2020 Vision Towards A Canadian Digital Currency?

In his final year-end speech, retiring Governor Stephen S. Poloz noted that the 2020 agenda for the Bank of Canada will include coming to grips with the impact of digital technology.  This will include considerations of digital currency. While not a goal of the Bank of Canada, and perhaps not even supported from a policy point of view, the Governor indicated that the institution needs to be prepared for such an innovation should it proliferate globally.  Referencing central bank money as a public good, the speech notes that private digital currencies cannot replace the ability of such a public good to render an individual’s payments in universally accepted and final form. The suggestion seems to be that if central bank digital currencies achieve significantly greater acceptance, the Bank of Canada may need to be prepared to reflect that in its currency offerings.