New amendments will give consumers stronger tools to help prevent fraud and improve control over access to their credit files.
The Canadian Association of Private Lenders (CAPL) welcomes British Columbia’s introduction of credit freeze protections for consumers through the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Amendment Act (No. 2) (Bill 28), which received Royal Assent on December 3, 2025.
Bill 28 enables consumers to place and lift credit freezes on their credit files. A credit freeze prevents credit reporting agencies from sharing credit information for new credit or lease applications unless the freeze has been lifted. This gives consumers a practical tool to help reduce the risk of unauthorized accounts being opened using stolen personal information.
Bill 28 also includes measures to provide consumers with access to their credit report and credit score on a regular basis at no cost, introduce security alerts and related protections, and establish additional requirements for credit reporting agencies and credit repair businesses.
These changes are significant for consumers and for the broader credit and lending system. Credit freezes can help reduce identity theft and application fraud by making it more difficult for fraudsters to obtain new credit in another person’s name. In the mortgage and private lending context, this added protection can help disrupt fraudulent applications before they result in losses, disputes, and costly recovery efforts.
Credit freezes are not a complete answer to every type of fraud, and they do not replace the need for strong identity verification, underwriting controls, title protections, and other anti-fraud measures. But they are an important part of a layered fraud prevention framework and an increasingly recognized consumer protection tool.
The new framework will be brought into force by regulation, allowing time for industry participants to implement the operational changes needed to comply with the new requirements.
CAPL welcomes this progress and supports practical measures that strengthen consumer protection, improve confidence in the credit system, and respond to growing fraud risks in a modern lending environment