Report

Real-Time Payments in Canada: Lessons and Opportunities

The technology rails are only the beginning.
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After a decade of development, Canada’s Real-Time Rail (RTR) infrastructure approaches its Q3 2026 launch. Lessons from launching real-time payments in the U.S. suggest that live rails without comprehensive implementation support result in slow adoption and market share loss to more agile competitors.

This report examines what Canadian financial institutions must do to prepare to make the most of the RTR. It is based on a Q3 2025 Datos Insights survey of 1,036 midsize and large businesses, including 100 Canadian firms, examining current payment practices, real-time payment adoption plans, operational pain points, technology readiness, and competitive dynamics.

Clients of Datos Insights’ Commercial Banking & Payments service can download this report.

This report mentions Bank of Canada, CGI, IBM, Interac, and Payments Canada.

About the Author

Gilles Ubaghs

Gilles Ubaghs

Gilles Ubaghs is a Strategic Advisor with the Commercial Banking & Payments practice at Datos Insights, where he is focused on business-to-business and commercial payments as well as the role of digital transformation across the enterprise and broader financial services sector. Gilles brings over 15 years of experience in the analysis and financial services space creating a range of syndicated off-the-shelf and...

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