Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Voices
OpenAI Pulls Back From Checkout As Agentic Commerce Expands
March 11 2026 | NCFA Feature | AI And Commerce
AI Discovery and Routing Gaining Influence Over Checkout
On March 5 2026, a report that OpenAI is scaling back end-to-end ChatGPT shopping plans could be a turning point in the widely watched Agentic Commerce sector. OpenAI had already pushed into retail online buying with ChatGPT shopping research and product recommendation tools designed to help users evaluate items inside a conversation. It could be that OpenAI is stepping back from running the full transaction, including instant checkout, to focus on where the real leverage is in digital commerce.
The early lesson from AI shopping is straightforward. The platform that captures the buying decision before checkout holds more power than the platform that processes the final payment. When an AI assistant receives and interprets the request, compares options, and produces the shortlist, it influences which merchants receive traffic and which products buyers even see.
OpenAI Already Shows AI Discovery Scale
The opportunity exists because conversational AI already operates at massive scale. OpenAI reports 900 million weekly ChatGPT users, giving the company a distribution graph that rivals the largest consumer internet platforms. Its online help also confirms that ChatGPT product recommendation results can present product images, descriptions, and links to merchant purchase pages.
See: How Real-Time Agentic AI Will Boost Fintechs
A user no longer needs to open multiple product pages to compare items. The assistant interprets the request, analyzes specifications and reviews, and produces a shortlist instantly. Once a shortlist is compiled, the system that produced it holds influence over where the buyer goes next.
Amazon Expands AI Across Its Marketplace
Marketplaces are responding quickly because they recognize the same risk. Amazon continues embedding AI deeper into its commerce stack to keep discovery inside the platform. NCFA coverage of Amazon Launches Always On Agentic AI for Sellers shows how the company now deploys AI tools that assist merchants with pricing decisions, product listings, and marketplace optimization.
Amazon is also testing new ways to extend its reach beyond its own catalog. In a recent update, the company says Shop Direct and Buy for Me purchasing options allows customers either to buy through an external merchant store or allow Amazon to complete eligible purchases on the buyer’s behalf.
Both approaches keep Amazon positioned at the gateway of the transaction. It's important because marketplaces still hold advantages in logistics, reviews, merchant density, and trusted payment infrastructure.
Google And Shopify Build Open Commerce Infrastructure
Google and Shopify are advancing a different strategy that focuses on open access to merchant data. Google recently introduced agentic commerce protocols designed to connect retailers directly to AI assistants.
Google's Shopping Graph now contains 50 billion product listings updated roughly 2 billion times each hour. That dataset gives AI systems real time access to pricing and inventory information across the web.
Shopify brings merchant scale to the same conversation. The company reports $1.4 trillion in cumulative commerce volume processed through its platform. By exposing merchant catalog data to AI systems, Shopify positions its merchants to reach customers through multiple conversational interfaces rather than relying exclusively on one marketplace.
If these open commerce approaches gain traction, merchants gain more flexibility. If closed platforms dominate discovery, a small number of technology companies could gain stronger influence over product ranking and customer access.
Payments Providers Compete For AI Shopping
Payments companies also recognize the stakes. When AI assistants guide purchase decisions, the payment options integrated into those flows become strategically important. NCFA coverage of PayPal and OpenAI Partner On ChatGPT Instant Checkout shows how payment providers are already moving closer to conversational commerce infrastructure.
See: Agentic AI in Banking From Pilots to Real Impact
If AI assistants direct the user from recommendation to purchase, the wallet displayed first, the financing option offered in context, and the payment provider integrated into the conversation all influence where transaction revenue flows.
For fintech firms, integrate early into AI driven buying journeys or remain dependent on traditional checkout pages.
Advertising Pressure and AI Discovery
Commercial ad pressure typically follows intent. When a platform captures product discovery, merchants eventually compete for visibility. OpenAI Tests Ads Inside ChatGPT Free Tiers shows early experimentation with commercial placement inside conversational AI experiences.
Search engines generate billions in revenue from sponsored product listings. Marketplaces generate similar revenue through promoted items and advertising placements. AI assistants that guide buying decisions may eventually support similar models.
Whether that monetization happens through sponsored results, affiliate partnerships, or merchant integrations is still unclear, but the incentive structure is already visible.
Closing Outlook
OpenAI's reported pullback from full in-chat checkout doesn't weaken the case for AI driven commerce. It clarifies though where the first competitive advantage may emerge. Platforms that capture the buying conversation can route traffic toward marketplaces, merchants, and payment providers without owning the full transaction.
See: Canada’s Fintech and AI Firms Lead Deloitte’s 2025 Fast 50
The infrastructure and scale is in place which explains why competition is intensifying. Hundreds of millions of users now ask AI systems for advice before making decisions. Retail databases contain tens of billions of products. Merchant platforms process trillions in commerce. Talking Point: The next evolution of digital commerce will depend less on checkout pages and more on which system people trust when they ask what to buy.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. 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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Germany’s richest woman. How the heiress to the BMW car company is developing the family business
March 9, 2027
Image: Freepik/ArthurHidden
Susanne Klatten is the heiress to the BMW car company and the richest woman in Germany. In 2026, Bloomberg estimated her fortune at $31.3 billion.
She is one of the ten richest women in the world. Klattens owns 19.2% of BMW shares and heads the company's supervisory board. However, she is not only the owner of the family fortune, but also actively participates in the development of the business, which earns billions annually.
Her path is not the story of a businesswoman who built a huge fortune from scratch, but an example of how the responsibility and dedication of an heiress helps the business of several generations of a family to develop and grow.
A privileged start
Susanne Klatten was born in 1962 in Bad Homburg, Germany. Her father is German billionaire and industrialist Herbert Krupp, who saved the German car company BMW from bankruptcy in the 1960s and made it profitable again.
The Quandt family began building their wealth at the end of the 19th century. At that time, the head of the family, Emil, created a thriving textile company. His son, Günther, took over the company before World War I and, having made his fortune supplying uniforms to the German army, began engaging in mergers and acquisitions. He acquired the battery manufacturer Varta, as well as shares in BMW and Daimler-Benz.
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The Quandt family has two golden rules: the family business must constantly expand, and control over it must always remain in the hands of family members. From childhood, Klatt was raised and educated with the idea that one day she would have to manage the family assets.
After earning a degree in business finance, the young Klatt honed her skills at the Young&Rubicam advertising agency in Frankfurt, where she interned from 1981 to 1983. She then continued her education, studying marketing and management at Buckingham University and earning an MBA from the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland.
After her studies, Klattten worked at Dresdner Bank, the Munich branch of the consulting firm McKinsey, and Bankhaus Reuschel & Co.
Management of BMW and Altana AG
In 1982, Klatt's father, Herbert Quandt, died, leaving his daughter 12.5% of BMW shares and 50.1% of shares in the chemical and pharmaceutical company Altana AG.
Under Klatt's leadership, Altana AG reached a new level and demonstrated significant growth. It entered the list of the 30 largest pharmaceutical companies in Germany. Experts praised Clatten's contribution and called her strategy for developing Altana AG effective.
In 2006, Altana AG sold its pharmaceutical business to Nycomed for €4.5 billion. This amount was paid to shareholders as dividends, and the company continued to specialise in the production of speciality chemical products.
See: AI, Capital, Money Rewire Financial Infrastructure In 2026
In 2009, Klatt became the sole owner of Altana AG by buying out the remaining shares. She became deputy chair of the board with an annual turnover of just over $2.5 billion.
In 1987, Klatt began working at BMW and, after ten years with the company, joined the BMW Supervisory Board in 1997 alongside her younger brother Stefan Quandt. She played a decisive role in implementing an appropriate risk management system at BMW and was responsible for regular reporting to the Supervisory Board and representing BMW's external interests.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. 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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Pro Human AI Declaration Gains Backing Across Sectors
Mar 4, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | AI And Data Governance
Global Coalition Calls for Human Control Accountability and Fiduciary Duties for AI Systems
On March 4, 2026, the Pro Human AI Declaration goes public with support from a broad mix of public figures and organizations, including Yoshua Bengio (Professor, Université de Montréal and Turing Award Laureate), Daron Acemoglu (Nobel Prize-winning economist), Sir Richard Branson, and many other individual endorsers, along with groups such as the AFL CIO Tech Institute, American Federation of Teachers, SAG AFTRA, Public Citizen, and Center for Humane Technology. When people from business, labour, civil society, and research line up behind the same message, boards, regulators, and large buyers start to pay attention.
The declaration argues that AI should serve people, not replace them, and that powerful systems should remain under human control. For fintechs and financial institutions, AI already touches onboarding, fraud checks, customer support, compliance, advice, marketing, and risk decisions. As the public debate turns toward accountability and duty, finance is on the front lines of AI's adoption versus it's capabilities.
What The Declaration Covers
The declaration opens with a warning about a race to replace people in creative work, care, counselling, companionship, jobs, and decision making. It argues that this approach could push more power into large institutions and their machines while weakening privacy, liberty, democratic governance, and social stability.
See: India’s AI Declaration Pulls In BRICS And Western Powers
It then lays out five core principles:
Keep humans in charge. Avoid concentration of power. Protect the human experience. Preserve human agency and liberty. Hold AI companies responsible and accountable.
The document also argues that AI systems should not be treated as legal persons with their own rights or responsibilities. It calls for protection of children and families from harmful uses of AI. It says people should have meaningful rights, oversight, and recourse when AI affects their lives.
As it relates to financial services, the declaration says AI used in professions such as finance, must meet fiduciary duties including duty of care, conflict disclosure, and informed consent.
Why This Story Matters For Canada
Canada already faces its own debate about how to govern and finance artificial intelligence. A recent NCFA analysis on Canada’s AI strategy confronting capital flight and domestic IP retention highlights growing concern that Canadian innovation and economic value could migrate abroad if policy, capital access, and procurement frameworks do not evolve.
The Pro Human AI Declaration adds another dimension to that discussion. It focuses on accountability, human oversight, and responsibility when AI systems influence real world decisions.
See: Tumbler Ridge Tests AI Evidence and Escalation Controls
It's important because in finance trust decides adoption, and banks, insurers, wealth platforms, lenders, and fintech vendors are already facing harder questions about how they use AI, who stays responsible, how people can challenge a bad outcome, and whether a firm can clearly explain what the system actually does. Pro Human's AI declaration adds more public weight behind those questions.
Take AI driven advice tools for example. If a digital assistant recommends a debt strategy, suggests a product, or influences an investment decision, firms should expect more scrutiny around disclosure, consent, conflicts, and who remains accountable for the outcome. The more the tool acts like an adviser, the harder it becomes to treat it like a simple software feature.
Fraud and risk controls offer another example. Many firms now use machine learning to flag suspicious activity, approve accounts, or block transactions. If a system freezes an account, rejects a customer, or triggers a harmful false positive, firms will face stronger pressure to explain the reason and provide a path to human review. In finance, a wrong decision can have a huge impact in a hurry. It can lock someone out of funds, delay a payment, or damage trust fast.
Customer communication is another live area. Banks and fintechs increasingly use AI chat tools to answer product questions, guide users through forms, or help people make sense of financial options. If those systems are guiding decisions, firms should expect harder questions about disclosure, consent, suitability, and whether the system nudges people in ways they do not fully understand.
What Founders And Financial Institutions Should Do
Teams building AI for finance should design for human oversight in workflows from the start. They should know where a person can step in, how decisions get reviewed, what data trains the system, how conflicts get surfaced, and who owns the final call. These are no longer side questions. They affect procurement, partnerships, compliance reviews, and customer confidence.
See: AI Chats Lose Privilege Protection In US Court Ruling
This also creates an opening. Fintechs that can show clear controls, plain language disclosures, reliable audit trails, and real accountability will stand out in a crowded market. In regulated markets, users want to work with tools and systems they can trust when stakes and outcomes are at their highest.
Bottom Line
One to watch for fintech and financial service leaders. Companies that keep humans involved, explain their systems clearly, and stay accountable when outcomes matter will be in a stronger position as this debate moves closer to policy, procurement, and market practice. Plus, they may sleep better at night 😉
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. 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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Bank Of Canada Signals Open Banking Timing Risk
Mar 5, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Insight | Open Banking And Policy And Market Structure
Image: Freepik/Drazen Zigic
Requirements Stage Slows Consumer Driven Banking
On Mar 5 2026, the Bank of Canada made open banking timing comments at an Open Banking Expo highlighting timing and delivery risk. The central bank is still in the requirements stage and it will not commit to a launch date.
“somewhat daunted”
“the information-gathering stage alone will take months.”
In a LinkedIn post, Claire Brownell of The Logic also wrote that Ron Morrow, Executive Director of Payments, Supervision and Oversight, at the bank, “stopped short of confirming” that a 2026 launch is no longer realistic and said the information gathering stage “could take months,” with a clearer timeline only after that work finishes. Canada is still defining how open banking works before it can ship.
Yes, you heard it right. After almost a decade of analyzing, preparing, announcing, and promising the implementation of Consumer-driven Finance (aka Open Banking), the market learns that the bank is still in the information gathering phase.
See: Canada Open Banking Commercialization Roadmap
Requirements work sounds boring, but it sets the rails for everything that follows. It decides which data gets shared, how consent works, how liability lands, how disputes get handled, and what the security bar looks like for every approved participant.
Canada already has a policy target, but the issue is execution speed. Canada's consumer driven banking framework describes open banking as a secure system that lets people and businesses share financial data with approved providers of their choice. Delay keeps Canadians stuck with expensive workarounds for data sharing and money movement like screen scraping.
What This Means For The Market
Firms need clear standards on what data gets shared, how consent works, who is responsible when something goes wrong, and who can join the system. Without that clarity, banks and larger firms delay and smaller firms waste time building for rules that may change.
Delay also changes what gets built. Fintechs keep using screen scraping, password sharing, and one off partnerships because those options work today. That rewards the firms that already control customer access, instead of the firms building safer permission based tools.
See: UK Open Banking Update and Road to Open Finance
Fintechs who have in some cases been waiting years for Open Banking's arrival can continue planning for two tracks. Keep shipping products that work under today’s rails, but design the next version around consumer permissioning, clean audit trails, and repeatable consent. Treat identity, consent, and dispute handling as core product work, not legal add ons. Companies that have these pieces in place will be ready when approval and accreditation rules finally arrive.
The cost of delay is that Canada keeps paying for friction, and Canadian fintechs keep competing with one hand tied behind their back.
Talking Point
If the requirements stage takes months, what needs to change so Canada ships a clear rule set fast enough for fintechs and banks to invest with confidence?
Hopefully this latest timing hiccup will lead to a safer, and more competitive data and payments layer in Canada.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. 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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Monzo Spend Recap Backlash Exposes Trust And Tone Risk
Mar 8, 2026 | NCFA Fintech Market Activity | Digital Banking And Data Governance
Monzo Backlash Shows How Not To Use Customer Spending Data
On Mar 7 2026, The Guardian posted that UK challenger bank Monzo is dealing with backlash from Monzo’s Year in review spending recap, a trust issue created by automated personalization. A customer escalated a complaint to the UK Financial Ombudsman Service after the AI recap used mocking language about food spending. The simple truth is banks can use AI to summarize spending, but it should avoid a tone that feels like judgement.
Two examples of the AI lines personalization that didn't sit well with customers after letting AI analyze their spending habits:
“Mainly, you fast fooded.”
“You like your banquets beige and boxed up.”
The customer described the wording as humiliating. The story also makes clear why tone can hurt even when the data is accurate. Spend patterns can reflect disability, illness, caregiving, job loss, stress, or crisis routines. A system that only sees categories and merchants can't understand the exact context. When it adds snark, it fills that context with judgement.
See: Which Fintech Processes Are Most Ready for Agentic AI
Monzo’s response was mixed. They didn't accept the complaint, but they still admitted the tone was wrong for that customer and apologized, and offered £20 as a goodwill payment. That mix reduces immediate heat, but it does not fix the underlying product risk.
“I recognise that in your case, the automated and standardised language we used was inappropriate and caused genuine upset.”
Lessons Learned
The primary lesson here is that personal spending data is too sensitive for automated copy that sounds like judgement.
Opt out doesn't fix a bad default. Banks and fintechs need controls that block mockery, shame, and moral scoring in any automated spending narrative. Teams also need to test outputs against vulnerable scenarios and worst case interpretations, not just average reactions.
See: AI Usage Data Shows Early Labour Market Strain
Complaint handling needs a fast way to learn from these mistakes and force product improvements. A goodwill payment helps one customer, but it does not change the system. Banks and fintechs need escalation that can remove harmful language templates quickly, suppress outputs for affected customers, and pause the feature when tone crosses the line.
Automated spending recaps will continue to grow because customers want clarity and progress tracking. Banks and fintechs should keep recaps factual, let customers choose tone, and treat trust as a product requirement. When a bank speaks about a customer’s money, it needs to speak with care.
Talking Point
When a bank turns transaction history into a narrative, what standard should govern tone, testing for vulnerable scenarios, and escalation when a customer reports harm?
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. 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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Bank Of Canada Warns Non Bank Debt Risk Can Spread Fast
March 5, 2026 | NCFA Feature | Capital Markets And Policy And Regulation
Fast Growing Private Credit and Hedge Fund Borrowing Raise Concerns
On March 4 2026, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem discussed how non bank finance can amplify stress in debt markets during remarks at the Global Risk Institute in Toronto. He pointed at two pressure points that matter for Canada right now:
- Hedge funds are playing a much bigger role in government bond markets
- Private credit keeps expanding while investors often see less detail on what sits inside portfolios
1. Hedge Funds Buy Up To 50% Of Canada Bond Auctions
Macklem puts a clear number on hedge fund demand in Canada:
"In Canada, they purchase up to 50% of Government of Canada bonds sold at auction and account for a big portion of secondary market trading.”
Hedge funds aren't just active in Canada. Similar patterns show up across many major economies. Hedge funds now hold a significant share of government debt outside central banks and large institutions. When government bond markets become unstable, the effects spread quickly. Mortgage rates, business loans, and corporate borrowing costs all move with government bond yields, so shifts in that market ripple through the entire economy.
See: BNPL Plans Are Starting to Affect Credit in Canada
The Bank highlights the repo market because repo borrowing funds many leveraged bond trades. A repo (repurchase agreement), works like a very short term loan. An investor borrows cash and posts government bonds as collateral, then agrees to buy those bonds back a day or a few days later.
Macklem says many hedge fund bond positions rely on this type of borrowing and are often highly leveraged. The structure makes markets sensitive to sudden changes in funding conditions.
He explains that “globally, about half have an overnight maturity. And haircuts are low zero or negative more than 80% of the time.” If lenders raise collateral requirements or reduce lending, investors may need to sell bonds quickly to reduce leverage.
When several large investors unwind positions at the same time, liquidity can vanish and prices can fall sharply. Macklem points to past episodes where this dynamic played out, including the global dash for cash at the start of the pandemic, the United Kingdom gilt crisis in 2022, and stress in the United States Treasury market in 2023.
2. Private Credit Grows While Investors See Less
Macklem also focuses on private credit because transparency is more difficult than in public markets:
“The opacity of private credit means investors may not have enough information about the quality of loans held in their funds.”
If defaults rise and investors rush for exits, he warns that the strain can spill into public credit markets. Canada connects to this risk because Canadian institutions invest in private credit globally, and funding links can pull stress back into the regulated system through liquidity needs and cross border channels.
Bank Of Canada Plans To Use New Repo Market Infrastructure
The Bank of Canada is also changing how it plans to conduct its repo transactions. In a market notice, the Bank says it will join the Canadian Collateral Management Service tri party platform for its domestic repo operations by early 2027. CCMS is a market utility launched by TMX Group and Clearstream that helps participants move collateral, manage substitutions, and automate settlement for repo trades.
See: Why SME Loan Competition In Canada Is Under Review
The Bank also says it intends to clear its repo operations through the Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation once TMX completes upgrades to expand central clearing services. CDCC acts as a central counterparty that guarantees settlement if one side of a trade fails.
The goal is to support stronger collateral management, reduce counterparty risk, and encourage broader use of modern repo infrastructure in Canada.
Takeaway
More lending and market activity now happens via non-bank firms who often use short term funding that can tighten quickly, not just traditional banks. When that happens, pressure in debt markets can build fast. Canadian institutions need better visibility into funding conditions, leverage, and collateral movement across markets. Fintech companies that help banks monitor liquidity, collateral, and repo exposures in near real time can fill an important gap.
At the same time, stronger market infrastructure matters for Canada’s competitiveness. Investors and dealers gravitate to markets that settle trades smoothly and manage collateral efficiently, especially during periods of stress.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. 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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Open letter to the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister responsible for Statistics Canada
March 5, 2026 | NCFA Advocacy | Data Governance
Sent by email:
Dear Minister
Power of Data
We (the undersigned – data driven tech and policy experts) very much support the letter of 4 Feb 2026 to you from CCPA – https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/open-letter-to-the-honourable-melanie-joly-minister-responsible-for-statistics-canada/.
We add to that letter the following points:
1. At a time when we need more data, not less, to support evidence-based decision making and community engagement in Canada, the staffing and other cuts already started at StatsCan are misguided. Even if the cuts will “have a ‘low’ or ‘limited’ impact on existing service levels” (a position which is contestable), we echo concerns about the long-term impact on data collection, statistical reliability, and public trust in government institutions.
We ask StatsCan to outline how core programs, release schedules, and quality standards will be maintained. How do we reconcile the cuts with the Digital Research Infrastructure Strategy - https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/programs-and-initiatives/digital-research-infrastructure? Clarifying how “modernization” will offset reductions would strengthen confidence in the transition.
2. Our need for data is magnified by the attacks on data collection in the US, keeping in mind that in the past we have relied on much of that data. The attacks show how quickly statistical capacity can erode and how difficult it is to rebuild.
3. StatsCan plays an important coordinating role in maintaining statistical standards. Although StatsCan is not necessarily the body that should be collecting all the data we need in Canada, we suggest that StatsCan should be the body to oversee an inventory of what Canada does collect (or should be collecting) and to consult on and publish best practices for collection and governance. However, the cuts will clearly constrain an expanded governance role for StatsCan for the foreseeable future.
To provide some examples of data that is sorely needed:
(a) commercialization from Canadian universities, along the lines of the UKRI spinout registry (https://www.ukri.org/news/world-leading-register-of-uk-university-spin-outs-published); *
(b) data on emerging tech commercialization for defence (https://www.nato-pa.int/document/2024-dual-use-technologies-report-baldwin-051-esc and https://www.cigionline.org/publications/intellectual-property-is-economic-and-national-security/); and
(c) data on the outcomes of research spending.
4. Under the World Bank’s Statistical Performance Indicators, Canada’s statistical system ranks highly – https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/statistical-performance-indicators. While we do not doubt that reform of StatsCan is needed in an increasingly tech-driven economy, wholesale cuts are not the way to do it. Expertise will be lost, collaborative connections across organizations will be lost, mistakes will be made, there will be loss of morale, and direct costs of “redundancy” will be high, when strong statistical capacity is even more essential to support productivity and competitiveness.
5. The timing could not be worse. We are facing enormous challenges, and Canada’s need for reliable data is increasing as the economy evolves. To provide but one example, Canada is increasing defence spending under a new defence industrial strategy and engaging in “nation-building” projects. As noted in the Institute for Research in Public Policy report (https://irpp.org/research-studies/how-industrial-policy-can-strengthen-canada/), these projects must be “accompanied by rigorous evaluation and good governance practices” which can only be effective when Canadian institutions, including StatsCan, collect high quality data and use it to connect action to outcomes.
6. Rebuild or shred? (‘The Doom Loop’ and the future of the global order – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ULm87aidxM). This is a moment for careful planning to ensure institutional capacity is preserved and to plan for rebuilding, not shredding.
Respectfully
Signed
Kyle Briggs - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-briggs/
David Durand – https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddurandavocat/
Craig Asano, CEO National Crowdfunding & Fintech Assn of Canada - https://ncfacanada.org/
Robin Ford, Robin Ford Consulting - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinericaford/
Peter Morand, Past President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Patrick Leblond, CN-Paul M. Tellier Chair on Business and Public Policy, University of Ottawa
José Carlos Marques, Associate Professor, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
* While Canada invests billions in research, we translate very little of the value created into long-term economic and social benefit for Canadians. StatsCan recently attempted to survey Canadian universities on their commercialization activities but was unsuccessful. StatsCan removed the report from the website following complaints that the data was incomplete.
In contrast, the UK recently created a “spin-out register” of all startups commercializing IP created during publicly funded research (https://www.ukri.org/blog/university-spin-out-register-a-step-change-in-insights-for-all/). This register is already providing valuable insights that are helping UK policy makers make better funding decisions.
Canada’s world-class research institutions could contribute far more to Canada’s economy and economic security (https://www.cigionline.org/publications/intellectual-property-is-economic-and-national-security/), but without high-quality data, we struggle to identify and fix the problems.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. 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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