Businesses may use the complaint process that is most appropriate for them. For example, some businesses may prefer a process where complaints are handled by the front-line teams first, and any complaints they cannot resolve are processed by the complaints officer or a person under the complaints officer’s supervision.

Other businesses may prefer to assign complaints according to the seriousness of a client’s reproach or based on complaint complexity. For example, a business may decide to assign certain complaints to administrative teams and others to its compliance department, which then process them under the complaints officer’s supervision.

The obligations in the Regulation start to apply the moment a complaint is received. The determination as to whether a communication from a client is a complaint must be made as soon as the communication is received, because the business must ensure the complaint is assigned quickly and processed in a timely manner.

The time periods specified in the Regulation are calculated in calendar days (i.e., by including weekends and statutory holidays) from the date the complaint is received.

Steps of the complaint process

Determining whether the client is making a complaint

A client’s complaint may be verbal or in writing.

A business must determine whether what is being communicated to it by a client is a complaint the moment it receives the communication. In some cases, a conversation or correspondence with the client may be necessary to understand the situation and determine whether the client is making a complaint, clarify the client’s expectations for the resolution of the complaint and, if necessary, assist the client in filing their complaint.

Enter the complaint in the complaints register

A business must enter each complaint it receives in a complaints register. If the business cannot enter the complaint on the day it is received, it must do so as soon as possible. For example, when a complaint is received during non-business hours, it may be entered in the register the next day.

Open a complaint record

A business must open a record for each received complaint in accordance with its complaint processing policy and the Regulation. It must keep the record current by adding any documents and information that are obtained during the time the complaint is processed.

The complaint record must contain any documents and information that were used to analyze the complaint, including:

• any conversations and correspondence with the client regarding the complaint (e.g., e-mails, phone recordings, conversation summaries)
• any documents or information used to analyze the complaint (e.g., documents added to the client’s record, expert report, relevant excerpt or summary of a document or analysis of a phone recording)
• the acknowledgement of receipt
• the written final response

If necessary, the business must add the following to the record:

• any conversations or correspondence with the client after the final response was issued (e.g., the client’s questions and business’s answers relating to the complaint, any new facts provided by the client and follow-up with the client)
• the client’s response to the business’s offer to resolve the complaint and any follow-up on the offer
• the notice informing the client that their complaint will take more time to process than expected
• the information provided to the client if the business determines that the complaint involves another business

The complaint record must be established and kept so that the documents and information it contains are accessible to any authorized person who needs to access it in the course of their duties. Where a business keeps such documents and information in more than one location, it must ensure that such persons have access to the documents and information. It must also ensure that the copy of the record that is transferred to the AMF contains all the information and documents used in analyzing the complaint.

A business must also define the complaint record retention period in light of the obligations applicable to its activities and the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sectorThis link will open in a new window.

Acknowledge receipt of the complaint in writing

A business must send the client written acknowledgement of receipt within 10 days of receiving the complaint.

The Regulation specifies the information the business must provide to the client and the requirements of the Act (inform the client of the receipt of their complaint and their right to have their complaint record examined by the AMF).

The acknowledgement of receipt must contain the following information:

• the complaint record identification code
• the date the complaint was received by the business
• the expected time required to process the complaint and the date by which the business must provide a final response
• the means by which the client may obtain information on the status of the complaint, including contacting the person assigned to process it, the business’s client service department or the office of the complaints officer
• a summary of or link to a summary of the business’s complaint processing and dispute resolution policy

Provide a written final response

A business must provide a written final response within 60 days following receipt of a complaint, except if exceptional circumstances or circumstances beyond its control warrant a longer period of time.

In its final response, the business must:

• summarize the client’s complaint
• explain how the business analyzed the complaint
• inform the client of its response, i.e., whether, for example, it is:
  • giving the client what they asked for
  • proposing a solution that gives the client some of what they are asking for
  • rejecting the client’s complaint
• provide details about the proposed solution to resolve the complaint or the reasons why no solution is being proposed
• specify the amount of time the client has to accept or reject the proposed solution
• state that the response is final and remind the client of their right to request to have the complaint record examined by the AMF
• provide the business contact information of the person who processed the complaint

Present an offer to resolve the complaint

When the business presents the client with an offer to resolve the complaint, it must give the client a reasonable amount of time to assess the offer. The amount of time has to reflect the complexity of the complaint and provide the client with sufficient opportunity to seek advice for the purpose of accepting or rejecting the offer or presenting a counteroffer.

A settlement offer may never require the client to withdraw another complaint. The business may not attach conditions to the offer that would prevent the client from having the complaint record examined by the AMF or from communicating with the AMF or one of the following self-regulatory organizations:

• the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization
• the Chambre de la sécurité financière
• the Chambre de l’assurance de dommages

Give effect to the offer to resolve the complaint

A business must give effect to an offer within 30 days after the client accepts it. Another time period may be agreed upon with the client provided it is in the client’s interest.

Respond to the client’s requests

A business must follow up on a client’s requests after the final response is sent, answering their questions and addressing their comments. The business must also allow the client to provide, and must follow up on, new facts that are relevant to the processing of their complaint. The business must be fair and diligent in processing the new facts.

This obligation applies until no further action is required with respect to the complaint. For example, a business may terminate the processing of a complaint if it is of the opinion that it has answered all the client’s questions or addressed their comments.

A business may also terminate the processing of a complaint if, after assessing new facts provided by the client and explaining their impact on the response, it determines that the client does not have any other relevant facts to provide.

Inform the client when their complaint will take more time to process than expected

When a business determines that additional time is required to process a complaint, it must notify the client in writing. The notice must be sent to the client within no more than 60 days following receipt of the complaint. It must provide the following information:

• the reasons warranting the additional time for processing the complaint
• the date by which the business must provide the final response to the client
• the client’s right to request to have their complaint record examined by the AMF

The business must, however, provide a written final response within no more than 90 days following receipt of the complaint.

The business’s decision to extend the processing time must be warranted by either of the following:

• Circumstances beyond its control (e.g., when documents, such as statements or reports, need to be obtained from a third party in order to analyze the complaint)
• Exceptional circumstances (e.g., the business’s complaint volume increases sharply after a natural disaster)

Simplified process for certain complaints

A business may establish a faster but less formal simplified process for certain complaints. For example, some complaints may be processed verbally, including during a phone call to the client service department.

The simplified process is used for complaints a business can resolve to the satisfaction of the client within 20 days.

A complaint is resolved to the satisfaction of the client when, for example, the client accepts the proposed solution or is satisfied with the explanation provided by the business.

The business determines which complaints are to be handled using a simplified process. For example, it may decide that all complaints received will be handled first according to a simplified process, or it may limit the use of the process to certain types of complaints, such as less complex ones.

It must also determine whom such complaints will be assigned to. They may be assigned to select individuals based on their knowledge and experience, such as the complaints officer, staff under the complaints officer’s supervision, or to any other person. Complaints must always be handled by persons who have the competence to process them.

Steps of the simplified complaint process

Under the simplified process, steps are streamlined and can be completed verbally. Specific information must be provided to the client either verbally or in writing.

Notify the client of the receipt of their complaint

Within 10 days of receiving a complaint, a business must confirm receipt of the complaint to the client and inform the client of their right to have their complaint record examined by the AMF.

Provide a response

If a business is able to provide a response within 20 days, it must explain to the client how the complaint was analyzed and what led to its response and the proposed solution.

If an offer is made to a client, the business informs the client of the amount of time they have to accept or reject the proposed solution. The other requirements relating to offers to resolve a complaint apply.

Notify the client that they will be provided with a written final response

When a business cannot provide a response within 20 days (e.g., if the complaint takes more time to analyze or is more complex to process than expected or the client rejects the proposed solution or is not satisfied with it), it must send the client a written notice containing the following:

• the complaint record identification code
• the date on which the complaint was received by the business
• the expected timeframe for processing the complaint and the date before which the business must provide a final response
• the means by which the client may obtain information on the status of the complaint, including contacting the person assigned to process it, the business’s client service department or the office of the business’s complaints officer
• the summary of the business’s complaint processing and dispute resolution policy or a link to the summary

The complaint will then have to be processed according to the steps of the complaint process. The time spent attempting to resolve the complaint according to the simplified process must be counted in calculating the complaint processing time. For example, if a business provides this notice to a client on the 20^th day following receipt of their complaint, it will have another 40 days to complete the processing of the complaint and provide a written final response to the client.

Furthermore, if the complaint is assigned to a person other than the complaints officer or a person under the complaints officer’s supervision (e.g., if the complaint has been assigned to a client service employee), that person cannot continue processing the complaint after that time period has ended. The business should ensure that the complaint is assigned to the complaints officer or to a person under their supervision.

Complaint record

A complaint record must be established for each complaint, including complaints handled using a simplified process. The complaint record, including the information used in processing and resolving the complaint, may be kept in the client record. Conversations with the client may be summarized or recorded in full in the complaint record.