Canadian Banks Advance Tokenized Deposit Initiatives Across Multiple Networks

Six major Canadian banks announced on September 22, 2026, that they are jointly exploring Canadian dollar tokenized deposits, starting with payments between their own institutions, according to a statement from National Bank of Canada. The participating institutions are BMO, CIBC, National Bank, RBC, Scotiabank and TD.

The announcement followed a September 10, 2026, statement by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) clarifying that tokenized deposits are not legally distinct from traditional deposits under Canada's technology-neutral regulatory framework. A tokenized deposit remains a deposit on a bank's balance sheet, subject to existing oversight.

International and Domestic Infrastructure Development

Canadian banks are participating in multiple tokenized money initiatives. BMO, CIBC and Scotiabank joined the Bank for International Settlements' Project Agorá after the September 22 domestic announcement, joining TD Bank N.A., which was already a participant, according to the source material attributed to Vinay Iyer of Fireblocks, published October 13, 2026. The Bank of Canada has been a member of Project Agorá since May 2026, according to the central bank.

Project Agorá tests tokenized central bank reserves and tokenized commercial bank deposits on a shared platform. In July 2026 real-value testing, 28 institutions and central banks completed live transactions with an average time from initiation to settlement of approximately 80 seconds, according to the Fireblocks source material.

The six-bank Canadian initiative has not yet named a platform, vendor or timeline, according to the source material. Separately, Scotiabank and TD are among 21 institutions forming a jointly owned USD stablecoin issuer, with launch targeted for the first half of 2027. BMO and TD participate in The Clearing House's tokenized deposit network for US dollars, connected to RTP and CHIPS. RBC and TD helped shape the design of Swift's ledger for 24/7 tokenized deposit payments, according to the source material.

Domestic Regulatory and Technical Foundations

On March 5, 2026, the Bank of Canada announced completion of Project Samara with Export Development Canada, RBC and TD. EDC issued a CAD 100 million tokenized bond with a maturity of less than three months to a closed investor group, with payments settled in wholesale central-bank deposits on a Hyperledger Fabric platform. The Bank of Canada noted that benefits were partly offset by system complexity, liquidity costs, governance demands and operational risks.

In May 2026, a regulated Canadian dollar stablecoin issued by Tetra Trust went live, backed by a group that includes National Bank, ATB, Shopify and Wealthsimple, according to the source material. The Stablecoin Act received Royal Assent in March 2026, with the Bank of Canada as supervisor and the framework expected to take effect in 2027. Payments Canada plans to begin the phased launch of its Real-Time Rail in the fourth quarter of 2026, according to the source material.

Use Cases and Infrastructure Considerations

The source material identifies three areas of focus for Canadian banks: tokenized deposits that can move 24/7 and settle instantly with programmable conditions; stablecoin foreign exchange, enabling conversions across multiple currencies and settlement outside business hours; and tokenized collateral using central bank money.

On capital markets infrastructure, DTCC received a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission no-action letter for tokenized securities in December 2025, and the service is now in production, according to the source material. On July 15, 2026, Citadel Securities used Fireblocks to participate in DTC's live tokenization initiative, creating tokenized U.S. Treasuries, transferring them to counterparties and posting them to CME as collateral.

The source material, authored by Vinay Iyer of Fireblocks, notes that 99.4% of fiat-backed stablecoins by market valuation are pegged to the U.S. dollar, citing Bank for International Settlements data. Iyer states that Canadian banks are considering where Canadian dollar money moves and who governs those rails, with settlement in central bank money where appropriate and keys, data and policy remaining under OSFI oversight.

The cited six-bank initiative remains described as exploratory, and Project Agorá remains a prototype under testing. The source material does not provide a commercial launch date for the domestic Canadian tokenized deposit network.

Source: www.fireblocks.com.