Payments Canada’s pre-budget submission calls for continued collaboration

Recommendations support modern payments, competition and economic growth.

Payments Canada has submitted its response to the federal government's pre-budget consultation, emphasizing the critical role of Payments Canada’s national infrastructure in powering Canada's economy. The submission calls for continued collaboration with the Government of Canada and identifies opportunities to support Budget 2025 priorities, including specific recommendations toward modernizing Canada's payment infrastructure to boost competition, economic growth and prosperity.

Payments Canada maintains a strong partnership with the Government of Canada to promote openness and competition in Canada's financial sector, leveraging its expertise to inform policies and keep the national critical payment infrastructure resilient and innovative.

Learn more about our recommendations by reading Payments Canada’s complete pre-budget consultation submission below.

Payments power Canada’s economy. Every day, Canadians, businesses, financial institutions and governments rely on Payments Canada’s critical national infrastructure to process payroll and services, pay bills and conduct commerce. Each of Payments Canada’s systems — the Retail Batch System, Canada’s high-value system, Lynx and the forthcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR) — fulfill a specific purpose. These systems move trillions of dollars each year. In 2024 alone, Payments Canada systems cleared and settled over $107 trillion, or $420 billion every business day.

Payments Canada is a public-purpose non-profit organization, funded by our members and overseen by the Minister of Finance and the Bank of Canada. We have a long, proven history of, as set out in the Canadian Payments Act, maintaining the safety and efficiency of Canada's payment infrastructure. Our mandate also includes the public policy objective of promoting the efficiency, safety and soundness of our systems, taking into account the interests of all users.

Our work directly supports the government’s priorities for Budget 2025, specifically in relation to building one strong Canadian economy and keeping communities, business and consumers financially safe through modern payment systems and the legal frameworks that support them. With the increasing digitization and speed of financial services and transactions domestically and internationally, our work to ensure payment systems are modern, resilient and accessible nation-wide is crucial to Canada’s long-term economic success and sovereignty. In order to compete globally, Canada requires payment systems and regulations that maintain the safety and security of Canada’s financial system and where competition can flourish. Payments Canada is asking for government action to help further these vital objectives:

• Continue to champion Payments Canada’s delivery of Canada’s national real-time payment system, the Real-Time Rail (RTR). Payments Canada and our delivery partners, with the support of our members, stakeholders, Finance Canada, and the Bank of Canada, have successfully completed the technical build of the RTR as planned. Testing is now underway and will occur through 2026, paving the way for a robust and reliable system that meets the needs of all who call Canada home. Continuing the positive progress we have made in building the RTR is critical to Canada’s ability to keep pace with other countries around the world and enable faster, safer and more inclusive payments to support economic resilience and long-term prosperity. It will give businesses and consumers more data, increased transparency and better access to their payments any day, any time. It will also launch with a centralized fraud service, making Canada one of the few jurisdictions globally to launch a real-time payment system with integrated centralized fraud capabilities to help financial institutions and payment service providers protect Canadians. These capabilities will reduce delays and improve cash flow for individuals and businesses while doing so with best-in-class security and anti-fraud features.

  Your government’s continued and collaborative support during its construction has been greatly appreciated, and it is important that we continue to work together to champion the system. In that vein, we encourage the government to:

  • continue to collaborate with Payments Canada on the legislative, policy and regulatory initiatives that will drive broader awareness and enable adoption of the system across Canada ensuring the RTR achieves its full potential. By working together we can maximize the impact the RTR will have on competitiveness and support its long-term success.
  • collaborate with Payments Canada on transitioning government payments to the RTR. This would significantly enhance the speed, transparency, and efficiency of government payments processing and delivery, benefiting recipients, businesses and institutions, and government. Leveraging the RTR's integrated centralized fraud capabilities would also bolster the security of government disbursements, setting a global standard for safe and reliable government payments.
• Implement the recent amendments to the Canadian Payments Act and approve the consequential amendments to Payments Canada’s by-laws. Implementation of the amendments to the Canadian Payments Act and consequential amendments to Payments Canada by-laws is crucial for fostering a more open and competitive financial sector. These legislative changes will broaden access to Payments Canada's systems for various payment service providers, credit union locals, and clearing houses. This expanded access is essential for driving innovation and ensuring Canada can effectively compete in the global financial landscape.
• Continue to support the enhancement of the Automated Clearing Settlement System (ACSS), Canada’s retail batch system. This enhancement, based on the direction of the Bank of Canada, will ensure alignment with global best risk management practices and is key to maintaining the safety and resilience of a critical part of Canada's payment infrastructure.
• Maintain a strong partnership with Payments Canada to promote openness and competition in Canada's financial sector. By leveraging Payments Canada's extensive knowledge of and expertise on payment systems, both within Canada and internationally, to inform policies and regulations, the government can help keep Canada's national critical payment infrastructure resilient and innovative, benefiting all involved and strengthening the national economy.

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to working together to advance modern, critical national payment infrastructure, not only helping Canada keep pace with change but accelerate it, supporting stronger economic growth, social benefits and broader prosperity.