Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Canada’s App Industry: A Data-Driven Analysis of Growth
March 12, 2025
Image: Unsplash/Benjamin Sow
Since 2019, Canada's digital sector has significantly outperformed the broader economy's growth, and projections indicate that it will advance at a CAGR of 9% throughout 2025. Within the digital economy, mobile application development and support are critical, allowing businesses to align with current and prospective customers. Artificial intelligence, high bandwidth 5G connections, and on-device machine learning will bring about entirely new categories of mobile applications. The outcome is a strong demand for Canadian app economy workers and improvements in the inflation-adjusted economy, which benefits people in all parts of the country. Canada strives to create an environment conducive to growth by funding research and innovation, creating fair taxation rules, and fostering consumer confidence and protection,
The Revenue In The App Market In Canada Is Projected To Increase By 27% By 2027
Smartphones are the most rapidly adopted technology in human history, becoming a mass-market product that is central to people's lives. The average volume per person in the Canadian market is poised to be 0.4 pieces in 2025 as the country is experiencing a surge in demand for devices with advanced camera features. A generation ago, the idea that the Internet and smartphones would connect almost all Canadians was, in many cases, inconceivable. Life has become impossible without mobile technology: you message friends, scroll social media, and take care of personal admin. In an increasingly connected world, giving up your smartphone is a privilege you can't afford.
The way apps are ranked and displayed in digital storefronts influences which ones are eventually purchased or downloaded. Ranking factors include but aren't limited to app name, subtitle, keywords used, downloads, user ratings, and reviews; app rankings make available objective and relevant information to guide consumer purchases. The app development market is driven by small firms and individuals who have diverse technical skill sets and are often considered to be strong users of information and communication technologies. The total revenue in the app market in Canada is forecast to experience significant growth in all segments in 2027, reaching $10.79 billion.
In The Entertainment Space, Canada Has A Strong App Economy Presence
The 21st century has given rise to great changes in consumer habits and expectations, and to drive discovery, engagement, and monetization of their intellectual property and services, companies require holistic strategies that operate across user-generated content and interactive and immersive gaming. iGaming has become a vital cultural force shaping the present and future of entertainment. In 2021, the Ontario government passed a regulation to create a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, iGaming Ontario, which develops and executes operating agreements with private Internet gaming operators. The Criminal Code of Canada prohibits commercial gaming lest it's conducted and managed by a province.
There Are More Than 19.3 Million Active Online Gamblers In Canada
The Internet has changed the way people engage in many activities, including gambling, with virtually mediated casino games now readily accessible; new sites are available every year. Mobile gambling, a new type of cultural practice, brings together gambling, social networking, and gaming. Names like Monro or Lucky Ones, top-rated by the experts, bring casino apps in Canada for real money to players' fingertips, so gone are the days of running back to the desktop to play slots or poker. Reviews help bettors understand which ones are worth their time and which ones should be deleted after a few uses.
The smartphone penetration rate has enabled iGaming developers and publishers to avoid hardware restrictions and improve accessibility for players, who can enjoy high-quality experiences on the go. Active players aren't limited to adolescents or young adults, contrary to popular opinion. Gambling is common among those aged 45 to 65, and it's a leisure activity they participate in in the evenings or weekends. When the main driving force behind using casino apps is escaping anxiety and loneliness, the odds of experiencing gambling-related harms are lower. In December 2024, online gambling spending reached an all-time high of $7.8 billion, clearly beating the previous year's results.
The Number Of Canadian App Economy Jobs Has Been Rising Since April 2024
Thinking globally is one of the key forces of Canadian app developers who have an opportunity to capture a big part of the market. Skilled professionals leverage several platforms to reach the global market of roughly 5 billion smartphone users, including notable examples like Google's Android and Apple's iOS. Nevertheless, they use at least one store besides Google Play or the App Store, such as Huawei AppGallery and Samsung Galaxy Store. There's an urgent need for expertise in programming languages like Kotlin, Java, Swift, C#, Python, or Dart, so mobile app development remains a lucrative career path in 2025.
According to the Progressive Policy Institute, the number of jobs in Canada's app economy has been slowly but surely growing since April 2024, none of which existed years ago. Examples include but aren't limited to app developers, software engineers whose work demands knowledge of mobile applications, and security engineers to spot vulnerabilities in the code. Non-IT jobs are sales, marketing, finance, human resources, or administrative staff. Canada's app industry is larger than that of Australia but smaller than the app industry in the United Kingdom, Germany, or France; the intensity of the app economy is similar to France and the United Kingdom.
In Closing
Canada's digital sector continues to grow in scale and economic value, with online marketplaces – or app stores, if you prefer – providing convenient distribution options for reaching consumers where it matters. The casino and games market is projected to reach a volume of $10.80 billion in 2025, driven by convenience, accessibility, incentives, and regulation. The growing importance of smartphones in Canadian society presents a chance to deliver transformational changes, including employment creation, which helps the economy become stable. With sufficient training and orientation, Canada's software talent can replicate earlier successes in the expanding sector.
See: Strategies for Achieving Product-Market Fit in Web3
We don't know what the future holds, but we're putting our trust in mobile applications. One potential direction for the future is web-app integration, which allows for the seamless transfer of data regardless of their make.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA Canada) is a cross-Canada non-profit actively engaged with fintech, alternative finance, blockchain, cryptocurrency, crowdfunding and online investing stakeholders globally. NCFA Canada provides education, research, industry stewardship, services, and networking opportunities to thousands of members and subscribers and works closely with industry, government, academia, community and eco-system partners and affiliates to create a strong and vibrant crowdfunding and fintech industry. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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October 9, 2026 | Companies On The Move, Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization Toronto Securities Fintech Joins Nasdaq Company With Equipment and Franchise Financing Planned for 2027 On October 9, 2026, TruGolf Holdings (Nasdaq: TRUG) confirmed its acquisition of Toronto's Polymath Research Inc., the Canadian fintech behind Polymesh, a blockchain for regulated securities. Polymath is now a wholly owned subsidiary and will continue serving institutional tokenization customers alongside TruGolf's golf simulation and software businesses. The companies also plan tokenized equipment leasing and fractional franchise ownership products for Q1 2027. The acquisition gives Polymath access to a U.S. public company and an operating business with equipment and franchise financing needs. TruGolf gains established securities technology, existing issuer relationships and another potential source of revenue beyond golf products. Both businesses will continue operating while developing the proposed financing applications. Polymath Brings Securities Technology and 65 Active Issuers Founded in 2017, Polymath developed the ST-20 security token standard and contributed to ERC-1400. Its Polymesh blockchain supports identity verification, transfer restrictions, settlement and securities administration. These controls help issuers determine who can hold or transfer securities and manage compliance obligations after issuance. Polymath serves markets including private equity, credit, ...
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October 8, 2026 | Industry Research - Call For Participation | Capital Markets, Capital Formation, Canada University of Calgary Researchers Studying Canada's Declining Public Listings On October 8, 2026, the 2026 Canadian Public Company Study, led by University of Calgary researchers Dr. L. Daniel Wilson of the Faculty of Law and Dr. J. Ari Pandes of the Haskayne School of Business, is seeking input from Canadian business leaders and capital markets professionals on why fewer companies are going public and which reforms could reverse the decline. The national survey is open until October 31, 2026. According to University of Calgary researcher Dr. Ari Pandes' testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, the number of operating companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) fell to 634 in 2025 from 1,206 in 2008, a decline of nearly 50%. The problem isn't primarily that more companies are leaving the exchange. It's that too few new companies are taking their place. Since 2021, there have been only three TSX IPOs with primary offerings, underscoring why researchers are examining what discourages Canadian businesses from going public and which reforms could help rebuild the listing pipeline. Who Can Participate in the Canadian Public Company Study The ...
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October 9, 2026 | Companies On The Move, Capital Markets And Market Infrastructure, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization Toronto Securities Fintech Joins Nasdaq Company With Equipment and Franchise Financing Planned for 2027 On October 9, 2026, TruGolf Holdings (Nasdaq: TRUG) confirmed its acquisition of Toronto's Polymath Research Inc., the Canadian fintech behind Polymesh, a blockchain for regulated securities. Polymath is now a wholly owned subsidiary and will continue serving institutional tokenization customers alongside TruGolf's golf simulation and software businesses. The companies also plan tokenized equipment leasing and fractional franchise ownership products for Q1 2027. The acquisition gives Polymath access to a U.S. public company and an operating business with equipment and franchise financing needs. TruGolf gains established securities technology, existing issuer relationships and another potential source of revenue beyond golf products. Both businesses will continue operating while developing the proposed financing applications. Polymath Brings Securities Technology and 65 Active Issuers Founded in 2017, Polymath developed the ST-20 security token standard and contributed to ERC-1400. Its Polymesh blockchain supports identity verification, transfer restrictions, settlement and securities administration. These controls help issuers determine who can hold or transfer securities and manage compliance obligations after issuance. Polymath serves markets including private equity, credit, ...
Oct 9, 2026 For a 5-page business website, visual layout is the easiest part of a designer's job to automate. A current AI tool can pick a colour palette and arrange a hero image above 3 service blocks in under a minute. The harder parts of the job are deciding what the site should leave out and meeting accessibility law, and those parts depend on judgment that the tools still hand back to a person. AI Strengths in Layout Work Nielsen Norman Group reviewed AI design tools again in May 2025 and found that the most useful features were the narrow ones. Palette generators, placeholder image generators and copy rewriting saved designers time on tasks with a single obvious goal. For a small business owner, that means a model can match a colour scheme to an existing logo or cut a long services paragraph down to its essentials in seconds. Statistics Canada's 2023 survey of business technology and internet use put AI use at 7% of businesses with 5 or more employees in 2023, up from 4% in 2021, and at only 6% of small businesses. Among the businesses that used AI, 73% used generative AI, so for most small ...
Oct 3, 2026 | Last Updated: Oct 9, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Whisperer | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Digital Banking And BaaS, Capital Markets Infrastructure And Funding, Wealthtech Investing And Trading, Cross Border Payments And FX, Payments Infrastructure And Money Movement, Cybersecurity Fraud And Financial Crime, Regulation And Policy, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Embedded Finance, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Treasury Liquidity And Cash Management, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization This live weekly NCFA Fintech Whisperer tracks the most consequential fintech, payments, AI, digital asset, banking, capital markets and regulatory developments for October 3 to October 9, 2026. Canada comes first, with global developments included when they materially change market access, financial infrastructure, competition, regulation or how fintechs and financial institutions operate. Updated through October 9, the page focuses on developments that change what firms can build, distribute, fund or operate now. (Missed prior week's Fintech Whisperer? (December 6-12, 2025, December 13-19, 2025, January 1-9, 2026, January 10-16, 2026, January 17-23, 2026, January 24-30, 2026, January 31-February 6, 2026, February 7-13, 2026, February 14-20, 2026, February 21-27, 2026, February 28-March 6, 2026, March 7-March 13, 2026, March 14-March 20, 2026, March 21-March 27, 2026, March 28-April 3, 2026, April 4-10, ...
October 9, 2026 | Insight, Lending Consumer Credit And BNPL, Artificial Intelligence And Data, Open Banking And Consumer Driven Finance, Competition And Market Structure Better Credit Data Could Open New Financing Options for Underserved Borrowers On October 6, 2026, U.S. fintech Plaid expanded its AI credit scoring products with LendScore 2, claiming 42% greater predictive power than traditional credit data alone. The announcement puts Plaid into closer competition with credit bureaus such as Equifax and TransUnion. It also creates an opportunity for lenders to assess borrowers using more detailed financial information and potentially offer financing that conventional credit scores and standardized loan products don't adequately support. Someone with little credit history may have steady income and manageable expenses. A growing business may generate substantial annual revenue but receive payments irregularly. Neither fits neatly into conventional lending assessments. Better access to verified transaction data could help lenders make more informed credit decisions and develop products for borrowers who have traditionally been difficult to serve. The commercial benefits are promising, but greater scrutiny of personal and business finances also raises questions about affordability, privacy and fair treatment. Plaid Brings New Competition to Credit Risk Scoring Plaid built its business connecting financial accounts ...
October 9, 2026 | Market Activity, SME Finance And Business Banking, Payments, Embedded Finance, Canada C$10 Million in Microloans and Up to 55 Days of Supplier Payment Flexibility On October 8, 2026, Calgary fintech Woveo and BDC announced a C$10 million microlending program, offering loans up to C$25,000. BDC and Woveo are helping entrepreneurs access smaller loans that conventional lenders may find costly to originate. Woveo's loans are available to qualifying businesses outside Quebec. The same day, Peloton Technologies and Driven Financial announced a supplier payment and working capital partnership, giving Peloton's Canadian small business clients preferred access to Driven's financing products. Peloton's existing Bill Pay by Card service offers up to 55 days of payment flexibility through eligible credit card billing cycles, serving eligible clients across Canada. Peloton and Driven are connecting existing business payment customers with financing when their needs extend beyond a credit card billing cycle. BDC and Woveo Target Small Loans That Banks Struggle to Serve A C$15,000 business loan can require many of the same checks as a C$150,000 loan. For traditional lenders, the time spent verifying information, assessing risk and servicing a small balance can make the economics unattractive. Woveo combines AI assisted underwriting, ...
Oct 9, 2026 Financial technology or FinTech, is growing fast across Canada. Recent market data shows that over 78% of Canadian adults now use digital payment methods for daily purchases and leisure activities. As local banking systems evolve, digital entertainment platforms are adopting advanced payment rails such as Interac e-Transfer, real-time banking APIs and encrypted digital wallets. These systems give consumers faster access to their funds while keeping personal data fully safe. At the same time, regulatory bodies in provinces like Ontario have introduced strict standards to safeguard users online. This blend of strong consumer protection and modern financial technology has changed how people approach digital hobbies. Casino Payment Systems and Modern FinTech Standards Today, many Canadians who explore online casinos Canada prefer sites that feature transparent transaction limits, certified fair random number generators and robust consumer privacy safeguards. Navigating the landscape of online entertainment requires a solid understanding of how financial platforms process transactions. When you join a modern platform, swift deposit methods and secure withdrawal systems are essential for a smooth experience. Canadian financial regulations demand that payment processors use bank-grade 256-bit encryption to protect every transfer. Furthermore, integrating real-time payment verification reduces fraud and prevents unauthorized account ...
October 8, 2026 | Industry Research - Call For Participation | Capital Markets, Capital Formation, Canada University of Calgary Researchers Studying Canada's Declining Public Listings On October 8, 2026, the 2026 Canadian Public Company Study, led by University of Calgary researchers Dr. L. Daniel Wilson of the Faculty of Law and Dr. J. Ari Pandes of the Haskayne School of Business, is seeking input from Canadian business leaders and capital markets professionals on why fewer companies are going public and which reforms could reverse the decline. The national survey is open until October 31, 2026. According to University of Calgary researcher Dr. Ari Pandes' testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, the number of operating companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) fell to 634 in 2025 from 1,206 in 2008, a decline of nearly 50%. The problem isn't primarily that more companies are leaving the exchange. It's that too few new companies are taking their place. Since 2021, there have been only three TSX IPOs with primary offerings, underscoring why researchers are examining what discourages Canadian businesses from going public and which reforms could help rebuild the listing pipeline. Who Can Participate in the Canadian Public Company Study The ...
October 8, 2026 | NCFA Resource | Payments And Money Movement, Digital Identity And Trust, Competition And Market Structure Where Digital Wallet Control Really Sits On October 8, 2026, Mobey Forum launched its Digital Wallet Control Points tool, an interactive map of 22 points where banks, payment providers, wallet providers and other firms can influence how a digital wallet works. It shows how those points connect, which roles are involved and where a firm may need another company to make the service work. Wallets no longer stop at payments. Identity, credentials, loyalty, data and agentic commerce are being pulled into the same customer experience. A bank or fintech may own the front end and still rely on several other firms behind it. The map helps teams see who controls what before they make a product, security, partnership or investment decision. What It Does In Practice Mobey Forum defines a control point as a part of wallet operations, or a connected service, that gives an organization influence over how something works. The tool maps those points against the roles that can affect them and shows how one area connects to another. Users can explore the map directly or start with a ...
October 8, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Artificial Intelligence And Data, Risk Compliance And Regtech, Cybersecurity And Fraud Shared AI Infrastructure Is Becoming a Financial System Blind Spot On October 8, 2026, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions warned that a small number of companies now dominate frontier AI models and the cloud infrastructure used by Canadian financial institutions, raising the risk of shared technology failures across the financial system. If one critical provider suffers an outage, cyber incident or operating failure, several financial institutions could be affected at the same time. OSFI also says institutions may struggle to maintain a clear view of AI use, vulnerabilities and controls at critical technology providers as adoption expands. See: AI Payments Challenge Consent Rules And Liability Canadian financial firms are advancing on AI swiftly. The Bank of Canada's 2026 Financial System Survey found that nearly all 54 respondents use AI, with planned expansion into investment management, financial crime prevention, customer service and operating workflows. Respondents themselves raised concentration among a small number of AI and cloud providers and the risk of shared mistakes when firms use similar models. OSFI now says it will assess common dependencies on critical service providers and ...
October 7, 2026 | NCFA Market Activity | Wealthtech, Private Markets, Institutional Capital, Canada Repeated Capital Raises Are Turning Ownership Into Active Governance On October 5, 2026, the Financial Times reported that La Caisse tightened its control over FNZ, a global wealth technology platform serving banks, wealth managers and investment firms, after another management change. La Caisse, the Quebec based global investment group formerly known as CDPQ, is FNZ's largest investor. FNZ appointed Stephen Welch Executive Group Chair and interim CEO in September after Blythe Masters left the chief executive role. La Caisse has backed FNZ since 2018. CPP Investments, which manages the Canada Pension Plan Fund, committed US$1.1 billion in 2022 when FNZ was valued above US$20 billion. Since August 2024, FNZ has raised another US$2.6 billion from existing shareholders while restructuring operations, refinancing debt and changing senior leadership. Scale isn't FNZ's problem. The company reports US$2.5 trillion of assets on platform and more than 30 million end customers. Its technology supports hundreds of financial institutions across account administration, investment operations, transaction processing and client servicing. The issue is profitability. FNZ now has to show that its scale can generate enough cash to support the business without repeated shareholder funding ...
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