Canada's six largest banks—RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC, and National Bank—announced Tuesday they are jointly developing a shared Canadian-dollar tokenized deposit system. The first phase will focus on enabling transfers between the participating banks themselves rather than into consumer wallets.
A tokenized deposit represents a regular bank deposit as a digital token on a shared ledger. The banks emphasized in their joint statement that the system would maintain existing safeguards governing commercial bank money while being competitive and secure. They also indicated openness to other Canadian deposit-taking institutions joining the network eventually.
Potential Benefits
The current process for moving money between Canadian banks outside basic e-transfers can be slow to clear. A shared tokenized system would theoretically enable instant settlement around the clock, with the ability to program payments to trigger automatically—such as releasing funds when a shipment clears customs. The system would operate behind the scenes and would not be directly visible to customers.
Broader Context
This initiative is separate from the Bank of Canada's shelved digital-dollar consultation held in 2023, which drew nearly 90,000 responses. Eighty-five percent of respondents indicated they would not use a hypothetical digital Canadian dollar, with many prioritizing privacy and continued access to physical cash.
Canada previously explored digital cash through the Royal Canadian Mint's MintChip pilot, which was sold off in 2016 and ultimately shut down in 2018.
Globally, other financial institutions are pursuing similar projects. In the United States, JPMorgan, Citi, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are building a tokenized deposit network through The Clearing House, targeting a first-half 2027 launch. Additionally, Scotiabank and TD are among 21 banks backing a separate joint U.S. dollar stablecoin also aiming for a first-half 2027 launch.
BMO has already launched on CME Group's tokenized cash platform on Google Cloud, enabling institutional clients to move U.S. dollars around the clock for margin and collateral purposes.
The Canadian banks have not announced a launch date for their system. The first phase will remain limited to the participating institutions, with expansion to other deposit-taking players remaining a stated goal rather than a firm commitment.
