Canada's six largest banks have announced a joint initiative to explore a shared Canadian dollar tokenized deposit system, marking one of the most significant steps yet toward digitising the
Canada's six largest banks have announced a joint initiative to explore a shared Canadian dollar tokenized deposit system, marking one of the most significant steps yet toward digitising the country's payments infrastructure.
The six banks jointly exploring the system are Bank of Montreal (BMO), CIBC, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Scotiabank, and TD Bank Group, according to a joint announcement made Tuesday.
A tokenized deposit is a digital representation of a conventional bank deposit that can be recorded and transferred using blockchain or similar technology, potentially allowing money to move and settle almost instantly and around the clock.
The first phase of the initiative aims to move tokenized deposits between Canadian financial institutions, with a longer-term goal of connecting to other digital asset initiatives.The banks say the system could support faster, programmable, around-the-clock payments while keeping customer funds within the regulated banking system.
The tokens would be issued by commercial banks and, from a legal perspective, depositors can treat them the same as traditional bank deposits.Canada's banking regulator, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), said earlier this month that tokenized deposits are "not legally distinct from traditional deposits."
Earlier in 2026, the Bank of Canada, RBC, and TD completed Project Samara, a test that issued, traded, and settled a C$100 million bond on a distributed ledger using tokenized wholesale Canadian dollars. The new six-bank initiative goes further by targeting commercial bank deposits that can move across multiple institutions simultaneously.
The Big Six project takes a different approach by focusing on commercial bank deposits that could move between several institutions, potentially creating a reusable payment layer for tokenized securities, corporate transactions, and other digital assets.
The lenders said their longer-term goal is to "connect with other emerging digital asset initiatives," but did not specify which ones.
The move comes as governments and financial institutions globally race to establish frameworks for digital money, and positions Canada's banking sector as an active participant in that shift rather than a bystander.
Sources:Bloomberg: Canada's Big Six Banks Jointly Explore Digital Deposits NetworkCoinTelegraph: Canada's Six Largest Banks Explore Tokenized Canadian Dollar DepositsThe Globe and Mail: Canada's Big Six Banks Working on Tokenized Deposits in Latest Digital Money Push
