How we're funded
OBSI is a national, not-for-profit and independent organization. We offer free dispute resolution services to consumers with disputes about financial products and services offered by banks or investment firms.
Our service is free to consumers because it is funded by industry, as required by provincial securities regulators and federal banking regulators. The fees paid by participating banks and investment firms are set annually by our board of directors, and cover the cost of providing our service. You can find out more about how our fees are set here.
We can be independent from industry and funded by industry
Although our funding is provided by industry participants, this does not interfere with our independence because firms are required to offer our service to their clients and pay our fees as a regulatory requirement.
OBSI is the only financial ombudsman in Canada that investment firms can offer to their clients, and we are one of only two organizations in Canada that federally regulated banks can use for disputes with their customers.
Industry funding for consumer services is common
It is common in Canada and around the world for organizations like OBSI to be paid for by the industry they are engaged with, rather than by taxpayers or the public. For example, the financial ombudsman services in the United Kingdom and Australia are funded by industry. The operations of securities regulators, such as the Ontario Securities Commission and British Columbia Securities Commission, are also funded by industry.
OBSI also has extensive rules we must follow to ensure we remain independent. For example, we have a board with a majority of independent community directors and an independent Chair.
We are also overseen by the Canadian Securities Administrators and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, who regulate investment firms and banks, and we are subject to independent external reviews of our operations every five years. To read the report of our most recent external review, click here.