Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem has designated the Real-Time Rail (RTR), operated by Payments Canada, as a prominent payment system under the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act, effective November 8, 2026.
The designation brings the RTR under formal Bank oversight and requires Payments Canada to ensure that the RTR adheres to the Bank’s risk-management standards, including maintaining controls that support the RTR’s safety and resilience. As a designated domestic clearing and settlement system, the RTR will also fall within the Bank’s resolution regime, which supports the continuity of critical services in the unlikely event that the system becomes non-viable.
The RTR will provide continuous clearing and settlement of payments with immediate availability of funds. It will also clear and settle payments exchanged through Interac e-Transfer. The Bank regularly monitors the evolution of new and existing payment systems to determine whether they warrant oversight because of their potential to cause systemic or payments system risk.
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Bank of Canada designates RTR as a prominent payment system
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem has designated the Real-Time Rail (RTR), operated by Payments Canada, as a prominent payment system under the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act, effective November 9, 2026.