Pay attention to payments
This article was originally published in The Hill Times on October 13, 2025.
By: Donna Kinoshita, Chief Payments Officer, Payments Canada
As the Chief Payments Officer, Donna Kinoshita brings more than 20 years of stakeholder and strategic product development experience. Donna is responsible for managing Payments Canada's relationships with its members, stakeholders and regulators, and Payments Canada's communications, policy and research functions. As payments continue to rapidly evolve, Donna and her teams work closely with all industry stakeholders to ensure the Canadian payment ecosystem is inclusive, enables fair competition and supports a thriving Canadian economy.
In today’s digital economy, our need to securely move money is just as essential as moving goods, energy or information.
Though we do not see money move when we tap to pay, make an online purchase or when we receive our wages, Canada's payment systems are the critical infrastructure that continuously support national prosperity and the financial well-being of people in Canada.
Every day, people in Canada rely on payment systems to carry out some of life’s most essential transactions: paying employees and suppliers, sending money to family, buying groceries, receiving benefits or managing business operations. Behind each of these actions is a complex, highly coordinated network that functions safely, reliably and securely. In Canada, this infrastructure is owned and operated by us — Payments Canada — a public-purpose, non-profit organization.
As mandated in the Canadian Payments Act (CP Act), we run the country’s national payment systems, the underlying networks that clear and settle funds between financial institutions. In 2024, over $420 billion travelled through our systems every business day — that’s over $107 trillion in one year. Our systems provide security, trust and reliability when people in Canada need to pay or get paid, and today’s economy requires this money to move faster and in more ways than ever before.
But, the modern digital economy isn’t just about efficiency. It’s also about innovation and opportunity. Payment systems are no different. After a joint advocacy effort from leaders across the Canadian payment ecosystem, Parliament passed critical changes to the CP Act expanding eligibility for Payments Canada membership to include payment service providers, credit union locals that are a member of a central, and clearing houses. These changes will better reflect today’s payment landscape.
These newly-entitled members will be eligible to apply to participate on our systems, which will enable competition and support safe, responsible innovation that will give consumers more choice, more value and more control over their payments all while building a more resilient payment ecosystem that will deliver meaningful economic and social benefits.
As the federal government continues to emphasize the importance of nation building projects and sovereignty, payments must be a part of that conversation. Our systems are essential and critical infrastructure that Canadians and Canadian businesses rely on every day. Implementing these industry-supported changes will strengthen trust, promote financial inclusion, and deliver economic benefits that support our national prosperity and global competitiveness.
For example, soon Payments Canada will launch the Real-Time Rail or RTR, a real-time, data-rich payment platform that will open up our economy to faster and smarter transactions for individuals and businesses and new innovative products related to the movement of money that we haven’t even thought of yet.
The real-time benefit is this: When money travels faster, the economy follows suit, activating supply chains for goods and services quicker and more efficiently. No delays. Payments in seconds at any time. Every day.
While most Canadians never see or think about the infrastructure that powers their payments, they feel the impact of it in their day-to-day lives. Getting paid and making payments — some small, some large — affect people's lives in big ways. At Payments Canada, we don’t take this for granted. Our purpose has remained: To make payments easier, smarter and safer for Canada.
