Canada moved to broaden access to its core payment systems, with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne confirming that legislative changes to the Canadian Payments Act are now in force.
The move opens membership in Payments Canada to a wider set of institutions, including nonbank firms that help move money for consumers and businesses.
By letting more entities connect directly to the infrastructure that clears and settles transactions, officials aim to encourage innovation and reduce frictions in everyday payments.
Payments Canada operates the country’s central clearing and settlement systems, which underpin everything from payroll deposits to bill payments.
Until now, direct access has been largely limited to banks and a narrow group of financial institutions. Expanding the membership gate means more companies can apply to become direct participants rather than routing transactions through incumbents, a change that could compress costs for merchants and end users over time.
In a statement dated Sept. 29, Champagne said “new entities can now apply to become members and participate directly in the national payment systems.” He framed the change as a step toward faster, more secure services for households and businesses.
The official statement , published by the Department of Finance Canada, also links the reform to a broader effort to spur competition across the financial sector.
According to the government’s announcement, eligibility is now extended to payment service providers that are registered and supervised by the Bank of Canada under the Retail Payment Activities Act regime, to credit union locals that are members of a credit union central, and to operators of clearing and settlement systems designated under the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act.
The full statement is available on the Department of Finance Canada website and outlines the categories in scope along with the policy intent to widen access to national rails.
Applicants will need to meet governance, risk, and operational standards set by Payments Canada and relevant regulators.
The Bank of Canada’s oversight of registered payment service providers is designed to reinforce safeguards around fund safeguarding, operational resilience, and incident reporting that framework will influence how quickly new participants can onboard and how they manage day to day risks once connected.
More direct participants can lower the number of handoffs per transaction, which often trims costs and latency that can encourage new products in areas like instant payroll, small-business invoicing, cross-border e-commerce, and account-to-account transfers.
Over time, a broader base of participants tends to speed up product cycles and expand partnerships between banks, fintechs, and credit unions.
