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Duff Conacher has been trying for 20 years to find out how much Canadian banks make on service charges.

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Cottage owners should take a step back and ask themselves whether a few days at the beach should come at the expense of potentially destroying family relationships or shifting a financial burden onto their children’s shoulders

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They still don’t break out their profits on services but Mr. Conacher, spokesperson for Democracy Watch and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, estimates revenues of about $1-billion.

“You should ask your bank what is the least expensive way to have all the bank services that you use,” says Mr. Conacher.

For starters, maybe it’s time to ditch that chequing account once and for all. While some banks offer low fee accounts, a more controversial way to avoid all those charges might be to run all your banking through a home equity line of credit.