C-253Bank of Canada Accountability Act
An Act to amend the Bank of Canada Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
Private member's bill, introduced in the House of Commons on February 9, 2022
- Status
- Defeated at second reading in the House of Commons
What it does
Makes the Auditor General of Canada one of the Bank of Canada’s auditors and updates related federal laws.
What it does
- Makes the Auditor General of Canada and an accounting firm the Bank of Canada’s auditors.
- Lets the Governor in Council appoint, on the minister’s recommendation, a qualified accounting firm to audit the bank.
- Keeps the rule that appointed accounting firms serve five fiscal years and cannot be appointed for two straight terms.
- Updates the Auditor General Act so its definition of "registrar" includes the Bank of Canada.
- Replaces the Bank of Canada exemption in the Financial Administration Act with a version that keeps listed sections from applying to the bank.
Who it affects
- Bank of Canada
- Auditor General of Canada
- Accounting firms that audit banks
- Governor in Council
- Minister responsible for the appointment
Background
The Bank of Canada Act already provides for audits by a firm of accountants. This bill adds the Auditor General of Canada as another auditor and makes matching changes in two other Acts.
Where it is
House of Commons
First reading
Completed.
Second reading
Defeated here. Defeated
Committee
Not reached.
Report stage
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Senate
First reading
Not reached.
Second reading
Not reached.
Committee
Not reached.
Third reading
Not reached.
Royal assent
Royal assent
Not reached.
Introduced by an MP who is not a minister. These bills compete in a lottery for debate time, and most do not become law. How a bill becomes law
How the House voted
2nd reading of Bill C-253, An Act to amend the Bank of Canada Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
Vote 196,
Failed
115 yeato208 nay · 6 paired
Party breakdown for vote 196 Party Position Yea Nay Did not vote Liberal Nay2 broke ranks 2 151 5 Conservative Yea1 broke ranks 112 1 5 Bloc Nay 0 31 1 NDP Nay 0 23 2 Green Split evenly 1 1 0 Independent Nay 0 1 1 Total 115 208
What MPs said
Each party’s first speech on this bill in the House, from Hansard. Excerpts are the speaker’s opening sentences, unedited.
LiberalFrancis Scarpaleggia· May 19, 2022
“Bill C-253 is intended to feed the conspiratorial populist narrative. There is not much to the bill itself.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caConservativeAndrew Scheer· February 9, 2022
“Moved for leave to introduce Bill C-253, An Act to amend the Bank of Canada Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts. I want to sincerely thank my colleague, the hon. member for Carleton, who has been warning about the dangers of inflation for some time now, which is very relevant to my bill.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caBlocGabriel Ste-Marie· May 19, 2022
“Contrary to what the bill might suggest, the auditor general already has the authority to exercise an oversight role in certain areas of the bank's business functions. Specifically, she can review and audit the bank's operations and records related to its roles as the government's fiscal agent, advisor on public debt management, and manager of the exchange fund account.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.caNDPAlexandre Boulerice· May 19, 2022
“I wish I could say that it is a pleasure to rise in the House to speak to this bill, but, quite frankly, I have been in this place for a few years now, and rarely have I seen such a hare-brained, preposterous bill as the one presented to us by the former leader of the Conservative Party.”
Read the full speech on openparliament.ca
Read the source
LEGISinfo status: Bill defeated. Bill data from LEGISinfo, votes from openparliament.ca and the House of Commons. Last updated October 13, 2026.