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In forceDeposit-taking institutions: credit risk and loansLast checked 11 November 2026

Allowances for expected credit losses (E3)

A regulatory return listed by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), Canada.

Gives OSFI detailed information on the allowances the institution holds for expected credit losses. It covers allowances in all three stages of credit deterioration used by the IFRS 9 accounting standard. Source

Official title: Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (E3)

The facts

Who files
OSFI's reporting requirements table lists it for: banks; trust and loan companies; banks or trust and loan companies that are subsidiaries of banks or of federally incorporated trust and loan companies; foreign bank branches. Source
How often
Each fiscal quarter. Source
Deadline
Within 45 days. Subject to the Late and Erroneous Filing Penalties (LEFP) framework. The instructions say: "The return is to be completed as of the last day of each quarter and submitted within 45 days of the reporting date." Source
Format
Excel. Filed through the Regulatory Reporting System (RRS). OSFI publishes the return as an Excel sample. Source
How it is filed
Filing routes recorded for the OSFI: Regulatory Reporting System (RRS); Regulatory Data Hub (RDH). See how firms file with the OSFI.
Status
In forceFiled in the Regulatory Reporting System (RRS). OSFI's Data Collection Modernization initiative will replace RRS with a new platform, the Regulatory Data Hub (RDH); OSFI says the launch is now targeted for spring 2027 and asks filers to keep using RRS until then. Financial filing for banks and trust and loan companies moves to RDH in Release 2; OSFI says more details on financial returns will come in 2027. Source
Legal basis
Group
Deposit-taking institutions: credit risk and loans

Templates (1)

The tables and forms inside the return. Plain name first, the OSFI's code in brackets.

  • Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (E3)

OSFI publishes this return as a single form (E3_2019.xlsx). Source

Validation rules

53 rules, as counted from the OSFI's published material. Software can run them exactly as published. Source

How they are written: Excel workbook, one row per rule (Rule ID, Rule Type, Description and a Formula or Expression column in OSFI's RRS rule syntax, for example If(ElementExists([ReportingEndDate], [FirmID], true, [@schema=C3, @group=/C3]), EqualWithi...).

The rules, on osfi-bsif.gc.ca

How they were counted

Counted 53 rows with a rule in the 'Validation rules' sheet of e3-validation-en.xlsx (53 error).

Counts are in the OSFI's own unit, so they are not comparable with other regulators' counts.

Public data

Published firm by firm. OSFI publishes data from this return institution by institution, with industry totals, as CSV files on the Government of Canada open data portal: "E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active)" in the Banks dataset; "E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active)" in the Trust companies dataset; "E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active)" in the Loan companies dataset; "E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active)" in the Foreign bank branches dataset; "E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active)" in the Retail associations dataset. Source

Where it is published (CSV)

  • OSFI financial data: Banks (open.canada.ca)

    Firm by firm · CSV (long format: one row per institution, period and data point address, with English and French labels)

    Institution-by-institution data, with industry totals, from OSFI's returns for banks, one CSV file per return: M4 - Consolidated Balance Sheet (Active); BA - BASEL III Capital Adequacy Reporting - BCAR (Active); E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active); LR - Leverage Requirements Return (Active); P3 - Consolidated Statement Of Income, Retained Earnings & AOCI (Active). The dataset is updated monthly (last updated on the portal 2026-10-17) and also holds 2 CSV files for returns OSFI no longer collects, a data dictionary and a user manual. The dataset page gives 2026 publication dates: monthly returns on or about the 15th of each month; quarterly returns about a week after the due date (Q1 due May 15, published May 23; Q2 due Aug 14, published Aug 22; Q3 due Nov 14, published Nov 22; Q4 due March 1, published March 19). Source

  • OSFI financial data: Trust companies (open.canada.ca)

    Firm by firm · CSV (long format: one row per institution, period and data point address, with English and French labels)

    Institution-by-institution data, with industry totals, from OSFI's returns for trust companies, one CSV file per return: M4 - Consolidated Balance Sheet (Active); BA - BASEL III Capital Adequacy Reporting - BCAR (Active); E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active); LR - Leverage Requirements Return (Active); P3 - Consolidated Statement Of Income, Retained Earnings & AOCI (Active). The dataset is updated monthly (last updated on the portal 2026-10-17) and also holds 1 CSV files for returns OSFI no longer collects, a data dictionary and a user manual. The dataset page gives 2026 publication dates: monthly returns on or about the 15th of each month; quarterly returns about a week after the due date (Q1 due May 15, published May 23; Q2 due Aug 14, published Aug 22; Q3 due Nov 14, published Nov 22; Q4 due March 1, published March 19). Source

  • OSFI financial data: Foreign bank branches (open.canada.ca)

    Firm by firm · CSV (long format: one row per institution, period and data point address, with English and French labels)

    Institution-by-institution data, with industry totals, from OSFI's returns for foreign bank branches, one CSV file per return: M4 - Consolidated Balance Sheet (Active); E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active); K3 - Supplementary Return for Foreign Bank Branches (Active); P3 - Consolidated Statement Of Income, Retained Earnings & AOCI (Active). The dataset is updated monthly (last updated on the portal 2026-10-17) and also holds 1 CSV files for returns OSFI no longer collects, a data dictionary and a user manual. The dataset page gives 2026 publication dates: monthly returns on or about the 15th of each month; quarterly returns about a week after the due date (Q1 due May 15, published May 23; Q2 due Aug 14, published Aug 22; Q3 due Nov 14, published Nov 22; Q4 due March 1, published March 19). Source

  • OSFI financial data: Loan companies (open.canada.ca)

    Firm by firm · CSV (long format: one row per institution, period and data point address, with English and French labels)

    Institution-by-institution data, with industry totals, from OSFI's returns for loan companies, one CSV file per return: M4 - Consolidated Balance Sheet (Active); BA - BASEL III Capital Adequacy Reporting - BCAR (Active); E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active); LR - Leverage Requirements Return (Active); P3 - Consolidated Statement Of Income, Retained Earnings & AOCI (Active). The dataset is updated monthly (last updated on the portal 2026-10-17) and also holds 1 CSV files for returns OSFI no longer collects, a data dictionary and a user manual. The dataset page gives 2026 publication dates: monthly returns on or about the 15th of each month; quarterly returns about a week after the due date (Q1 due May 15, published May 23; Q2 due Aug 14, published Aug 22; Q3 due Nov 14, published Nov 22; Q4 due March 1, published March 19). Source

  • OSFI financial data: Retail associations (open.canada.ca)

    Firm by firm · CSV (long format: one row per institution, period and data point address, with English and French labels)

    Institution-by-institution data, with industry totals, from OSFI's returns for retail associations, one CSV file per return: M4 - Consolidated Balance Sheet (Active); BA - BASEL III Capital Adequacy Reporting - BCAR (Active); E3 - Return of Allowances for Expected Credit Losses (Active); LR - Leverage Requirements Return (Active); P3 - Consolidated Statement Of Income, Retained Earnings & AOCI (Active). The dataset is updated monthly (last updated on the portal 2026-10-16) and also holds 1 CSV files for returns OSFI no longer collects, a data dictionary and a user manual. The dataset page gives 2026 publication dates: monthly returns on or about the 15th of each month; quarterly returns about a week after the due date (Q1 due May 15, published May 23; Q2 due Aug 14, published Aug 22; Q3 due Nov 14, published Nov 22; Q4 due March 1, published March 19). Source

Official documents (6)

The OSFI's own files, with the size and SHA-256 fingerprint of each as downloaded on 11 November 2026, so anyone can tell whether a copy is the same version.

Sources

Every page and document this return's facts were read from.

Knowing exactly what is collected, in what format and under which rules is the first step to real-time supervision. Line4 builds SupTech software for financial regulators that runs checks like these as each return arrives.

Line4's text and records here are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Please credit: “Source: Line4 regulatory submissions library (CC BY 4.0), https://www.line4.ai”. The regulators' documents, forms, taxonomies, rules and data belong to them: see OSFI's reuse terms. This describes what regulators publish. It is not legal or regulatory advice: always rely on the regulator's own text.

Last checked 11 November 2026.