What happened
- Specific facts/numbers: OSFI published a statement dated September 10, 2026 saying tokenized and other digitally represented deposits do not become a new legal product category solely because they use blockchain or similar technology.
- Institutions involved: The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is the regulator involved, and the statement applies to federally regulated financial institutions in Canada; Ledger Insights also noted that deposit-insurance questions sit with the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.
- Regulatory/technical context: OSFI described its approach as technology-neutral and said institutions still need to assess legal permissibility and comply with applicable risk-management expectations for areas such as operational, technology, cyber and third-party risk when offering tokenized deposits.
- What to watch next: Watch for whether CDIC or other Canadian authorities issue explicit guidance on deposit-insurance treatment for tokenized deposits; otherwise, no specific next milestone was identified in the material reviewed.
Why it matters
This lowers one legal uncertainty for Canadian banks exploring deposit tokenization by indicating the form factor does not by itself change the deposit’s regulatory character.
HKMA Relevance
Indirect: Canada’s technology-neutral treatment of tokenized deposits is relevant to broader policy debates on tokenized money and bank-issued digital liabilities that Hong Kong regulators and banks are also assessing.