| Payments Canada | |
| Minister1 Name: | Chrystia Freeland |
| Minister1 Pfo: | Minister of Finance |
| Chief1 Name: | Garry Foster |
| Chief1 Position: | Board chair |
| Chief2 Name: | Tracey Black |
| Chief2 Position: | President & CEO[1] |
| Parent Agency: | Department of Finance Bank of Canada |
| Keydocument1: | Canadian Payments Act |
| Keydocument2: | Payment Clearing and Settlement Act |
| Website: | https://payments.ca |
| Parent Agency Type: | departments |
Canadian Payments Association, carrying on business under the brand name Payments Canada,[2] [3] is an organization that operates a payment clearing and settlement system in Canada. The Canadian Payments Association was established by the Canadian Payments Act in 1980. Among other responsibilities, it regulates and maintains directories of bank routing numbers in Canada.[4]
In 2016, Payments Canada's systems cleared and settled 7.4 billion payments totaling over $50.8 trillion—or, $201.5 billion on average each business day.[5]
Payments Canada is a corporation that:
Clearing and settlement systems are essential to the smooth functioning of the Canadian economy. These systems allow financial institutions to calculate how much is owed to each other as a result of their customer's transactions and to transfer those funds to settle those balances.
Payments Canada operates the following clearing and settlement systems.[7]
The Canadian Payments Association carries business under the brand name Payments Canada, which it adopted in 2016.
Payments Canada is headquartered in Ottawa, with an office in Toronto. The organization has 115 members including the Bank of Canada, chartered banks, trust and loan companies, credit union centrals, federations of caisses populaires, and other financial institutions.
The Minister of Finance has oversight responsibilities for Payments Canada. The Governor of the Bank of Canada has oversight responsibility for the LVTS and ACSS under the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act.
The 13-member Board of Directors consists of the organization's president; three directors who are directors, officers or employees of members that, in the normal course of business, maintain a settlement account at the Bank of Canada; two directors who are directors, officers or employees of members other than those described previously); and seven directors who are independent of the association and of its members.
A 20-person "Stakeholder Advisory Council" (SAC) provides advice and input to represent the interests of users of the payments system. The SAC was established in 1996 on a voluntary basis and was formalized in the Canadian Payments Act in 2001. The SAC provides advice to the Payments Canada Board of Directors on payment, clearing, and settlement matters, and contributes input on proposed initiatives, including by-laws, policy statements, and rules that affect third parties. It also identifies issues that might concern payment system users and third-party service providers, and suggests how they could be addressed.
Payments Canada's "Member Advisory Council" (MAC), created in 2015, serves as a consultative and engagement forum for Payment Canada's members.
Payments Canada is responsible for ensuring that significant rule changes follow an established public consultation process to seek input from key user groups. In 2010, it facilitated industry-wide development with frameworks for contactless debit payments. Payments Canada is also tasked with leading the Canadian effort to adopt ISO 20022.[12]
In 2015, Payments Canada released a 5-year corporate strategic plan,[13] the core purpose of which was to underpin the Canadian financial system and economy by providing safe, efficient, and effective clearing and settlement of payments. Payments Canada identified three long-term desired outcomes that would lead the organization to attaining their vision, addressing payment trends, and managing risks. These desired outcomes are as follows:
Payments Canada holds Canada's largest payments conference, The Summit, on an annual basis.[15]