Overview

• Ron Morrow, the Bank of Canada’s executive director of payments, called for a federal stablecoin framework and faster federal–provincial coordination.
• The Bank highlighted heavy global usage of stablecoins, citing daily transactions of about US$2.7 billion and annual volumes near US$1 trillion.
• Crypto oversight in Canada currently relies on provincial securities rules and federal anti–money laundering provisions, while the Bank now supervises roughly 1,500 payment service providers.
• Private adoption is gaining traction, with Shopify enabling stablecoin checkout and Tetra Digital Group planning a Canadian-dollar backed token targeted for 2026.
• Morrow tied the appeal to broader payments modernization, pointing to delays in Real-Time Rail and open banking and urging guardrails that protect consumers and financial stability.