Open banking has been discussed in Canada for years. But the conversation has moved beyond whether Canada should introduce it.
The focus is now on how Canada's consumer-driven banking framework will work in practice.
Consumer-driven banking, also known as open banking, is designed to allow individuals and businesses to direct their financial data to approved service providers. The framework is intended to give consumers greater control over their information while creating a more secure foundation for innovation across Canada's financial services sector.
For banks, fintechs, payment providers, and other financial technology companies, the framework could change how financial data is accessed and shared.
Here's what businesses need to know.
Open banking allows customers to authorize financial data sharing between their financial institution and an approved third party.
The customer remains at the centre of the process. Rather than giving a third party their banking credentials, they authorize their financial institution to share specific information with an approved provider.
Canada generally refers to this model as consumer-driven banking.
The framework is intended to create a standardized and regulated approach to data sharing, giving consumers greater control over their financial information while establishing clearer rules for participating entities.
Canada has historically lacked a formal open banking framework.
As a result, some consumers have relied on screen scraping to connect their bank accounts to financial technology companies. Screen scraping can require customers to provide their online banking credentials to a third party, creating additional security, privacy, and liability concerns.
The federal government has estimated that approximately nine million Canadians currently share financial data through screen scraping. The consumer-driven banking framework is intended to provide a more secure, API-based alternative.
The framework has several broader objectives:
At a high level, the process involves several parties.
A consumer chooses a financial product or service from a participating provider. They then authorize the sharing of specific financial information.
The relevant data can move between the consumer's financial institution and the approved provider through standardized APIs.
The framework initially covers data such as:
The scope is designed to evolve over time as the framework develops.
One of the biggest technical changes will be the move away from screen scraping.
APIs allow systems to communicate directly with one another through defined technical standards. Instead of a third-party application accessing a customer's banking interface using their credentials, the framework will allow participating entities to exchange authorized data through standardized connections.
This creates a more consistent technical foundation for data sharing.
The federal government plans to require participating entities to use a single technical standard, with a designated technical standards body responsible for establishing the standard used for data sharing.
Consumer-driven banking is not limited to Canada's largest banks.
The framework provides for participation by different types of financial institutions and other organizations that meet the applicable requirements.
The initial framework includes mandatory participation for banks that meet a specified retail-volume threshold. Other federally regulated financial institutions, credit unions, Crown corporations acting as banks, registered payment service providers, and other entities seeking accreditation may be able to participate or opt in if they meet the relevant requirements.
That creates potential opportunities for financial technology companies and other providers developing services that depend on secure access to financial information.
Because financial data is highly sensitive, Canada is establishing an accreditation framework for entities that want to participate.
Accreditation is intended to help ensure that organizations accessing consumer-permissioned financial information meet defined requirements for security, privacy, and reliability.
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has been tasked with developing functions related to accreditation and oversight, including work toward a public registry of participating entities.
For businesses considering participation, accreditation will therefore be more than a technical requirement. It will be part of the trust framework surrounding consumer-driven banking.
Consumer control is one of the central principles of the framework.
A consumer must direct the sharing of their financial information. The framework includes rules around consent, including requirements related to how information can be accessed and used.
This means businesses participating in the ecosystem will need processes that make consent clear and manageable.
The objective is not simply to make financial data more accessible. It is to give consumers greater control over when their data is shared and who can access it.
A functioning open banking ecosystem needs more than APIs.
It also needs common rules that establish responsibilities between participants.
These rules address areas such as:
The framework is intended to provide clearer expectations for participating entities while reducing uncertainty around responsibility when something goes wrong.
The Canada Gazette is part of Canada's regulatory process and has become an important source for tracking the development of the consumer-driven banking framework.
In June 2026, the federal government pre-published proposed regulations related to consumer-driven banking and financial-sector fraud prevention in the Canada Gazette, Part I. The government said these measures would support the next phase of implementation.
For businesses operating in financial services and payments, monitoring regulatory publications such as the Canada Gazette will remain important as the framework develops.
Dates associated with Canada's consumer-driven banking legislation and regulatory process can refer to different stages of implementation, publication, consultation, or legislative development.
Businesses should therefore avoid treating a single date as the universal "launch date" for open banking in Canada.
The framework is being implemented in stages, with legislation, regulation, accreditation, technical standards, and supervision developing alongside one another. The federal government's current implementation work reflects this phased approach.
A functioning consumer-driven banking framework could create opportunities for new financial products and services.
Potential applications include:
The government has also identified potential future expansion into functionality beyond basic data sharing, including write access, which could allow consumers to initiate actions from an account through participating entities.
Companies preparing for Canada's consumer-driven banking environment should look beyond the API itself.
They should consider how the framework could affect:
Businesses will need clear processes for handling financial information, consent, retention, and access.
Systems must be designed to protect sensitive financial information throughout the data-sharing process.
Consent and authentication should be understandable and straightforward.
Participating entities will need to understand accreditation requirements, common rules, technical standards, and applicable federal and provincial obligations.
Businesses may need to adapt their infrastructure to work with standardized APIs and the requirements established by the technical standards body.
Financial institutions, fintechs, payment providers, and other participating entities may need new commercial and technical relationships as the ecosystem develops.
It is also important to distinguish open banking from payment processing.
Open banking primarily concerns the secure sharing of financial data under a regulated framework.
Payments involve the movement of funds.
The two areas can overlap, particularly as the framework evolves and the government considers functionality such as write access. However, businesses should not assume that the introduction of consumer-driven banking automatically creates a new payment rail or replaces existing payment infrastructure.
Instead, it creates a new framework for how financial data and, potentially over time, financial actions can be connected between participating entities.
Canada's consumer-driven banking framework is moving from policy development toward implementation.
The government has established legislative foundations, is developing accreditation and supervisory processes, and is working toward the technical and regulatory infrastructure needed for participating entities. The Bank of Canada is expected to have an important supervisory role, including oversight related to participating entities and the technical standards body.
The next phase will determine how these requirements work in practice.
For banks, fintechs, payment providers, and other financial technology companies, that makes it important to follow developments in legislation, regulations, technical standards, accreditation, and industry guidance.
Canada's approach to open banking is taking shape through the Consumer-Driven Banking Act and the broader regulatory framework surrounding it.
The goal is to create a system where consumers can securely direct their financial information to approved providers, while businesses can build new products and services on a common technical and regulatory foundation.
The transition will not happen through technology alone.
It will depend on common standards, participating entities, clear account agreements and consent processes, strong security controls, effective oversight, and consumer trust.
For Canada's financial services ecosystem, consumer-driven banking could mark an important shift in how financial data is accessed, shared, and ultimately used to build the next generation of financial products.
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