual Report 2025 (fiscal year ended 31 October 2025). Text of pages 2, 11, 12, 29, 30, 31 and 55, extracted with pdftotext from https://media-001-ca.cdn.govstack.com/obsi-006-ca/media/utuptlw0/obsi-annual-report-2025-en-aoda.pdf on 13 October 2026. The full PDF is 39 MB. ===== PAGE 2 ===== 2025 HIGHLIGHTS OBSI Annual Report 2025 2 2025 Highlights 26 024 , 6,110 Total public inquiries Opened cases 58% 91% Increase in Increase in public inquiries opened cases $3,659 9 207 $ , Average banking Average investment compensation compensation $5,761,727 Compensation to consumers ===== PAGE 11 ===== MESSAGE FROM THE OMBUDSMAN AND CEO OBSI Annual Report 2025 11 Frauds and scams a major source Driving efficiency and performance We achieved these results by Wait times for case assignments of complaints streamlining our case management The record high levels of consumer demand system, enhancing our guidance and With this level of growth and despite our Consumers faced significant challenges this year presented significant operational templates, and introducing our FastTrack efficiency and productivity gains, we are also during the year. In banking, over a third challenges for OBSI and addressing approach. This approach ensures that experiencing some delays in our ability to of cases related to fraud, often involving these challenges required an innovative, our investigations are proportionate to assign banking cases to investigators within e-transfer scams and credit card fraud. organization-wide approach. Our key focus the complexity of each case without our standard time frames. Throughout the These scams frequently involved has been on improving our operational compromising fairness and quality. year, all investment cases were assigned to sophisticated social engineering tactics efficiency and expanding our capacity, investigators within our standard timeframe and left consumers liable for losses under while ensuring that we continue to meet Expanding capacity to meet of 10 business days. However, by the current rules. During the year, we engaged our standards of fairness, effectiveness consumer demand end of 2025, some banking cases were in numerous conversations with Canada's and quality, and provide a supportive and waiting up to eight weeks for assignment banks and banking regulators in relation productive workplace for our team. Addressing the record high levels of to an investigator. We are committed to to the challenges of fraud for consumers, consumer demand has also required an reducing these wait times and returning published an updated approach to fraud In 2025, we delivered strong results in expansion of our team. In the last three to our standard performance levels of on our website and submitted our views on efficiency and service. Case closings rose by years, we have grown significantly as an assigning cases within two weeks in 2026 potential policy measures as part of a federal 36% over last year, increasing from 3,700 to organization, adding over 60 staff to our as we continue to build our team and case government consultation on strengthening over 5,000 this year. In the five-year period case assessment and investigative teams. closing capacity. fraud protections in Canada. since 2021, case closings have increased This growth increased our budget needs five-fold--climbing from about 1,000 to and raised fees--primarily for participating The investment sector also saw a record over 5,000. Productivity per investigator banks--but delivered significant economies number of complaints in 2025. Amid increased by nearly 50%, and timelines of scale and scope. Compared to 2021, we strong market performance we saw fewer improved: banking cases now close in now close five times as many cases with complaints related to investment suitability an average of 43 days and investment roughly double the funding. and an increase in complaints about cases in 63 days--reductions of 22% and service, transfer delays, fee disclosure and 16% respectively from 2021 levels. crypto fraud. ===== PAGE 12 ===== MESSAGE FROM THE OMBUDSMAN AND CEO OBSI Annual Report 2025 12 Advancing binding authority Priorities for 2026 2026 will also be a year of reflection and I thank our staff for their extraordinary efforts planning for OBSI. During the year, we will throughout this year of unprecedented Beyond operational improvements, in 2025 2026 promises to be a year of reinforcement complete our five-year independent review demand. Their professionalism, resilience, we supported the Canadian Securities and reflection for OBSI. We anticipate that to assess our recent performance against and commitment to excellence enabled us Administrators' (CSA) work on a proposed case volumes will stabilize and that our our banking and investment mandates and to help a record number of Canadians and framework to grant OBSI binding authority. recent period of significant growth will provide insights about our opportunities financial services firms, while maintaining slow, allowing us to focus on supporting for improvement. This review will provide the highest standards of fairness and In our submission to the CSA's 2025 our team and our stakeholders in this new a foundation on which we will build our quality. I also thank our board members for consultation on binding authority, era of high consumer demand for services. 2027-2031 Strategic Plan. their ongoing guidance and support and we endorsed many aspects of the We look forward to improving consumer our many stakeholders for their trust and CSA's proposed framework, including wait times and maintaining our efficiency Celebrating 30 years of ombudsmanship collaboration which have been essential to retaining our current investigation and and effectiveness. our success. recommendation model and the use of In 2026, OBSI celebrates its 30th external decision makers for highervalue We also look forward to advancing several anniversary. Since our founding in 1996, Sarah P. Bradley second-stage reviews. We also emphasized major internal projects. These include: we have remained committed to providing Ombudsman and CEO the importance of maintaining OBSI's fair, accessible, and independent dispute independence and a proportionate Deploying virtual agent technologies to resolution services to Canadian consumers oversight and reporting framework. streamline administrative processes and and financial services firms. Over the past improve case handling efficiency. three decades, we have helped tens of Binding authority will align Canada with thousands of Canadians resolve their international best practices and resolve Redesigning our case management financial complaints, and we remain as longstanding concerns about low system and firm and consumer portals to committed as ever to our vision: helping to settlements. We appreciate the CSA's modernize our infrastructure. ensure a fair, effective, and trusted Canadian thoughtful engagement and look forward financial services sector. to finalizing this framework. Binding authority Launching a proactive settlement pilot represents a transformative step forward project with participating firms to for investor protection, and we are ready encourage early resolution of cases and to meet the responsibilities it entails. improve outcomes for both consumers and firms. ===== PAGE 29 ===== BANKING SERVICES OBSI Annual Report 2025 29 Cases OPENED CASES 5,438 TOP PRODUCTS & ISSUES Banking cases reached 2,554 e-Transfer fraud a record-setting high in Credit card fraud 2025, led by fraud-related 2,384 Credit card chargeback complaints. 5,438 Rising banking case volumes in recent years have resulted from the changes to the Bank opened cases Act Consumer Protection Framework in 2022 and the return of all federally regulated 4,435 banks as OBSI members in 2025. closed cases For full case statistics, 113% click here to visit our increase in cases opened from 2024 Data Cube $3,659 683 514 average compensation 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 43 days on average to complete an investigation ===== PAGE 30 ===== BANKING SERVICES OBSI Annual Report 2025 30 Total cases opened by product and issue Year-over-year % change Banking products # of cases % of cases Year-over-year % change Banking issues # of cases % of cases 88% 85% Credit card 1,576 29% 108% Fraud 1,815 33% e-Transfer 898 17% 48% Service issue 896 16% 105% Product information Personal savings and 761 14% 147% disclosure/ 312 6% 71% chequing account Misrepresentation 220% 588 11% 125% Chargeback 290 5% Mortgage 293 5% 155% Missing or lost funds 191% Debit card Fee disclosure/ 269 5% Cheque/Certified/Money 249 5% 211% Misrepresentation/ 182% order/Draft Calculation 230 4% 100% Wire transfer 206 4% 158% Transaction error 248% Line of credit 195 4% 138% Relationship ended 223 4% 329% Personal loan 148 3% 222% Unauthorized transaction 192 4% 97% Registered accounts 117 2% 185% Collections process 146 3% 105% Commercial account 102 2% 386% Credit decision 146 3% GIC/Term deposit 88 2% 57% Credit reporting 118 2% 11% Estate account 1% 122% Interest rate 135 2% 143% Commercial loan 51 1% 113% Hold on funds 123 2% 1,078% Home equity line of credit 49 Promotions 119 2% 833% (HELOC) 1% 72% Points & rewards 106 2% 264% Other--Banking services 43 Pre-payment penalty 84 2% 158% Safety deposit box 1% 121% Privacy breach 80 1% 438% Insurance--Credit protection 31 1% 367% Product modification 62 1% 333% Merchant card services 28 <1% Joint holder disputes 43 1% 400% 14 <1% 75% Other--Banking 39 1% Total -67% <1% 113% 1 100% Total 10 113% 100% 5,438 5,438 Note: Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding. ===== PAGE 31 ===== BANKING SERVICES OBSI Annual Report 2025 31 TOP FIVE This is a visual representation of the five most reported banking issues during the year and related products. Each rectangle represents a product that has been impacted by the corresponding issue. The size of the rectangle is proportional to the Banking issues and number of complaints received in relation to the products impacted. related products 463 225 1,815 Fraud Credit card Debit card 823 e-Transfer 896 Service issue 88 Cheque/Certified/ 11 Personal loan Money order/Draft 204 Personal savings and 200 134 18 Debit card 71 Wire transfer 9 Mortgage chequing account Credit card Mortgage 18 Other--Banking services 61 Personal savings and 5 Home equity line of 34 Line of credit credit (HELOC) 34 Commercial account 13 Commercial loan chequing account 31 Estate account 8 Safety deposit box 40 Line of credit 2 Estate account 46 Registered accounts 29 Personal loan 2 Home equity line of credit (HELOC) 16 Commercial account 1 Registered accounts 39 Cheque/Certified/Money order/Draft 24 GIC/Term deposit 38 Wire transfer 23 e-Transfer 1 Merchant card services 312 Product information disclosure/Misrepresentation 290 Chargeback 269 Missing or lost funds 129 12 Personal loan 276 54 Personal savings and 18 e-Transfer Mortgage 7 Home equity line of credit (HELOC) Credit card chequing account 6 Insurance--Credit protection 18 Safety deposit box 49 Credit card 5 Wire transfer 45 Wire transfer 22 GIC/Term deposit 4 Estate account 38 Cheque/Certified/ 8 Registered accounts 19 Personal savings and 3 Cheque/Certified/Money order/Draft 2 Debit card Money order/Draft 8 GIC/Term deposit chequing account 2 Commercial account 37 Credit card 19 Line of credit 2 Other--Banking Services 10 Debit card 27 Debit card 7 Other--Banking services 16 Commercial loan 15 Registered accounts 2 Personal savings and 3 Commercial account chequing account 2 Mortgage 1 Line of credit 2 Estate account 1 Cheque/Certified/ 1 Line of credit Money order/Draft 1 Personal loan ===== PAGE 55 ===== CASE OUTCOMES OBSI Annual Report 2025 55 Compensation MONETARY COMPENSATION 33% 0 OBSI works with consumers and 30% of investment complaints There were no refusals by any participating firms to arrive at fair (213 of 648) ended with participating firms of an OBSI and reasonable outcomes. of banking and credit union monetary compensation recommendation in 2025. complaints (1,306 of 4,435) ended If an investigation finds that a participating firm acted with monetary compensation unfairly, made a mistake, or gave bad advice, OBSI will recommend the firm compensate the consumer Total Average Median Lowest Highest # of case files1 or investor for any loss, damage, or harm up to $350,000. OBSI may also recommend non-monetary Banking and credit unions $3,929,533 $3,659 $539 $6 $370,0002 1,120 compensation when appropriate, such as correcting $50 a mistake made to a credit report. Investments $1,832,194 $9,207 $990 $206,713 201 If OBSI concludes that the consumer or investor was treated fairly, or the compensation previously offered Total combined $5,761,727 by the firm is fair, a clear explanation of the findings will be provided to the consumer or investor. In accordance 1 These figures do not include cases where we do not have a record of the amount of compensation. with OBSI's Terms of Reference, the name of any firm 2 Participating firms are not limited to a specific amount when settling with consumers. that refuses a recommendation will be made public. NON-MONETARY COMPENSATION 17 2 recommendations recommendations in banking cases in investment cases Non-monetary compensation can be a letter of apology, restoring a product or service, correcting a credit bureau record, or sending explanatory letters to a consumer's creditors.