CCI Statement on the Launch of Canada’s Real-Time Rail

Payments Canada today launched the Real-Time Rail (RTR), a new national payment system that allows participating financial service providers to clear and settle payments in real time, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. In response, Daniel Perry, Director of Federal Affairs at the Council of Canadian Innovators, issued the following statement.

“Until today, Canada was the last G7 country without a real-time payment system. Now, with the launch of RTR, Canadian fintechs will have access to core payment infrastructure for the first time, without going through a bank partnership to serve their customers.

“CCI took part in the consultations that brought RTR to launch. We will keep working with the Department of Finance, the Bank of Canada and Payments Canada on what comes next. Budget 2026 committed to a public consultation on payments priorities early next year and a review of the Canadian Payments Act. That work needs to start on schedule and finish on schedule.

“RTR was planned for 2019 and took seven years to launch. Canada cannot afford another seven-year wait to modernize its payments system. Every year of delay means Canadian businesses wait longer on cash flow, consumers pay more to move money, and our payments keep running through infrastructure we do not control.

“Payment sovereignty is economic sovereignty, and this launch is a milestone, not a finish line. The next phase must bring every Canadian financial institution onto the rail by mid-2027, move open banking forward, and give more Canadian innovators the opportunity to build on this system.”
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Media Contact

Lisa Brody Hoffman
Director of Communications
‍lhoffman@canadianinnovators.org