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How to Dispute a Bank Charge in Canada: Refunds and Complaints

Updated

This page covers a charge that is wrong or made twice, a refund that hasn’t arrived, a charge you didn’t make, and what happens if the bank doesn’t fix the problem. FCAC says that for deposit accounts, like chequing or savings accounts, you usually have 30 days after the date of your statement to dispute a transaction, and that this could differ from one financial institution to another. What several banks’ own dispute pages say is listed by institution, and the complaint route, the bank’s own process and then OBSI, is in complaints.

How do you dispute a charge with your bank?

For a debit card transaction, the voluntary Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services, as FCAC publishes it, says where a problem goes first and what the PIN issuer will do; what the Code covers is on who pays for a debit transaction:

  • The voluntary Canadian Code of Practice for Consumer Debit Card Services, which FCAC publishes, says in section 6 that in the event of a problem with a debit card transaction a cardholder should first attempt to resolve the problem with the PIN issuer, and that a problem with merchandise or retail service paid for through a debit card transaction should be resolved with the retailer concerned.
  • The Code says PIN issuers will have clear, timely procedures for dealing with debit card transaction problems, which will include procedures to investigate the reported transaction problem and provisions for review of problems at a senior level within their organizations.
  • The Code says the PIN issuer will provide information in writing on how its dispute-resolution process works if a problem with a debit card transaction cannot be settled when the cardholder first complains, or (subject to section 6(5)) if the cardholder contacts the issuer claiming not to have received a response to a claim of an unauthorized transaction.
  • The Code says a cardholder whose problem cannot be settled by the PIN issuer will be informed of the reasons for the issuer's position and the issuer will then advise the cardholder of the appropriate party to contact regarding the dispute, and that during the dispute-resolution process cardholders will not be unreasonably restricted from the use of funds that are the subject of the dispute.

A wrong or double charge, by institution

The entries below are what the institutions’ own dispute pages say about disputing a debit card or credit card transaction.

  • BMO: BMO's credit card FAQ says to contact the merchant prior to disputing the charge, that in some cases BMO may require that you first attempt to resolve your dispute with the merchant before it handles the dispute, and to contact BMO within 30 days of your account statement date if you have a dispute inquiry as it is limited by the amount of time it has to dispute a charge; it also says you cannot dispute a pending transaction until it is posted.
  • CIBC: CIBC's debit card dispute page lists being charged the wrong amount, being charged twice for one purchase and failing to receive a refund among disputed transactions, says you must first try to contact the merchant, and says that if you receive a credit for a disputed transaction it will be applied within 5 business days of starting your dispute. CIBC's debit card dispute page says that if you haven't received an expected refund, it may take up to 15 days from the date on your transaction receipt for your refund to be processed and appear on your transactions list. CIBC's credit card dispute page says that if you recognize a transaction but have an issue with it you must first try to resolve it with the merchant (unless the merchant is bankrupt or out of business) and, if that is unsuccessful or you haven't had a response after 2 business days, you can start a digital dispute, and that to have a dispute reviewed within the required timeframes you should submit it as soon as possible, within 30 days of your statement date at the latest.
  • RBC: RBC's credit card transaction help page says that if you recognize a transaction but there is a problem with it you should first try to resolve it directly with the merchant, giving the merchant or service provider 15-20 business days to issue a credit before contacting RBC.
  • Scotiabank: Scotiabank's page on disputing a transaction says to give the merchant 15 business days to fix the mistake before submitting a dispute in the Scotia app, and lists among the eligible Visa credit card billing errors a charge made twice and a refund you're entitled to but never received (wait 15 days after the original posting date).
  • TD: TD's page on disputing debit card charges says that for a non-fraud dispute on a TD Access Card you must first try to resolve the issue directly with the merchant and, if that fails, submit a dispute request within 30 days of the transaction as per your account agreement, and that TD aims to provide an update within 30 business days. TD's page on disputing credit card charges says that if you have a dispute about a purchase you must first speak directly to the merchant, that TD recommends contacting it within 30 days after the Statement Period End Date of the statement on which the transaction or suspected error appeared, and that it can help with a transaction dispute once the transaction has posted, which takes approximately 5 business days.

A bank fee you think is wrong

The disclosure and notice rules for fees are on fee disclosure; a fee for a returned payment, and when one can be reversed, is on NSF fees; a fee the bank refuses to reverse follows the complaint route.

A charge you didn’t make

Who pays for a debit transaction you didn’t authorize, under the Code and FCAC’s statements, is on who pays, and where to report it is on reporting fraud.

A pre-authorized debit

A pre-authorized debit you didn’t agree to, or one that didn’t follow the agreement, is covered by the PAD rule on getting money back from a PAD and a PAD you never agreed to.

A credit card charge

Credit card disputes and chargebacks are covered on disputing a credit card charge; the credit card statements in the list above are the banks’ own pages’ steps.

How long does a refund take?

What Payments Canada, Visa Canada and Interac say about card refunds is below, and one bank’s figure for a debit refund is in its entry.

What the card networks and Payments Canada say

Visa Canada's Visa Debit FAQ says refunds on Visa Debit purchases are at the discretion of the merchant and that typically refunds are not instant and can take several days to be credited to the account holder's bank account. Interac's page for businesses says refunding an Interac Debit transaction is as easy as making one as long as the customer is present with their debit card or mobile wallet, and that once the business authorizes it the money is quickly sent back to the customer's account.

Payments Canada's Rule E1 says that where a cardholder is to be refunded the amount of a point-of-service payment item by an acceptor, the acquirer financial institution must process the refund using the unique transaction number affixed to the point-of-service transaction.

If a refund hasn’t arrived

A charge or refund listed as pending is explained on pending transactions. A refund to a credit card is covered on how credit card refunds work. Some of the dispute pages in the list above name a refund you never received among the problems they deal with.

How do you complain if the bank doesn’t fix it?

A complaint goes to the bank first and then to the external complaints body. The regulation and FCAC word the period differently, so each is listed below in its own words, with OBSI’s own terms after them.

The bank’s own complaint process

Who and what the law covers, and since when:

  • In Part XII.2 of the Bank Act (the complaint provisions), "institution" means a bank or an authorized foreign bank.
  • In the Bank Act, "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
  • The Act defines a complaint as dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, expressed to an institution about a product or service in Canada that it offers, sells or provides, or about the manner in which it does so.
  • Sections 1 to 98 of the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations, which include the complaints provisions, came into force on June 30, 2022.

What a bank must do, and FCAC’s description of it:

  • An institution must establish complaint procedures that are satisfactory to the Commissioner for dealing with complaints within the prescribed period, designate an officer or employee in Canada to be responsible for implementing them, and designate one or more officers or employees in Canada to receive and deal with complaints.
  • An institution must give a person who makes a complaint a written acknowledgment of the date on which it received the complaint, the complaints information in section 627.65 of the Act, and any information necessary to meet the requirements of its procedures.
  • An institution must not use a misleading term for its complaint procedures or the officers and employees who handle complaints, including a term that suggests they are independent of the institution, such as "ombudsman".
  • The regulations set the period for dealing with a complaint at 56 days after the day on which the complaint is received.
  • FCAC says a bank must give you a detailed written response within 56 calendar days from when you first made the complaint, and that a detailed written response also applies if the bank closes your complaint and you are not satisfied with the proposed solution.
  • FCAC says each bank has its own complaint-handling process, usually on its website and at each of its branches in Canada, that the bank must give you that information and explain how to move your complaint through each step, and that you can usually expect 2 internal steps to resolve your complaint.
  • FCAC says to write down before filing the key facts about the problem, specific dates, names and other supporting details, and the outcome you are looking for, like a refund or correction to your account, and to write down the conversation dates, the employee names and what you discussed.
  • FCAC publishes a list that includes links to the complaint-handling procedures for each federally regulated financial entity on it.

FCAC’s list of complaint-handling procedures links each listed entity’s process.

Taking a complaint to OBSI

The external complaints body: what the Act and the designation say, with FCAC’s description beside them:

  • FCAC says all banks and federal credit unions must be members of OBSI.
  • The Minister of Finance, on the recommendation of the Commissioner of FCAC and under subsections 627.48(1) and (2) of the Bank Act, designated the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) as the external complaints body; the Canada Gazette notice says the designation takes effect on November 1, 2024.
  • The Act says the purpose of its external complaints body provisions (sections 627.48 to 627.54) is to establish a regime comprised of a sole external complaints body.
  • The Act says every institution must be a member of the external complaints body.
  • FCAC's news release on the single external complaints body says Canadian banks could previously choose between OBSI and the ADR Chambers Banking Ombuds Office (ADRBO), that the banks that had used ADRBO transferred to OBSI, and that ADRBO would complete the investigation and resolution of complaints it had received and that remained open as of November 1.
  • FCAC says you may contact OBSI on the earlier of two dates: when it has been more than 56 calendar days since you first filed the complaint with your bank, or when your bank provided a detailed written response and closed your file.
  • The Act requires the external complaints body to impartially deal with complaints that have not been resolved by its member institutions to the satisfaction of the persons who made them, or that have not been dealt with within the prescribed period.
  • The Act requires the external complaints body to make its services available across Canada in both official languages and to offer them free of charge to persons who make complaints to it.
  • If it determines that all or part of a complaint is not within its terms of reference, the external complaints body must give the person written reasons and the name of any entity to which the person may make a complaint, within 30 days after the day on which it receives the complaint.
  • The external complaints body must make a final written recommendation to the parties no later than 120 days after the day on which it has all of the information that it requires to deal with a complaint.
  • Within 90 days after making a final recommendation, the external complaints body must make a summary of it available on its website free of charge, including the name of the institution that received the complaint.
  • The external complaints body must without delay inform the Commissioner in writing of cases in which an institution does not comply with a final recommendation.

What OBSI’s own pages say about its terms:

  • OBSI says that once you receive the final response, you have 180 calendar days to bring your complaint to OBSI.
  • OBSI says it can recommend up to $350,000 for a single complaint and that this amount does not increase when more than one account is involved.
  • OBSI says its decisions are not binding and a firm is not required to follow its recommendation, but that if the firm refuses it will make public that the firm did not comply, without naming the consumer.
  • OBSI's FAQ gives examples of complaints it cannot investigate: waiting more than 180 days to escalate after the firm's final written response, having started legal action on the subject matter, having already reached a settlement with the firm, a firm that is not a participating member of OBSI, not raising the complaint with the firm within six years of when you knew or should have known about the issue, and a complaint that materially relates to a firm's risk management policies and practices, which includes the pricing of financial services and the scale of fees or charges generally applicable to services offered to customers in similar circumstances.
  • OBSI says it can only investigate complaints about firms that participate in its service.

OBSI’s complaint form is on its make-a-complaint page.

What FCAC does

  • FCAC says that if you have a problem with a bank you should file a complaint with the bank directly, that FCAC does not resolve individual complaints, and that it can help you understand a bank's complaint process and guide you through the steps.
  • FCAC says it oversees banks' compliance with federal consumer protection laws, including their complaint-handling obligations, that banks must share their complaint process with it and report consumer complaints and compliance issues, which FCAC uses to supervise them, and that it reports to Parliament on the number and types of complaints reported.
  • FCAC says consumers can report their complaints to FCAC, which does not resolve individual disputes and uses information from consumer complaints to inform its supervisory activities and monitor trends and issues.
  • FCAC says you may contact its Consumer Information Centre to better understand the complaint process.
  • FCAC says that if the issue is still not resolved to your satisfaction you can consult a legal professional to explore other options, and that there may be an associated cost.

Credit unions and caisses

  • OBSI says that investment firms and provincial credit unions have 90 days to help you unless you are a Quebec resident, in which case they have 60 days (with exceptional circumstances allowing it to extend to 90 days).
  • FCAC says you may need to take your complaint to a provincial or territorial regulator and that, for a provincial credit union, the process may differ from the federal one.

How a credit union’s consumer rules compare with a bank’s is on credit unions vs banks.

Complaints that go elsewhere

Sources

The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026. How we check facts.