The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that as the federal government pushes to reduce bank fees, a report from consultancy North Economics figures Canadians are overpaying by billions of dollars a year. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe says that the report by the Alberta-based firm compared fees at the Canadian Big Five banks with what consumers face in Britain and Australia. It shows that Canadians pay much more per month for bank accounts, as well as for fees for non-sufficient funds, overdraft charges and accessing ATMs at competitor banks. North Economics' Alain de Bossart, using the retail banking profits to deposits ratio for 2022, found that Canada's five biggest banks had $7.73-billion in "excess" income. The number works out to about $250 per Canadian. "Canadian banks have done a very good job of extracting as many fees out of people as possible," Mr. de Bossart said. He added that he has wanted to delve into the issue since moving to Canada from Britain about seven years ago. "The first thing that struck me was that you pretty much have to pay a monthly fee, for just allowing a bank to hold your day-to-day deposits." Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has yet to act on threats to curb fees.