Donna Kinoshita
Chief Payments Officer, Payments Canada
Accounting for 89 per cent of total payment volume in 2025, digital payments are now the foundation of daily commerce in Canada. This shift has forever changed how Canadians pay — and the strategies necessary to safeguard them.
As the public-purpose organization responsible for Canada’s national payment systems, Payments Canada’s mission is to enable prosperity, productivity and financial safety through trusted, world-class payment infrastructure. In 2025 alone, our systems safely cleared and settled $103 trillion — averaging more than $411 billion every business day.
The continued safety, security and resilience of Canada’s national critical payment infrastructure is our top priority. While we do not hold individual bank accounts or manage customer funds, protecting Canadians is a collaborative effort, and we all have a role to play. This is especially true as payment methods evolve and fraud tactics shift from traditional account takeovers to sophisticated scams. Staying ahead of these complex threats requires an integrated effort that combines cutting-edge infrastructure innovation, public education and ecosystem-wide collaboration.
Innovation built for safety: Canada’s Real-Time Rail
To further our mission and meet the demands of an increasingly digital economy, in Q4 2026, we will launch Canada’s Real-Time Rail (RTR), our country’s next-generation payment system — made in Canada, for Canada. With it, Canadians will be able to safely send and receive instant, data-rich payments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, meaning more speed, convenience, choice and certainty in their payments than ever before.
Beyond these everyday benefits, this modernized infrastructure will drive significant economic growth. The C.D. Howe Institute projects that over the next decade, the RTR could generate $16 billion in cumulative GDP gains, eventually growing to $27 billion as the RTR adopts new functionalities over time.
Drawing on extensive engagement and learnings from international jurisdictions, we know that real-time payment systems can be among the safest in the world when built with robust controls. To achieve this, Canada will be one of the first countries globally to launch a real-time payment system with mandatory centralized fraud mitigation services operational on day one.
Modernizing Canada’s payment infrastructure is a nation-building exercise. As we navigate this pivotal era, Payments Canada is committed to supporting collaborative efforts to safeguard Canadians and build a stronger financial future.
Working in tandem with each system participant’s internal fraud controls, Canada’s RTR will deploy four central national safeguards: A confirmation of payee tool for verifying recipients before sending funds, real-time risk scoring to detect fraudulent activity before payment authorization, a risk repository to flag accounts linked to past fraud and a centralized intelligence platform for ecosystem-wide fraud tracking.
Additionally, the RTR’s adoption of the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard will unlock rich data analytics, allowing institutions to better track and disrupt complex financial crime patterns.
Younger Canadians at higher risk of falling victim to payment fraud
Monitoring payment methods, trends, opportunities and challenges for the benefit of the entire financial ecosystem is one example of our public purpose in action.
Our latest consumer payment fraud research highlights how evolving scam tactics disproportionately target younger Canadians. While 30% of the general adult population experienced a scam attempt over the past 12 months, that figure rises to 47% among Gen Z (aged 18 to 24). Twenty-six per cent of Gen Z lost money — double the 13% rate seen overall.
Despite being digital natives, Gen Z’s frequent use of social media and digital payments increases their exposure to online shopping and impersonation scams. They are also more likely to engage in risky digital habits: 21% have shared personal banking details via text or email and 36% reuse the same password across all accounts. Additionally, only 57% of Gen Z consistently create strong passwords compared to 71% of the general population.
Meanwhile, technological advancements are raising the stakes for all age groups. Sixty per cent of Canadians agree that AI deepfakes and synthetic identity fraud make detecting scams more difficult, while 32% struggle to distinguish legitimate payment communications from fraudulent phishing attempts.
A collaborative approach to combatting fraud
Fraud arises across multiple channels, sectors and parties — meaning no single organization can solve it in isolation. We also know that tactics like authorized push payment (APP) fraud, where individuals are tricked into authorizing payments to fraudsters, are increasingly common.
As these tactics shift toward social engineering — manipulating individuals into initiating transfers themselves — our approach to financial safety must evolve. We must look beyond technical safeguards to prioritize robust public awareness and cross-sector collaboration.
Combatting fraud and financial crime demands a coordinated defence. That is why Payments Canada is an active member of the Canadian Anti-Scam Coalition (CASC), collaborating with cross-industry partners to align fraud education, prevention and response activities nationwide. I encourage you to follow the Stop. Check. Talk. campaign to help protect yourself and others: standagainstscams.ca.
It is also why we strongly support the federal government’s establishment of the Financial Crimes Agency and the development of a National Anti-Fraud Strategy, advocating for purpose-driven data sharing across sectors, coordinated regulatory oversight and enhanced consumer education.
Making a meaningful impact, together
Modernizing Canada’s payment infrastructure is a nation-building exercise. As we navigate this pivotal era, Payments Canada is committed to supporting collaborative efforts to safeguard Canadians and build a stronger financial future.
As fraud and financial crime grow more complex, our collective defences must become more unified. Canadians deserve to know that whether they are paying for groceries or transferring life savings, their transactions are protected by world-class safeguards at all levels. They must also have the knowledge and tools needed to protect themselves against evolving fraud tactics.
By combining proactive public education, deep cross-sector collaboration and innovative infrastructure, we are building the future of Canadian payments, where every Canadian can safely transact with confidence.
Visit payments.ca to learn more.
