TORONTO, May 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — During day two of The Payments Canada SUMMIT, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue, joined Susan E. Hawkins, President and CEO of Payments Canada, in a compelling discussion on economic prosperity and the importance of payments modernization.
In the session, Canada Strong for All, Minister Champagne discussed key pillars of the 2026 Spring Economic Update, enabling national productivity, security and global competitiveness. The discussion included the importance of combating market-wide fraud and committing to payments modernization initiatives as a critical engine for Canada’s national productivity and economic growth.
Recent changes to the Canadian Payments Act and other payment legislation were enacted to enable more competition to support more payment choices for Canadians. This optionality will create efficiencies, drive innovation and help businesses grow. The discussion reaffirmed the importance of strengthening digital and financial infrastructure to translate into real productivity gains for Canada.
Minister Champagne also highlighted the forthcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR) as a cornerstone of the government’s modernization agenda and committed to continue engaging with all relevant stakeholders to ensure the accelerated development of the RTR’s future capabilities. The Real-Time Rail is Payments Canada’s new real-time exchange and clearing and settlement payment system that will support instant, data-rich payments.
“Canada’s Real-Time Rail is critical national payment infrastructure that will serve as an engine for accelerated national productivity and economic growth,” said Minister Champagne. “The government is committed to engaging with all relevant stakeholders to ensure the accelerated development of the RTR’s future capabilities.”
“Canada’s Real-Time Rail will enable transformation while ensuring transactions are safe and secure, said Hawkins. “As critical national infrastructure, it will drive productivity, prosperity and safety for all Canadians, delivering significant benefits to consumers, businesses and Canada’s economic well-being.”
Minister Champagne and Hawkins also discussed the importance of security to Canada’s financial ecosystem. Minister Champagne shared details of the government’s ongoing efforts to combat financial crime and fraud, which include new legislation to establish the Financial Crime Agency (FCA) and the importance of bridging the gap between ‘intelligence’ and ‘action.’
A panel held earlier in the day highlighted the progress of delivering Canada’s Real-Time Rail. Payments Canada Chief Delivery Officer Jude Pinto shared an update on progress over the past year, major milestones and the future of the real-time payment experience for Canadian consumers and businesses.
“Industry testing will begin in Q3 2026 and the Real-Time Rail will launch in Q4 2026, of course, after the successful completion of all testing criteria,” said Pinto. “This will ensure the system remains safe, secure and resilient in a live environment.”
All industry partners expressed excitement for the continued progress, touting the Team Canada partnership as integral to getting the system ready for launch.
“The Real-Time Rail is currently undergoing comprehensive testing that meets Canada’s expectations for a trusted and secure payment system. Once testing is complete, participants will be onboarded in deliberate phases,” added Donna Kinoshita, Chief Payments Officer, Payments Canada. “The Real-Time Rail delivers instant, irrevocable payments, 24/7 availability and data-rich ISO 20022 messaging, supported by centralized fraud detection capabilities built into the system from the ground up. This sets the stage for compelling use cases to be delivered by our participants and ecosystem partners that will drive great experiences for their customers and all Canadians.”
The fireside session with Minister Champagne and Susan E. Hawkins served as a focal discussion as part of The 2026 Payments Canada SUMMIT, with more than 2,300 attendees from 25 countries, representing 320 organizations across financial services, banking, technology, fintech, retail and government.
Couldn’t join us in Toronto? Main stage sessions will be made available on thesummit.ca.
About Payments Canada:
Payments Canada enables prosperity, productivity and safety for Canada through trusted, critical national payment infrastructure. As a public-purpose, not-for-profit organization, we own and operate Canada’s critical national payment systems: Lynx, our high-value payment system; the Automated Clearing Settlement System (ACSS), our retail batch payment system; and the forthcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR). We establish the by-laws, rules and standards that govern these systems, which cleared and settled $103 trillion in 2025 — more than $411 billion every business day. Transactions that pass through our systems include debit card payments, pre-authorized debits, direct deposits, bill payments, wire payments and cheques. In collaboration with our diverse membership, we continue to modernize Canada’s payment ecosystem to promote innovation, competition and deliver efficiencies that power a modern economy.
For media inquiries, please visit Payments Canada’s media centre.
Media contact: [email protected]
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bd2c2194-5602-42ae-a081-4867b7e3149b