Payments Canada Concludes Consultation on Vision for Future Payments

June 20 marked the close of Payments Canada’s public consultation on the Vision for the Canadian Payments Ecosystem, which was developed with the support of McKinsey & Company.

The Vision was developed in collaboration with more than 100 Canadian organizations. It incorporates the views of financial institutions, businesses, consumer groups and governments on the high-level needs and expectations for a future payment system. There was strong alignment in the marketplace for richer data and a faster, more flexible and secure system that promotes innovation and strengthens Canada’s competitive position.

Following extensive consultation with stakeholders, financial institutions and payment service providers earlier in the year, Payments Canada issued the Vision to the public to validate the findings. The public consultation raised additional considerations and supported some of the key findings outlined in the Vision, including:

The need for encryption and security, which will be paramount for a future system to protect consumer and business payments data against cyberattacks.

The need to consider an effective means to execute residential real-estate transactions in a modernized payment system, which could translate into greater efficiencies for Canadians.

The desire for a balanced approach to system access, which would support the needs of many market players.

The need for extended hours of operation for systems to better support west-coast businesses and financial institutions.

This valuable feedback will be factored into the Payments Canada’s Modernization initiative, which involves modernizing Canada’s payments systems, rules and standards to support the evolving needs and expectations of participant financial institutions, businesses, consumers and governments. The Vision work was a foundational step on the Modernization journey and part of our commitment to sound research and significant industry consultation.

Next on the Modernization journey

Payments Canada will be working with the industry to develop a roadmap to enable participant financial institutions to deliver the Vision to Canadians. A number of working groups have been established under the guidance of the Member Advisory Council and Stakeholder Advisory Council to support Payments Canada in this work, which will identify options for realizing the Vision.

For more information on Modernization at Payments Canada, check out the