BILL C-8 (Royal Assent)

	Complaints
Procedures for dealing with complaints	486. (1) A company shall
	(a) establish procedures for dealing with complaints made by persons having requested or received products or services in Canada from the company;
	(b) designate an officer or employee of the company to be responsible for implementing those procedures; and
	(c) designate one or more officers or employees of the company to receive and deal with those complaints.
Procedures to be filed with Commissioner	(2) A company shall file with the Commissioner a copy of its procedures established under paragraph (1)(a).
Obligation to be member of complaints body	486.1 In any province, if there is no law of the province that makes a company subject to the jurisdiction of an organization that deals with complaints made by persons having requested or received products or services in the province from a company, the company shall be a member of an organization that is not controlled by it and that deals with those complaints that have not been resolved to the satisfaction of the persons under procedures established by companies under paragraph 486(1)(a).
Information on contacting Agency	487. (1) A company shall, in the prescribed manner, provide a person requesting or receiving a product or service from it with prescribed information on how to contact the Agency if the person has a complaint about an arrangement referred to in subsection 482(3), a payment, credit or charge card, the disclosure of or manner of calculating the cost of borrowing in respect of a loan or an advance on the security or against the cash surrender value of a policy, or about any other obligation of the company under a consumer provision.
Report	(2) The Commissioner shall prepare a report, to be included in the report referred to in section 34 of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act, respecting
	(a) procedures for dealing with complaints established by companies pursuant to paragraph 486(1)(a); and
	(b) the number and nature of complaints that have been brought to the attention of the Agency by persons who have requested or received a product or service from a company.
	(2) If this section comes into force before paragraph 486(1)(a) and subsection 487(1) of the Act, as enacted, respectively, by sections 260 and 261 of An Act to amend certain laws relating to financial institutions, being chapter 15 of the Statutes of Canada, 1997, come into force, then sections 260 and 261 of that Act are repealed.
	425. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 489:
Public accountability statements	489.1 (1) A company with equity of $1 billion or more shall, in accordance with regulations made under subsection (4), annually publish a statement describing the contribution of the company and its prescribed affiliates to the Canadian economy and society.
Filing	(2) A company shall, in the manner and at the time prescribed, file a copy of the statement with the Commissioner.
Provision of statement to public	(3) A company shall, in the manner and at the time prescribed, disclose the statement to its customers and to the public.
Regulations	(4) The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing
	(a) the name, contents and form of a statement referred to in subsection (1) and the time in which it must be prepared;
	(b) affiliates of a company referred to in subsection (1);
	(c) the manner and time in which a statement must be filed under subsection (2); and
	(d) the manner and time in which a statement mentioned in subsection (3) is to be disclosed, respectively, to a company's customers and to the public.
Regulations re disclosure	489.2 The Governor in Council may, subject to any other provisions of this Act relating to the disclosure of information, make regulations respecting the disclosure of information by companies or any prescribed class of companies, including regulations respecting
	(a) the information that must be disclosed, including information relating to
	(i) any product or service or prescribed class of products or services offered by them,
	(ii) any of their policies, procedures or practices relating to the offer by them of any product or service or prescribed class of products or services,
	(iii) anything they are required to do or to refrain from doing under a consumer provision, and
	(iv) any other matter that may affect their dealings with customers or the public;
	(b) the manner, place and time in which, and the persons to whom information is to be disclosed; and
	(c) the content and form of any advertisement by companies or any prescribed class of companies relating to any matter referred to in paragraph (a).
1991, c. 47, s. 760; 1993, c. 34, ss. 81(F), 82, 83; 1997, c. 15, ss. 264 to 274; 1999, c. 28, ss. 122 to 124	426. Sections 490 to 513 of the Act are replaced by the following:
Definitions	490. (1) The definitions in this subsection apply in this Part.
``commercial loan'' « prêt commercial »	``commercial loan'' means
	(a) any loan made or acquired by a company, other than
	(i) a loan to a natural person in an amount of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or less,
	(ii) a loan to the Government of Canada, the government of a province, a municipality, or to any agency thereof, or to the government of a foreign country or any political subdivision thereof, or any agency thereof, or to a prescribed international agency,
	(iii) a loan that is guaranteed by, or fully secured by securities issued by, a government, a municipality or an agency referred to in subparagraph (ii),
	(iv) a loan that is secured by a mortgage on real property, where
	(A) the mortgage is on residential property and the amount of the loan, together with the amount then outstanding of any mortgage having an equal or prior claim against the property, does not exceed 75 % of the value of the property at the time the loan is made or acquired, or
	(B) the mortgage is on real property other than residential property and
	(I) the amount of the loan, together with the amount then outstanding of any mortgage having an equal or prior claim against the property, does not exceed 75 % of the value of the property at the time the loan is made or acquired, and
	(II) at the time the loan is made or acquired, the property provides an annual income sufficient to pay all annual expenses related to the property, including the payments owing under the mortgage and the mortgages having an equal or prior claim against the property,
	(v) a loan that is secured by a mortgage on real property, where
	(A) the mortgage is on residential property and
	(I) the amount of the loan, together with the amount then outstanding of any mortgage having an equal or prior claim against the property, exceeds 75 % of the value of the property at the time the loan is made or acquired, and
	(II) repayment of the amount of the loan that exceeds 75 % of the value of the property is guaranteed or insured by a government agency or private insurer approved by the Superintendent,
	(B) the mortgage is on real property other than residential property and
	(I) the amount of the loan, together with the amount then outstanding of any mortgage having an equal or prior claim against the property, exceeds 75 % of the value of the property at the time the loan is made or acquired,
	(II) repayment of the amount of the loan that exceeds 75 % of the value of the property is guaranteed or insured by a government agency or private insurer approved by the Superintendent, and
	(III) at the time the loan is made or acquired, the property provides an annual income sufficient to pay all annual expenses related to the property, including the payments owing under the mortgage and the mortgages having an equal or prior claim against the property, or
	(C) the loan is one referred to in paragraph 469(2)(d),
	(vi) a loan that
	(A) consists of a deposit made by the company with another financial institution,
	(B) is fully secured by a deposit with any financial institution, including the company,
	(C) is fully secured by debt obligations guaranteed by any financial institution other than the company, or
	(D) is fully secured by a guarantee of a financial institution other than the company,
	(vii) an advance on the security of or against the cash surrender value of a policy, or
	(viii) a loan to an entity controlled by the company;
	(b) an investment in debt obligations, other than
	(i) debt obligations that are
	(A) guaranteed by any financial institution other than the company,
	(B) fully secured by deposits with any financial institution, or
	(C) fully secured by debt obligations that are guaranteed by any financial institution other than the company,
	(ii) debt obligations issued by the Government of Canada, the government of a province, a municipality, or by any agency thereof, or by the government of a foreign country or any political subdivision thereof, or by any agency thereof, or by a prescribed international agency,
	(iii) debt obligations that are guaranteed by, or fully secured by securities issued by, a government, a municipality or an agency referred to in subparagraph (ii),
	(iv) debt obligations that are widely distributed, as that expression is defined by the regulations, or
	(v) debt obligations of an entity controlled by the company; and
	(c) an investment in shares of a body corporate or ownership interests in an unincorporated entity, other than
	(i) shares or ownership interests that are widely distributed, as that expression is defined by the regulations,
	(ii) shares or ownership interests of an entity controlled by the company, or
	(iii) participating shares.
``factoring entity'' « entité s'occupant d'affacturage »	``factoring entity'' means a factoring entity as defined in the regulations.
``finance entity'' « entité s'occupant de financement »	``finance entity'' means a finance entity as defined in the regulations.
``financial leasing entity'' « entité s'occupant de crédit-bail »	``financial leasing entity'' means an entity
	(a) the activities of which are limited to the financial leasing of personal property and such related activities as are prescribed and whose activities conform to such restrictions and limitations thereon as are prescribed; and
	(b) that, in conducting the activities referred to in paragraph (a) in Canada, does not
	(i) direct its customers or potential customers to particular dealers in the leased property or the property to be leased,
	(ii) enter into lease agreements with persons in respect of any motor vehicle having a gross vehicle weight, as that expression is defined by the regulations, of less than twenty-one tonnes, or
	(iii) enter into lease agreements with natural persons in respect of personal household property, as that expression is defined by the regulations.
``loan'' « prêt » ou « emprunt »	``loan'' includes an acceptance, advance on the security of or against the cash surrender value of a policy, endorsement or other guarantee, a deposit, a financial lease, a conditional sales contract, a repurchase agreement and any other similar arrangement for obtaining funds or credit but does not include investments in securities.
``motor vehicle'' « véhicule à moteur »	``motor vehicle'' means a motorized vehicle designed to be used primarily on a public highway for the transportation of persons or things, but does not include
	(a) a fire-engine, bus, ambulance or utility truck; or
	(b) any other special purpose motorized vehicle that contains significant special features that make it suitable for a specific purpose.
``mutual fund distribution entity'' « courtier de fonds mutuels »	``mutual fund distribution entity'' means an entity whose principal activity is acting as a selling agent of units, shares or other interests in a mutual fund and acting as a collecting agent in the collection of payments for any such interests if
	(a) the proceeds of the sales of any such interests, less any sales commissions and service fees, are paid to the mutual fund; and
	(b) the existence of a sales commission and service fee in respect of the sale of any such interest is disclosed to the purchaser of the interest before the purchase of the interest.
``mutual fund entity'' « entité s'occupant de fonds mutuels »	``mutual fund entity'' means an entity
	(a) whose activities are limited to the investing of the funds of the entity so as to provide investment diversification and professional investment management to the holders of its securities; and
	(b) whose securities entitle their holders to receive, on demand, or within a specified period after demand, an amount computed by reference to the value of a proportionate interest in the whole or in a part of its net assets, including a separate fund or trust account of the entity.
``participating share'' « action participante »	``participating share'' means a share of a body corporate that carries the right to participate in the earnings of the body corporate to an unlimited degree and to participate in a distribution of the remaining property of the body corporate on dissolution.
``permitted entity'' « entité admissible »	``permitted entity'' means an entity in which a company is permitted to acquire a substantial investment under section 495.

Complaints