TL;DR: The Competition Bureau of Canada handles deceptive marketing practices and certain types of fraud at a policy and enforcement level, and works alongside the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), which is generally the primary place individuals report scams.
How to Report a Scam to the Competition Bureau of Canada — a clear, step-by-step guide to what to do and how long it takes.
Step 1: Understand the Bureau's role
The Competition Bureau of Canada handles deceptive marketing practices and certain types of fraud at a policy and enforcement level, and works alongside the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), which is generally the primary place individuals report scams.
Step 2: Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre first
For most individual scam reports, CAFC is the right starting point — it's the national reporting and data-collection body used by police services across Canada.
Step 3: Submit a complaint to the Competition Bureau if it involves deceptive advertising
If your situation specifically involves misleading advertising, deceptive marketing, or anti-competitive business practices, you can file a complaint directly with the Competition Bureau through its website.
Step 4: Keep documentation of the scam
Save any ads, messages, receipts, or communications related to the deceptive practice to support your complaint.
Step 5: Also notify your bank if money was lost
If you lost money, contact your bank or card issuer directly to dispute the transaction, since neither CAFC nor the Competition Bureau can reverse a payment on your behalf.
If this looks similar to something else you've seen, it's worth reading How to Report a Scam to the FBI's IC3.
This pattern shows up elsewhere too — see How to Report a Scam to Scamwatch Australia.
Frequently Asked Questions
Step 1: Understand the Bureau's role
The Competition Bureau of Canada handles deceptive marketing practices and certain types of fraud at a policy and enforcement level, and works alongside the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), which is generally the primary place individuals report scams.
Step 2: Report to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre first
For most individual scam reports, CAFC is the right starting point — it's the national reporting and data-collection body used by police services across Canada.
Step 3: Submit a complaint to the Competition Bureau if it involves deceptive advertising
If your situation specifically involves misleading advertising, deceptive marketing, or anti-competitive business practices, you can file a complaint directly with the Competition Bureau through its website.
Step 4: Keep documentation of the scam
Save any ads, messages, receipts, or communications related to the deceptive practice to support your complaint.
Step 5: Also notify your bank if money was lost
If you lost money, contact your bank or card issuer directly to dispute the transaction, since neither CAFC nor the Competition Bureau can reverse a payment on your behalf.