Do Canadas banks discriminate against women, minorities, and people with low incomes?
As above, banks have refused to disclose detailed information about their lending to women, minorities, in low-income neighbourhoods or specific regions of Canada. Without this information, it is not possible to determine whether banks discriminate in their provision of services to specific groups, or communities, in the country. We do know that over 600,000 Canadians, many with low incomes, have no bank account and inadequate access to other banking services. National surveys have shown that a major cause of this problem is that banks’ require identification for opening accounts and cashing cheques (even government cheques) that people with low incomes or on social assistance often do not have. 5. Do the banks have adequate complaint-handling services? Canada’s big banks have all set up ombudsman offices to handle complaints from customers (mainly small businesses). In addition, the banks have together set up a national ombudsman office (with the federal government’s approval) and the
