Open Banking Expo Canada

Open Banking Expo Canada is the principal Canadian event focused on the country's open-banking implementation, gathering banking, fintech, regulatory and policy leadership as Canada moves from framework to full implementation of the Consumer-Driven Banking Act. It sits alongside Shoptalk Spring, Merchant Payments Ecosystem and FinTech Meetup as calendar anchors for the same audiences.

What happens

The single-day intensive format combines three parallel stages — Open Banking, Payments, and Open Finance — with structured networking and an awards programme recognising leadership across the Canadian open-banking ecosystem. Each stage runs focused content tracks designed for the relevant practitioner audience, with sessions covering the practical regulatory rollout, technical readiness for accredited participants, real-time payments infrastructure including the Real-Time Rail (RTR), and the customer-experience implications of consumer-driven banking. The exhibition is compact and focused on the Canadian open-banking ecosystem. The Powerlist recognition programme features alongside the conference content as a community-defining moment for senior Canadian open-banking leadership.

Who attends

The audience is concentrated in the Canadian financial services and fintech ecosystem: senior product and strategy leadership from Canadian banks and credit unions, founders and operating teams from Canadian fintechs across consumer and B2B segments, regulators and policy representatives from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), Payments Canada leadership, and a meaningful US contingent given the cross-border interest in the Canadian framework. The relatively concentrated audience of around 600 attendees produces unusually high meeting density per delegate.

Dominant themes

The Canadian open-banking agenda dominates: the practical implementation of the Consumer-Driven Banking Act and the accreditation process for participating data recipients, the technical readiness questions facing Canadian banks and fintechs preparing for live operation, regulatory alignment between the federal framework and provincial considerations, the relationship between open banking and the Real-Time Rail rollout under Payments Canada, the move from open banking toward broader open finance covering investments and insurance data, and customer-experience design for the Canadian consumer banking context. Cross-border comparison with the UK and US open-banking models features throughout, particularly the implications of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau section 1033 rulemaking on global open-banking standards.

Planning to attend

Toronto is well-connected by air across North America and from major European hubs. Hotel supply downtown is plentiful, the conference venue is typically central and accessible by TTC, and the city is walkable for most attendees. The conference language is English. Most after-hours value comes from the awards programme and structured sponsor receptions given the relatively concentrated senior audience. International visitors should plan around Canadian winter weather conditions.

Use the expense calculator below to estimate the total cost of attending — registration, flights, hotels, meals, and ground transport.