Productivity, prosperity and safety: Advancing Canada’s economic priorities through payment policy

A conversation with Judith Hamel on the Department of Finance’s vision for Canada’s financial ecosystem.

Payments Canada works closely with the Department of Finance to advance policies that will shape Canada’s financial landscape and advance national priorities. During a fireside discussion at The 2026 Payments Canada SUMMIT Idea Exchange, Judith Hamel, Department of Finance Canada, and Paula Dunlop, Payments Canada, discussed how modernization initiatives like Canada’s forthcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR) and consumer-driven banking (or open banking) will support core government objectives to boost national productivity, foster economic prosperity and uphold the safety and integrity of the financial system.

Key takeaways:

• Modern payments, including the forthcoming Real-Time Rail, play a key role in the federal government's economic growth agenda.
• The federal government is developing a national anti-fraud strategy to protect against fraud.
• The implementation of consumer-driven banking and the development of stablecoin regulation are underway.

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How does the Department of Finance view the intersection and synergy between the RTR and consumer-driven banking in driving economic growth, improving the ease of doing business and expanding choices for Canadian consumers and businesses?
The 2025 federal budget was really a milestone for the Consumer-Driven Banking Framework in Canada. Following the budget, there was the tabling of the enabling legislation, which passed. So we now have all the legislation to proceed with the implementation of open banking in Canada. It's very exciting. It's been a long journey to get there. It's been long awaited by the industry and by consumers. We're really happy that it's finally taking place and it's taking place within a broader financial sector policy agenda where innovation and competition are really at the forefront of the government priorities. 

Once implemented, the Consumer-Driven Banking Framework will allow consumers to share their banking information with third-party service providers of their choice that will be also accredited. So it's a very secure way for consumers to share their information and then have access to more services and new services. This fits within the competition agenda, but it also fits within the affordability agenda of the government because it has the potential to unlock new and cheaper opportunities for consumers. 

The federal budget also announced that the government would be moving with a second phase of consumer-driven banking, which would expand it in a number of ways. One of these ways would be enabling what we call ‘write access’, enabling action by the consumers.

The Real-Time Rail (RTR) will also contribute to the success of consumer-driven banking by providing a new national payment rail for user-directed actions that will be faster and available at all times for the consumer. 

What do you see as the next steps being and what can folks in this room do to support those efforts?
I don't know if everyone here is familiar with the regulation-making process, but we have a very standard process that we follow: First, the regulations are published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, and then they are published as draft regulations for comments and feedback. Everybody is invited to provide comments. We'll also use the opportunity at the Department of Finance to consult on elements for the second phase of consumer-driven banking. 

We know that as payments, overall, become faster, more open, more instant, the threat landscape is going to evolve also. I know that safety is foundational for the Department of Finance. It's also fundamental to Payments Canada, as we continue to operate our payment systems from a safety, security and resiliency perspective. What are you thinking about from a regulatory and policy standpoint? What is top of mind as you're thinking about fraud and financial crime? 
Somebody on the main stage this afternoon was talking about building the car while you're driving it. And it made me think...

"If you're building a very fast car, then you want very good brakes with it too. If not, you'll be afraid to go fast, or to use the car as it was intended. The work on consumer protection generally, on fraud in particular, it's part of building good brakes for a fast car."

We've been working closely with the industry over the last year. Also this morning, there were discussions of the Canadian Anti-scam Coalition, which is a multi-sector, industry-led alliance that was put together to tackle the issue of fraud. So we participate in the alliance as an observer. And it's been an inspiration as we've been thinking about the next steps in terms of the policies to protect Canadians against fraud. There's a clear recognition from everybody, the government included, that fraud cases are increasing. We meet quite often with consumer protection advocates and consumer groups and financial fraud is always the main topic they bring to us. 

We also work closely with our colleagues from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and we see the stats that are growing in terms of fraud occurrences. So there's a real impetus to put something in place and do something about it. The government, through the federal budget, announced that it would be moving with the development of the first ever national anti-fraud strategy. 

The budget also included a few concrete measures that were more targeted at the federally regulated institutions and the banks. It included new requirements for banks to have policies and processes in place to detect and prevent fraud. It also included new reporting requirements in terms of fraud occurrences. 

There will be new obligations to report on fraud cases, as well as new requirements to get consent before enabling certain account capabilities. Some capabilities of our accounts are often used by fraudsters and not by the average Canadian. So these capabilities could be disabled by default and only enabled on an as-needed basis. In the coming weeks, there will be draft regulations publicly published to go with these new legislative requirements. Everybody is invited to comment on them. 

We're also working on that multi-sector anti-fraud strategy. So that includes more than ten other government departments and agencies. And we're really looking at putting measures across the sectors. So across the digital platforms, the telecommunications and the financial sector to prevent, detect, disrupt and remediate fraud cases. It's going to be a multi-year project with concrete actions happening over time. 

Payments Canada is a member of the Canadian Anti-Scam Coalition as well – and I think one of the really meaningful elements of that alliance is that it is a multi-sector effort. There are representatives around that table from the telecommunications sector, from the payments sector, from the digital sector and a shared acknowledgement that to really tackle this challenge, it's going to require a multi-sector approach. Payments Canada has also contributed a submission into the Fraud strategy consultation. And so now that folks have replied to the consultation paper and your regulations are coming out for consultation, how can the payments industry support you in the work you're doing? 
The conversations that we're having, they're very encouraging because you can see that this is a concern that is top of mind for everybody, that solutions are being considered and put in place. Even in the absence of regulations, that's good leadership from the industry. 

"The fact that the RTR at launch will include a fraud solution is also really important — it's showing Canada’s leadership in that area."

So we've talked a little bit about Canada's forthcoming RTR payment system. Thank you for the call out on the capabilities that the RTR will have with respect to fraud, because I think this is something very unique to the Canadian experience. We've had the opportunity to watch what's unfolded in other jurisdictions and really taken those learnings in the construct of Canada's RTR which will launch with fraud capabilities on day one.

The government, including in the Spring Economic Update, has talked about the RTR from a perspective of its modernization agenda, seeing the RTR as a way to enable innovation, enable competition, support economic prosperity and growth. And so is there anything further that you can share with us around the government's broader modernization agenda and vision for the RTR as part of that? 
It's clear that the RTR is part of the government's vision. And it's also clear that the government has a vision for payments to be playing a role in its economic growth agenda. It hasn't always been as explicit as it is at this moment. 

"Payments have always had to play a role in economic growth, but right now, the government is explicitly making the linkages and expressing support for innovation in payments."

I don't know if you've had a chance to walk through the exhibit hall to see some of the really forward thinking innovations from companies that have a presence today in Canada, or companies that have presence overseas and are thinking about what are the opportunities here in the Canadian space. Do you have any thoughts, advice or perspectives to share with fintech communities that want to become more invested here in Canada? 
Now is a great time. There's clear momentum in Canada that should create an environment that is favorable to these new actors in the system. We have supervision by the Bank of Canada of the payment service providers. That’s a major development and it's been great to see it happening. It's providing a whole new legitimacy to these companies. At the same time, we're implementing the consumer-driven banking framework, which will also open doors for fintechs. And we're creating a regulated space for stablecoin issuance and use as a method of payment.

Are you able to share anything in terms of next steps and the efforts underway on that file? 
We're moving. In regards to the development of regulations, there will be a process similar to the consumer-driven banking regulatory process. The Spring Economic Update announced that we would be consulting on stablecoins, particularly in the area of better protecting consumers in cases of issuer insolvency and as well as consulting with the banks on their use of stablecoins and tokenized deposit to see if additional regulatory clarity is needed.

About Judith and Paula

Judith Hamel is Director General, Financial Services Division, Financial Sector Policy Branch at the Department of Finance Canada. In that role she oversees policy development on a wide range of financial sector issues, including files related to consumer protection, digital assets, payments policy and consumer-driven banking (or open banking).

Paula Dunlop is Vice President, Government Relations and Research. In this role she oversees three important functions at Payments Canada that influence and enhance the organization’s work with key stakeholders and across the ecosystem.