January 31, 2020 - Ottawa, Ontario - Department of Finance Canada

Canadians deserve a stable financial sector that is globally competitive, promotes consumer choice and contributes to economic growth. As the financial sector—like other aspects of the Canadian economy—becomes increasingly digitized, standards must be modernized to ensure that Canada continues to enjoy a strong, stable and innovative financial sector. Canadians have benefitted from one of the safest and most resilient financial sectors in the world, and they must continue to have confidence that it operates with the highest regard for privacy and security. Protecting the privacy and security of Canadians’ financial data is a priority for the government as well as for the private sector, and is crucial for maintaining continued trust in Canada’s financial system.

Today, Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, released the findings from the first phase of the review by the Advisory Committee on Open Banking and announced that the committee will undertake a second phase of work to continue to examine the merits of open banking with a particular focus on data security in financial services.

The committee found that while some data sharing is already happening, the development of more secure infrastructure to use and move financial data would establish better protection for consumers and support other initiatives to strengthen data protection such as Canada’s Digital Charter, consumer protection standards in the financial sector and cyber security.

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For the second phase, the committee will work with stakeholders across Canada, beginning in spring 2020, to provide advice on potential solutions and standards to enhance data protection in the financial sector, examining issues such as governance, consumer control of personal data, privacy, and security. The committee will deliver the results of its findings to the minister later this year.