Consumer-driven banking, also known as open banking, has long been awaited in Canada. Following the release of Budget 2025, it seems that the wait may almost be over as Canada edges closer to implementing a consumer-driven banking framework. This article looks at how we got here and what to expect next for consumer-driven banking in Canada.
What is Consumer-Driven Banking?
Consumer-driven banking is a framework that allows consumers and small businesses to direct financial institutions to securely share their financial data with participating entities (e.g., financial technology companies) of their choice through application programming interfaces (APIs). The APIs act as a bridge that allows financial institutions and participating entities to securely share a consumer’s financial data without using screen scraping. Once consumer-driven banking is available in Canada, consumers will no longer need to provide financial technology companies with their online banking credentials in order to share their financial data. Accordingly, this data-sharing model enables consumers to have a more comprehensive view of their finances and access innovative financial products tailored to their specific needs without having to take on the risks associated with screen scraping.