ENERGY UTILITY AND TELECOMMUNICATION SECTOR

The Canadian Centre for Women’s Empowerment (CCFWE) is advancing high‑level regulatory reforms in the energy, utility, and telecommunications sectors to ensure that women have equitable, affordable, and trauma‑informed access to essential services.

 

Survivors frequently encounter systemic barriers when trying to manage or maintain essential services. Disconnection threats, inflexible billing systems, unaffordable payment plans, and weak privacy protections can reinforce control, increase debt, and undermine independence.

 

Our Policy Approach

Grounded in:

We identify systemic gaps and work with regulators, service providers, and policymakers to embed survivor‑centered approaches into sector policies, codes of practice, and regulatory frameworks.

CCFWE Key Policy Asks

We recommend national and provincial reforms to ensure essential services actively prevent and address economic abuse through:

 

  • Account Safety & Portability : Survivors must be able to transfer, modify, or close joint accounts without the abuser’s consent or penalties, ensuring continued access to essential services without risk of financial retaliation.

  • Privacy & Confidentiality Protections: Prevent unauthorized access to survivor account details, usage history, or contact information. Establish confidential service notes and secure communication protocols.

  • Flexible Billing & Payment Relief:  Provide survivor‑sensitive payment plans, waive late and reconnection fees, and suspend disconnection during periods of crisis or legal proceedings.

  • Affordability Measures: Introduce low‑income and hardship pricing options for survivors. Require providers to integrate affordability criteria into service eligibility and rate‑setting processes.


  • Equity & Data Accountability: Collect and report disaggregated data on service access, billing disputes, and disconnections to identify systemic barriers for equity‑deserving groups.

Why It Matters

Essential service providers play a critical role in economic safety. When policies fail to address economic abuse, survivors face increased risk, mounting debt, and prolonged instability. Strong regulatory reforms can transform essential services into lifelines for recovery rather than sources of further harm

Read our policy submissions