Competition Bureau Releases Final Fintech Market Study

The Competition Bureau (Bureau) recently released the final report from its market study, titled Technology-led innovation and emerging services in the Canadian financial services sector (Report), analyzing the regulatory and non-regulatory issues faced by the fintech industry in Canada. The Report makes recommendations to address these issues, many of which are a departure from the current paradigm informing the regulation of financial services. This bulletin summarizes the scope of the Bureau's market study and the 11 general recommendations.

SCOPE OF STUDY

It has been widely reported that despite local innovation and success stories, Canadians have been slow to adopt some aspects of fintech relative to other countries. The Bureau sought to understand the cause of this and, over the past 18 months, conducted a series of interviews and meetings with various financial services providers, as well as hosting a one-day workshop with stakeholders in February 2017.