Digital Payments & Fintech · Canada
Fintech & digital payments rules in Canada (2026)
Canada shaded by its digital payments & fintech status
Canada now has an operational registration/licensing regime for payment service providers under the Retail Payment Activities Act, with the Bank of Canada supervising PSPs and publishing a public registry since September 2025. Money services businesses (incl. crypto exchange/transfer) must additionally register with FINTRAC for AML purposes, and an open-banking (consumer-driven banking) framework supervised by the Bank of Canada is in its initial read-access phase. The instant-payment Real-Time Rail is in final testing and slated to launch in 2026.
Key points
The Bank of Canada's supervision of payment service providers under the Retail Payment Activities Act came into force on 8 September 2025; PSPs performing electronic funds-transfer functions with a Canadian nexus must register, pass national-security screening (coordinated by the Department of Finance), maintain risk-management and funds-safeguarding frameworks, and file annual reports. Operating without applying risks substantial administrative monetary penalties.
The Bank of Canada began publishing the list of registered PSPs (and refused applicants) on 8 September 2025, updating it on a rolling basis as security screenings are finalized.
Money services businesses — covering foreign exchange, money transfer, money-order issuance/cashing, virtual-currency exchange and transfer, and crowdfunding platform services — must register (not licence) with FINTRAC under the PCMLTFA before operating; FINTRAC maintains a registry rather than issuing licences, and this is separate from and additional to RPAA registration.
A federal open-banking framework was enacted as the Consumer-Driven Banking Act; the Budget 2025 implementation (Bill C-15, royal assent 26 March 2026) replaced it with an expanded Act shifting supervision to the Bank of Canada. Phase one (read-access only) is underway, with write-access targeted for mid-2027; penalties reach up to CAD 10 million for entities.
Payments Canada completed the RTR technical build in Q3 2025 and moved through system-integration and user-acceptance testing into performance/security/resilience testing in Q1 2026; the government's 2026 Spring Economic Update lists the RTR as 'launching in 2026,' with PSPs (e.g., Wise, Float, KOHO, Brim) being onboarded as members.
Buy-now-pay-later has no single federal licensing regime; oversight is fragmented across general banking, consumer-protection (cost-of-borrowing disclosure) and provincial consumer-credit rules. After its 2021 pilot study flagged over-indebtedness risks, FCAC opted to keep monitoring and coordinate with provinces rather than recommend dedicated regulation.
Timeline - major decisions & events
The Bank of Canada brought its public PSP Registry online under the Retail Payment Activities Act, listing all PSPs registered to perform retail payment activities in Canada (roughly 320 entities in its initial snapshot). It is the authoritative public record of who is licensed to operate.
Bank of Canada ↗The Bank started publishing its registration decisions under the RPAA, including which payment service providers were registered and which were refused, marking the end of the transition period in which applicants could operate while under review.
Bank of Canada ↗The 2024 Fall Economic Statement set out the remaining design elements of Canada's open/consumer-driven banking framework—scope, accreditation, common rules and technical standards—building on the foundational Act passed earlier in 2024.
Department of Finance Canada ↗The RPAA's registration regime took effect and the Bank of Canada opened its PSP Connect portal, requiring payment service providers to apply for registration (by Nov. 15, 2024) and later meet operational-risk and fund-safeguarding requirements. This created Canada's first dedicated licensing/supervision regime for retail payments.
Bank of Canada ↗Amendments (via Bill C-59) expanded eligibility for Payments Canada membership to include RPAA-registered payment service providers, credit union locals and designated clearing houses—opening access to core payment infrastructure beyond banks.
Payments Canada ↗Enacted via Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, the Act establishes Canada's first legislative framework for consumer-driven (open) banking and designates the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada as lead regulator, with a new Senior Deputy Commissioner overseeing data-sharing participants.
Parliament of Canada ↗Division 7 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1 enacted the RPAA, creating the statutory framework requiring payment service providers to register with the Bank of Canada and manage operational risk—laying the legal foundation for retail payment supervision.
Parliament of Canada ↗PCMLTFA regulatory amendments took effect treating dealers in virtual currency (crypto exchanges and value-transfer providers) as money services businesses, requiring FINTRAC registration and full AML/CFT compliance—bringing crypto firms into the licensing perimeter.
FINTRAC ↗Following PCMLTFA changes, all money services businesses (money transfer, foreign exchange, money orders) were required to register with FINTRAC, aligning Canada with FATF standards and establishing the core registration regime that still governs fintech money movers.
Government of Canada ↗Canada enacted its anti-money-laundering statute (later the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act after 2001 amendments) and created FINTRAC as the financial intelligence unit—the legal basis for supervising money services businesses and payment intermediaries.
FINTRAC ↗The Canadian Payments Act created the Canadian Payments Association (rebranded Payments Canada in 2016) to operate national clearing and settlement systems—the foundational infrastructure and membership framework that fintech access to payments rails is now being built upon.
Payments Canada ↗Canada - other topics
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