The year 2026 is poised to be a breakthrough one for open banking in Canada. Bill C-15 — which would implement measures from the 2025 federal budget — is currently before Parliament.

If passed, Bill C-15 will complete and modernize Canada’s Consumer-Driven Banking Act by giving the Bank of Canada oversight over a new open banking framework that lets consumers and small businesses securely share their financial data with the third parties they choose.

To date, discussions about this new framework have largely focused on promoting competition and technological innovation. Equally important, however, is its potential to help women experiencing economic abuse.

Economic abuse is widespread

Economic abuse is a hidden and harmful form of gender-based violence that happens when someone uses money or other resources to control, exploit or harm another person.

Common abuse tactics include restricting access to household income and benefits, withholding financial information, monitoring every purchase, excluding a partner from critical financial decisions, building up debt in their name and preventing them from accessing banking or credit on their own.

Statistics Canada and federal data show that financial abuse disproportionately affects women. The Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment estimates that economic abuse affects one in three women who are victims of intimate partner violence........

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