The committee’s study of financial fraud and deepfakes has consistently highlighted that fraud is an ecosystem-wide problem requiring coordinated, cross-sector action. Witnesses from banks, telecommunications providers, digital platforms, law enforcement, and consumer advocacy groups have all stressed that no single sector can solve it alone. A recurring theme is the need for better data sharing among financial institutions, telecoms, digital platforms, and law enforcement, with several witnesses recommending safe harbour provisions to encourage participation. The Australian model, which mandates equivalent but sector-specific obligations for banks, telcos, and platforms, has been cited repeatedly as a successful template, with witnesses noting Australia has reduced scams by 30% over three years while Canadian volumes have increased.

A major point of disagreement has been the responsibility of digital platforms, particularly Meta. Some witnesses, including David Shipley and Anthony Quinn, argued that platforms profit from scam ads and should be held liable, while Meta representatives defended their enforcement efforts and disputed claims about their revenue from scams. The committee also heard divergent views on whether new legislation is needed: Telus’s Carey Frey argued that collaboration, not new laws, is the primary solution, while others called for mandated advertiser verification, a national anti-fraud strategy, and amendments to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to prevent fraudsters from erasing penalties. Witnesses broadly agreed that education alone is insufficient and that responsibility must be shared across the ecosystem.

Over the course of the hearings, the committee heard from a wide range of constituencies. Financial sector witnesses included Interac, Desjardins, Payments Canada, Wealthsimple, and the Canadian Bankers Association. Telecommunications and regulatory perspectives came from the CRTC, the Canadian Telecommunications Association, and Telus. Digital platform representatives included Google and Meta. Law enforcement and consumer protection voices included the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, the BC Securities Commission, and the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. International perspectives were provided by Australian witnesses from the Australian Banking Association and the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange, who described their country’s cross-sector framework.

The committee also studied artificial intelligence in separate meetings, where witnesses discussed AI sovereignty, regulation, and the need for domestic infrastructure. A consistent theme was that Canada has strong AI research but has not translated it into scalable companies or sovereign infrastructure. Witnesses recommended requiring foreign AI companies to keep sensitive data on Canadian servers, mandating transparency on training data, and rejecting a text and data mining exception to the Copyright Act. On regulation, views diverged between those who argued that new AI-specific laws would slow deployment and those who called for stronger oversight, particularly for frontier models. The committee also heard about the convergence of AI with quantum technologies and the need for post-quantum cryptography migration.