Status of Women Committee on April 30th, 2026

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Good afternoon, everyone. I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 36 of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, the committee is resuming its study of abuse and financial vulnerability of senior women. For the second hour, we will resume the meeting in camera. My fellow MPs will then consider the draft reports on section 810 of the Criminal Code and anti-feminism.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely using the Zoom application.

To ensure that the meeting runs smoothly, I would like to pass on some instructions to our guests, as well as to the members.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. That said, things sometimes move quickly in the heat of the moment, and I don't necessarily have time to recognize you by name.

If you are participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mike. Please mute yourself when you are not speaking. At the bottom of your screen, you can select floor, English or French.

I would remind those in the room not to touch their microphone controls. Our staff will take care of that.

If you wish to speak, please raise your hand. If you are on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function.

A reminder that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.

I would now like to welcome all the witnesses.

We have Pamela Williamson, chairperson, and Christine Kelly, member, from the National Seniors Council.

We have Chris Lynam, director general, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

We will begin with opening statements.

Dr. Williamson and Dr. Kelly, the floor is yours for five minutes. Thank you.

[Dr. Pamela Williamson, Chairperson, National Seniors Council]

Thank you to the committee for your interest in the work of the national seniors council and for inviting us here today.

In accordance to the introductory protocols of my culture, I will introduce myself.

[Witness spoke in Anishinaabemowin and provided the following text:]

Pam Williamson niin. Mnido Mnising, Ontario n’doonjii baa. Moose Deer Point First Nation niindoodemine, n’me n’doodem.

[Witness provided the following translation:]

My name is Pam Williamson. I'm from Manitoulin Island, Ontario. My first nation is Moose Deer Point, and I'm from the Sturgeon clan.

[English]

I've been a member of the council since 2021 and have been its chairperson since July 2024. In addition to my role as the national seniors council chair, I have extensive experience in community-based primary health care, having served in an administrative role in an indigenous primary health care organization. Throughout my career, I've had the privilege of championing programs that support the holistic health and well-being of indigenous elders, including former residential school students.

Some of you may be familiar with the national seniors council, but for those who may not be, the council was established in 2007 with a clear purpose to offer thoughtful, evidence-based advice to the Government of Canada on issues that affect the health, well-being and overall quality of life for older adults. We provide this advice through the Minister of Jobs and Families, in connection with the Secretary of State for Seniors and the Minister of Health.

While we have not conducted a dedicated review focused specifically on the abuse and financial vulnerability of older women, we have examined many topics that intersect with this issue, including aging at home, caregiving, social isolation, financial crimes and harms, housing needs and many more. These are complex issues and are often interconnected, affecting people's lives in very real ways. Throughout our work, we consider the needs of the more vulnerable groups of older adults when developing our advice.

There are two relevant reports that we'd like to bring to your attention.

The aging at home report was done in 2024. The purpose of the report was to examine what could be done to further support Canadians to age in their homes and communities. The final report included 20 recommendations across three major areas. An area of focus was to improve financial supports for lower-income older adults, who often are women. We specifically recommended introducing a new age-at-home benefit, increasing the guaranteed income supplement and supporting innovative affordable housing options.

The second report, “Financial Crimes and Harms Against Seniors”, was completed in 2019. Unfortunately, the issues of financial crimes and harms against older adults in this area are changing.... Especially in this area, the landscape is changing quickly. Unfortunately, the risks are growing.

Some of the major themes that came out of the report and the discussions held with many different groups and individuals were the increasing sophistication and variety of financial crimes; heightened risk factors; barriers faced when reporting fraud; the need for stronger regulation, accountability and penalties for perpetrators; awareness of available tools and programs; the critical role of community organizations; and the need for more research.

Dr. Kelly, a fellow council member, will now walk you through some of our more recent work.

Meegwetch. Thank you.

[Dr. Christine Kelly, Member, National Seniors Council]

Thanks, Pam.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak today.

I joined the national seniors council in March 2025. At that time, we were focused on the care economy and what it meant for aging Canadians. Outside of my role on the council, I'm a professor at the college of community and global health at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. My research focuses on home care services, workforce planning for personal support workers, disability and aging.

I'm going to highlight two current work priorities of the council that may be relevant to the discussions here today.

Right now, we're turning our attention towards the connection between housing, aging in place and overall health and well-being. We’ll be taking a closer look at cost of living pressures, which we know are affecting many low- and middle-income older Canadians. The scope of the research is still being finalized, but we expect gender-based considerations to be part of the analysis.

In January 2026, we had the opportunity to meet in person. At that time, we were able to engage with Finance Canada as part of its consultations on the development of a voluntary code of conduct for the prevention of economic abuse within federally regulated financial institutions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

That's all the time we have for your opening remarks. Thank you. You'll have the opportunity to speak with the MPs.

Mr. Lynam, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Chris Lynam, Director General, Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Royal Canadian Mounted Police]

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chair and honourable members of the committee.

Thank you for the invitation to appear today as we gather on the traditional, unceded territory of the Anishinabe nation and recognize the continued presence of first nations, Inuit and Métis people in the region.

My name is Chris Lynam, director general of the national cybercrime coordination centre and the Canadian—

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, there's no interpretation.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Excuse me, Mr. Lynam.

We didn't have interpretation, but it has been resolved. Go ahead, Mr. Lynam.

[Chris Lynam]

My name is Chris Lynam, director general of the national cybercrime coordination centre and the Canadian anti-fraud centre of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Across Canada, senior women represent one of the most respected and valued populations. However, they also face unique risks, including financial exploitation, cybercrime and fraud, which can occur online, behind closed doors and remain hidden from public view.

As you may be aware, older Canadians are particularly vulnerable to fraud. Seniors are targeted for their substantial savings, and further elements such as personal isolation and susceptibility to threats and manipulation increase the potential for victimization. In particular, several notable forms of fraud are especially impactful, including emergency fraud and extortion.

Today, I would like to speak about how the RCMP and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre respond to combat cybercrime and fraud in Canada while strengthening protections for seniors, including women, ensuring that dignity, safety and financial security remain priorities in our communities.

One of the RCMP's key priorities is early intervention and prevention. The Canadian anti-fraud centre's fraud awareness program plays a key role in intervention, public education and the prevention of fraud and cybercrime-related offences.

The RCMP collaborates closely with the media, social media platforms, government agencies and law enforcement partners to ensure impactful and timely awareness messaging. Specifically, in 2025, we completed over 110 fraud prevention presentations to various community and seniors' groups in Canada, including Royal Canadian Legions, the Ontario Provincial Police Veterans' Association and Seniors Action Quebec.

We also maintain strategic partnerships with the Canadian Center for Women's Empowerment, and Seniors in Canada. They support the development and distribution of focused fraud and financial abuse messaging. The Canadian anti-fraud centre is also a leading organization supporting educational campaigns, such as Fraud Prevention Month, Cyber Security Awareness Month and Senior Fraud Awareness Day.

The RCMP also works closely with financial institutions, recognizing their critical role in identifying suspicious transactions. Frontline bank staff are often among the first to notice unusual account activity, sudden withdrawals or signs of coercion. Through information-sharing protocols and fraud prevention partnerships, the Canadian anti-fraud centre helps institutions understand when and how to report concerns while respecting privacy and legal obligations.

Importantly, the RCMP does not work alone. Effective protection of Canadians, including senior women, depends on strong partnerships across jurisdictions and sectors. We collaborate with provincial and territorial governments, indigenous organizations, health care providers, shelters and human rights advocacy groups. These partnerships allow us to respond holistically, recognizing that policing is only one part of a broader system of care and protection.

Looking ahead, the RCMP remains committed to continuous improvement. We continue to strengthen data collection processes to better understand and gain visibility of fraud trends in order to support law enforcement investigations, while ensuring privacy and ethical safeguards.

In this respect, we have launched a new public reporting website, reportcyberandfraud.canada.ca. The website was created following extensive public input. From this positive initiative, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has made it easier for everyone, including seniors, to report online. As a result, more than twice the level of reporting is now being received compared to under the previous reporting system.

These efforts will directly lead to a better understanding of how Canadians are being targeted and will ensure our partners can more effectively respond to the fraud and cybercrime that's impacting senior populations.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

That will be your closing comment, sir.

[Chris Lynam]

Okay, thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Thank you very much.

Mrs. Goodridge, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all our witnesses for being here.

Mr. Lynam, thank you for your service to Canada. I want just to highlight and appreciate that.

In your opening statement, you mentioned that senior women have a unique risk. I agree. We've heard a lot of testimony that supports that.

What exactly is the anti-fraud system doing to support senior women to reduce that risk?

[Chris Lynam]

One of the things I mentioned in my opening remarks is that we have a number of programs where we work with different organizations—I mentioned Seniors in Canada—to try to get as much information out there about how to stay safe in terms of protecting oneself from fraud or cybercrime. We work with as many organizations as we can to try to get awareness out there.

Prevention is absolutely key to this. We have to not only prevent it for as many people as possible—seniors, women and otherwise—but also make sure we are working with many partners to pursue the fraudsters and cybercriminals that are part of this. We have a multi-faceted approach that involves prevention and enforcement.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

I appreciate that. Many hands make light work.

I also really appreciate the fact that you guys have created this new online reporting system. For someone of my generation, that's sweet. I would rather do something online and on the Internet. My dad died a couple of years ago, at 62. He refused to use online banking because he didn't trust it. I don't think many elders, seniors and older Canadians would be as at ease doing online reporting.

I just pulled up your website. It's quite easy to find. You can report it by phone, but for someone in western Canada it actually kind of sucks because your call centre is only open from 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., eastern standard time. You're effectively telling someone in British Columbia that they can only call until 1 p.m. That's a little crazy. Why are the choices for the hours so restricted?

[Chris Lynam]

You are correct.

My condolences for the loss of your loved one.

As I mentioned, we have an online public reporting system. As well, we operate a call centre for folks who maybe aren't comfortable reporting online. We also encourage people to engage their local police. In those cases, where maybe they can't reach us during our opening hours, it's really important that local jurisdictions are involved because they are the investigating agency for pursing criminal charges.

We provide a coordinating function to bring partners together and we do a lot in the outreach, but it's really important that all Canadians, if they are a victim of fraud or cybercrime, engage their local police service.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

That's wonderful information for Canadians at large to have.

Does the RCMP have enough resources to investigate and lay charges after the fraud happens?

[Chris Lynam]

Thank you for the question.

If you were to ask any senior law enforcement official whether they have enough resources to achieve their mandate or whether they could keep more Canadians safe if they had more resources, I think almost all of them would say, “If I had more resources, I would be able to do more in terms of my mandate.” I think that is appropriate and relevant here. Right now, there are a lot of priorities and demands put on policing. What we focus on is working with as many partners as we can, on both the prevention side and in terms of trying to go after cybercriminals and fraudsters, to reduce the impact on Canadians.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

You're not going to get any questions about that. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so any fraud that we can prevent is absolutely going to save heartache. It's going to save all kinds of challenges. However, if someone were to go online and do a report, how long would it be before they heard from somebody?

[Chris Lynam]

It really depends on the nature of the response or the nature of the incident they're sending to us. Depending on some of the circumstances of the situation, and if we feel that we can action something right away, then we will follow up. As I also mentioned, we recommend that they file with their local law enforcement because some of those situations are best placed at that local police service, which would be able to engage them directly.

We also have a lot of success in helping Canadians or businesses recover funds when they've sent them by accident or they've been tricked into sending them to a fraudster.

I can't give you a definitive answer because it really depends on the nature of the report or the type of report they have filed with us.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Do you have metrics or KPIs as to what you guys try to respond to for every report that's been put in—within x number of days or hours? Do you at least have a goal that you're trying to get to?

[Chris Lynam]

Thank you for the question.

We have some reports that we deem to be higher priority. Often, those will involve the nature of the event being really impactful to the individual. We try to follow up as quickly as possible. In some cases, we will refer that out to a police service because we know that it is impactful enough, and we'll work with that police service so that they can give a response to the individual.

In addition to launching the new public reporting system, we just launched a new back-end IT system to help us better track all of those metrics that you're measuring there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

Thank you very much.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dominique Vien]

It is now up to Ms. Larouche to ask questions.

[Marie-Gabrielle Ménard, Liberal, Hochelaga—Rosemont-Est, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today.

For your information, I'd like to clarify that we're at the end of this study, so we have heard a lot from experts. We're now trying to figure out what we may not have explored yet.

Mr. Lynam, thank you for being here.

You talked about the important co-operation between the various police forces, the RCMP and community organizations. Do you think it's important to look at the synergy between those three major players to combat fraud? What can you tell us about this relationship, which, as I see it, seems important to you?