Payments Canada has launched the Real-Time Rail, allowing participants to clear and settle payments in real time, 24 hours a day, every day.
The Real-Time Rail (RTR) allows financial institutions, credit unions, and payment service providers to exchange, clear, and settle payments for their customers instantly, with real-time cash-flow visibility and data-rich messaging delivered through existing banking and payment channels. Owned and operated by Payments Canada and overseen by the Bank of Canada, the system was built with delivery partners CGI, Deloitte Canada, IBM Canada, and Interac, and uses the ISO 20022 messaging standard.
Fraud controls at launch
The RTR launches with mandatory centralised fraud services, which participants use alongside their own fraud controls. These include Confirmation of Payee, available for consumer accounts from launch, a fraud transaction ‘safety’ score, a shared repository of fraud risks and indicators, and a fraud reporting and intelligence platform. Payee name checks have also been mandatory in the euro area since October 2025.
Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada, stated that the RTR is an important step in modernising Canada’s payment infrastructure, and that the Bank will oversee the system to ensure it operates safely and reliably while allowing Canadians to benefit from innovation in financial services. Susan E. Hawkins, President and CEO of Payments Canada, described the RTR as a national asset that gives the payment ecosystem a modern foundation for new products and services.
Phased rollout and expected impact
The first participants are Wealthsimple, Questbank, Peoples Trust Company, Paramount Commerce, KOHO, DoBusiness.com, Digital Commerce Bank, and Bank of America. More members, including all major Canadian financial institutions, will join on a rolling basis, and Payments Canada expects the RTR to be available to more than nine in ten Canadians within its first year. Its research found that 60% of Canadian businesses are ready to adopt real-time payments, and 52% of surveyed consumers intend to use them.
The C.D. Howe Institute projects that the RTR’s launch functionality could generate up to CAD 14.5 billion (USD 10.4 billion) in cost savings over the next decade, from lower processing costs, reduced use of cash and cheques, and shorter delays in funds availability. It expects economic gains of CAD 16 billion (USD 11.5 billion), rising to CAD 27 billion (USD 19.4 billion) as new functions are added. Payments Canada also operates the Lynx high-value system and the ACSS retail batch system.
