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Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne just handed the $309B stablecoin market a rulebook: hold **100 % cash or cash-equivalent reserves**, redeem **1-for-1 in 24 hours**, and open your books monthly—or lose your license.
Tabled Tuesday, Budget 2025 amends the Retail Payment Activities Act to drag every fiat-backed issuer (USDC, USDT, QCAD) under federal supervision for the first time. The Bank of Canada pockets $10 million in 2026-27 to build the watchdog squad, then bills issuers $5M a year forever.
“Stablecoins are already moving billions across borders faster than Visa,” Champagne told Parliament. “These rules make Canada the safest on-ramp in the G7.”
The blueprint is a carbon-copy of America’s **GENIUS Act**—passed four months ago—right down to segregated custody and public reserve dashboards. Coinbase Canada CEO Lucas Matheson fired off an X thread: “Game-changer. CAD-pegged tokens launch Q1 2026.”
On-chain reaction: **$1.4B USDC** flowed into Canadian wallets in the past 48 hours, per Nansen—biggest single-day spike since BlackRock’s ETF. Tetra Digital, backed by Shopify and Wealthsimple, teased a **digital loonie** pilot for Toronto cafés by spring.
Critics? Privacy hawks warn monthly audits could scare DeFi degens north. But the fine print bans algorithmic coins outright—no UST 2.0 nightmares.
Timeline: Draft bill lands February; first licenses July 1. Miss the cut and your token gets delisted from Wealthsimple, ShakePay, and NDAX overnight.
Global stakes: Canada now sits between U.S. rigor and EU’s MiCA sandbox. Bernstein predicts $800B in cross-border volume reroutes through Toronto by 2028.One emoji from Champagne sums it up: 🇨🇦
