Yes. Canada’s Financial Consumer Agency (FCAC) imposed a $4 million administrative monetary penalty on the Bank of Montreal (BMO) over disclosure violations tied to monthly fees on some personal deposit accounts. BMO paid the penalty on April 22, 2025; FCAC announced it and published its case summary on February 2, 2026.
What led to the penalty?
The case involved BMO’s 2010 Discounted Banking Programs, which offered special benefits to newcomers to Canada, medical and dental students, Indigenous banking clients, and participants in a home-financing promotion. Some customers who applied in branches received written confirmations that gave the wrong start date for their fee waiver. BMO consequently charged some monthly plan fees that should have been waived or discounted.
FCAC found consumer disclosure violations across two periods: inaccurate disclosures resulting from improper charges from 2010 to 2024, and failures to clearly disclose when monthly plan fees would begin from 2022 to 2024. The proceeding summary identified inconsistent employee adherence to procedures and monitoring controls that did not detect the problem as root causes.
How many customers were affected, and what redress was provided?
FCAC reported that 101,091 customers were financially impacted. According to the agency’s proceeding summary, BMO paid $3,027,956.44 in refunds and interest redress. It also donated $601,570.17 for amounts that could not be refunded to customer accounts. FCAC’s announcement rounded those totals to more than $3 million in redress and more than $600,000 donated.
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FCAC said it had received more than 500 customer complaints about the monthly plan fees, and that complaint history was among the factors considered in setting the penalty.
Why did FCAC impose a $4 million penalty?
FCAC said the penalty reflected several criteria, including the degree of BMO’s negligence in failing to put adequate controls and effective monitoring in place to prevent and detect the error, despite receiving more than 500 complaints. This is the regulator’s characterization in its proceeding summary.
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The penalty was an administrative monetary penalty under federal consumer-protection provisions—not a court conviction. FCAC’s summary of proceeding #4 describes the violations and penalty rationale; its announcement reports the penalty and aggregate impact.
When was the penalty paid?
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| BMO paid the $4 million penalty | April 22, 2025 |
| FCAC issued its Notice of Violation | March 31, 2025 |
| FCAC announced the penalty and published its proceeding summary | February 2, 2026 |
The payment date and public announcement date are different: BMO paid the penalty before FCAC announced it.
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What should an affected BMO customer do?
The FCAC announcement and proceeding summary report aggregate impact and redress figures, but do not say whether every affected customer has been individually contacted, whether anyone still needs to apply for redress, or whether a claim process remains open. These totals alone cannot establish whether a particular account qualifies. Check your account records and contact BMO or FCAC using their current official contact information if you need an account-specific answer.
FCAC’s decisions and summaries of proceedings page lists the agency’s published enforcement summaries.
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