Canada’s draft stablecoin rules shut out yield and route reserves through the banks

Canada opened a 60-day consultation on October 24, 2026, on draft stablecoin regulations that bar non-bank issuers from offering direct or indirect yield and require them to hold reserves at Canadian banks. The draft, published in the Canada Gazette, also requires issuers to register with the Bank of Canada, back tokens at least one-to-one with high-quality liquid assets, and redeem them at par. Banks, trust and loan companies, insurers, credit unions and foreign financial institutions are excluded because they are already prudentially regulated. Finance Canada expects the framework to take effect in 2027, though Bank of Canada senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers told the Senate in May 2026 that rules could realistically arrive in mid- or late 2027.