When Maya (not her real name) finally left her abusive partner, she expected emotional turmoil, but she did not expect the financial devastation that would follow. Loans had been taken out in her name. Her income had been redirected. Her credit profile had been damaged without her knowledge.

To financial institutions the situation appeared to be mismanagement rather than abuse. Months later Maya was safe, but financially ruined. Stories like hers are not rare. They are part of a national pattern of economic abuse that remains hidden in plain sight.

Economic abuse occurs when someone controls or sabotages another person’s access to money, credit, assets or financial independence. It is usually perpetrated by men against women and is one of the most common, least understood forms of gender-based violence in Canada. Women who have physically escaped abusive relationships are left with destroyed credit, overwhelming coerced debt, restricted access to bank accounts and long-term economic instability. In many cases, finances become the last weapon an abuser uses and the first barrier a survivor encounters when seeking safety.

The federal government took an important step last fall by introducing a code of conduct for the prevention of economic abuse. For the first time, the government acknowledged that financial institutions have a role in preventing harm.

Why voluntary rules are not enough

But the code as introduced is voluntary. Optional practices do not create consistent protections. One institution may introduce strong safeguards while another may do only what is convenient. Safety should not depend on which bank a survivor happens to use.  Guidelines designed to protect survivors cannot depend on institutional goodwill. A recent study in the British Journal of Criminology found that without clear regulatory obligations, financial institutions often created or intensified vulnerable circumstances for women facing coerced debt. The code must be mandatory with enforceable standards if it is to deliver real financial safety.

An effective mandatory code would require regular audits by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), as well as clear oversight and public reporting, either by the FCAC or the Canadian Bankers Association. There would be consequences for non-compliance, including fines or supervision of the offending institution. Survivors and experts on economic abuse would help write and review the rules. Without the ability to enforce it, the current code risks being symbolic rather than successful.

What remains to be done

Ottawa’s most recent budget identified the problem, but several critical gaps remain. Canada still has no consistent national standards for responding to economic abuse. There is no obligation for banks to reverse coerced debt or correct fraudulent transactions, even when they are clearly linked to abuse.

Training for front-line staff is not required, which means many survivors encounter employees who are unprepared to recognize or respond to coercive financial control. Reporting and accountability mechanisms remain voluntary, limiting transparency and weakening oversight.

Efforts to prevent fraud and family violence are disconnected, even though abusers frequently use tactics that border on the criminal.

Addressing these gaps is essential. Without clear standards, the code will not change the day-to-day experiences of survivors.

What survivors need

Economic abuse increasingly occurs through digital channels. Abusers use passwords, online banking, misdirected transfers or fraudulent credit applications to maintain control. Survivors need practical and immediate tools to counter these harms.

Banks must offer emergency access to funds, faster cheque clearing and the ability to freeze accounts safely without penalty. Survivors require clear and simple ways to reverse fraudulent transactions, correct misdirected deposits and remove coerced debt from their credit records.

Mandatory training for bank staff is also essential. Without an understanding of economic abuse, even well-meaning employees can unintentionally expose survivors to further harm. Training must be consistent and embedded into organizational practices.

Transparency cannot remain optional

Economic abuse thrives in the dark. Survivors face hidden fees, blocked transactions and confusing account language that obscures what is happening to their money. These hurdles allow abusers to maintain control. Canada needs a code that ensures straightforward language on banking fees and terms, as well as alerts of suspicious activity.

Finally, it must include strong safeguards against coerced credit and identity theft. In the United States, for example, the “red flags rule” requires financial institutions to maintain programs to detect and stop identity theft before accounts or credit are issued. Canada should have a similar requirement to flag suspicious credit activity and identity manipulation.

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For Indigenous women, newcomers, refugees, racialized Canadians and women with disabilities this clarity is even more important. Many already face systemic barriers to financial inclusion. Voluntary practices cannot fix these inequities. Only enforceable transparency standards will provide survivors with the information and protection they need.

Fraud and economic abuse are connected problems

Abusers often use tactics that mirror fraud. Identity theft, unauthorized loans, forged applications and misuse of digital credentials are common in abusive relationships. Yet fraud prevention and intimate partner violence have been handled as separate issues. Any code addressing economic abuse must require co-ordination between banks, credit bureaus and anti-fraud agencies to detect warning signs of coerced credit, unauthorized account changes or repeated frauds. It must also provide safe channels for survivors to report abuse and enable earlier intervention to prevent long-term financial harm.

A path toward economic safety

The budget laid the foundation for more vigilant financial institutions, but foundations alone do not protect survivors. The government needs to create consistent national protections, elevate the importance of survivor experiences, require transparent reporting by financial institutions and be accountable for preventing harm.

Canada can lead globally by establishing an enforceable survivors-centred framework to economically protect those who have fled violent relationships. It would allow them to regain control over their finances and rebuild their lives. It would ensure that banks, credit-card companies and lenders did not inadvertently enable abuse. And it would affirm that financial inclusion is a right rather than a privilege.

Proposed legislation in Bill C-16 signals a shift in how the government understands violence against women. It recognizes coercive financial control as a pattern rather than an isolated act. Economic abuse is central to that control, because it shapes survivors’ access to money, credit and financial independence long before and after physical violence occurs.

But a law alone cannot address the economic harm made possible, if unintentionally, by our financial institutions. A mandatory code of conduct would help align financial regulations with the Criminal Code to ensure prevention, accountability and survivors-centred institutional practices.

Fighting economic abuse is not just about money. It is about power, safety and the right to choose a future free from someone else’s control. Canada has taken an important first step, but only mandatory action will deliver the protection survivors deserve.