Investors could gain more control over financial data: CSA
No consensus on a model
While the project found no industry consensus on which data-portability model would work best, Investment Executive reported that market participants agreed increased portability could be incentivized through legislation, regulation or guidance. The report also noted that some participants suggested the CSA clarify how KYC obligations would apply as investor data becomes more portable, citing uncertainty around delegation and meaningful interaction as a potential barrier to implementation.
CSA chair Stan Magidson, who is also chair and chief executive of the Alberta Securities Commission, said the project has laid groundwork for future work. “As investor demand for data portability develops in Canada, this project has established a solid foundation of knowledge and stakeholder networks that will help regulators and firms navigate the new terrain,” Magidson said. “We’ll continue to proactively explore emerging technologies and business models, and the complex regulatory questions they pose, through structured stakeholder engagement.”
Regulators wait on federal framework
The CSA said it decided against running a live data-portability test for now because most participants want to see details of the federal government’s consumer-driven banking framework first.
That framework, established under the Consumer-Driven Banking Act, received royal assent in March 2026 and will be overseen by the Bank of Canada. Oversight was originally assigned to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada under 2024 legislation, but the federal government proposed shifting that role to the Bank of Canada in its November 2025 budget update, citing the central bank’s existing supervision of payment service providers. The Department of Finance has said the act addresses risks tied to “screen scraping,” a practice in which roughly nine million Canadians share financial data by handing over their banking credentials to third-party apps, exposing them to security, liability and privacy risks. Draft regulations published in the Canada Gazette in June 2026 set out requirements for accreditation, security, consent, liability and technical standards for the new system, though that framework applies to banking data rather than investment accounts.
CSA regulators involved in the Collaboratory project said they will continue monitoring the federal framework’s development, along with related industry standards, before deciding on next steps for investment-sector data portability.
