Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca
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Your Rights and Responsibilities: Clear disclosure documents
Clear documents
The use of clear language in financial documents is supported both by legislation and by voluntary agreements undertaken by federally regulated financial institutions.
Cost of borrowing regulations
Federal legislation requires that federally regulated financial institutions give consumers all disclosure information in language that is clear and presented in a manner that is not misleading.
| For disclosure information… | The information must… |
|---|---|
| in the application or credit agreement. | be presented in a consolidated manner in a single location, and an information box must be presented at the beginning of the credit agreement or credit card application. |
| not in the application or credit agreement | be provided to you before you have a signed a contract or at the same time as the credit agreement or credit card application is provided to you. An information box must be presented at the beginning of the disclosure document. For more information on the information boxes, see below. |
Information boxes
Federal legislation requires federally regulated financial institutions to provide certain information in an information box at the beginning of each of the following documents:
- Fixed loan agreement: mortgage
- Variable loan agreement: mortgage
- Line of credit agreement
- Fixed loan agreement: personal loan
- Credit card applications
- Credit card agreement
Click on the links for examples showing what the information boxes should look like and what information must be provided to you.
The format of the information box must be as follows:
- text that is in an easy to read font and have a font size of
- at least 12 points, with bold for titles and numbers, including interest rate, time period, dates and dollar amounts
- at least 10 points for any other text
- at least 12 points, with bold for titles and numbers, including interest rate, time period, dates and dollar amounts
- standard spacing between words and characters
- white space around text for easy reading
- dark text on a light background.
Note: Numbers such as interest rates, time periods, dates or amounts are not required to be repeated in the disclosure statement, but may be referenced.
Click here to view the Cost of Borrowing (Banks) Regulations
Voluntary code for plain-language mortgage documents
The member banks of the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) have agreed to expand the use of plain language in mortgage documents. For more information on the voluntary code for plain language mortgage documents visit CBA's Web site. 
