Panelists at the 2026 Canadian Finance Summit agreed that stablecoins present better value than RTR payments.
As Canada makes progress on its long-delayed real-time rail (RTR) payment system and stablecoin regulation, ATB Financial vice president of business solutions Brian Ford thinks the latter will “leapfrog” the former.
The news: Ford discussed “the battle of the rails” in a panel conversation with Cybrid CEO Avinash Chidambaram and Paytrie chief strategy officer Jason Tong at the 2026 Canadian Finance Summit last Thursday as part of Toronto Tech Week.
Moderated by Blakes partner Vladimir Shatiryan, the panel analyzed whether RTR payments or stablecoins will become the preferred pathway for Canadian financial institutions to settle transactions in the future. All the panelists agreed that stablecoins present better value than RTR payments.
From the source: “I think stablecoins will leapfrog real-time rails, not just for international but also for domestic payments,” Ford said, later adding that it’s “simply way cheaper” to move money on the blockchain.
“I don’t think it will replace RTR, I just think the cost benefit for banks will be better on stablecoin than it is RTR,” Ford said.
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Following the thread: Canada’s progress towards RTR payments, meant to facilitate faster payment settlement, has moved at a glacial pace. The Spring Economic Update reaffirmed that RTR would finally be operational in 2026, and said the government also expects to outline its next steps on stablecoin policy heading into Budget 2026.
ATB, an Alberta Crown corporation, has become an ally to Canadian crypto and blockchain companies, backing Calgary-based Tetra Trust’s efforts to launch a Canadian-dollar stablecoin—a cryptocurrency pegged to the value of the loonie, that would also be meant to facilitate faster, 24/7 payments.
Final thought: If stablecoins take off as a key method of facilitating transactions, Canada will need domestic options. Ninety-nine percent of stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar in the global market, according to JPMorgan. Some Canadian leaders, like Jim Balsillie, have posed this as a Canadian sovereignty issue. At the summit, Ford did the same, equating a lack of CAD-stablecoins in the digital world to a bank teller not being able to provide Canadian cash in the “legacy” finance world.
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BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.
Feature image courtesy Alex Riehl for BetaKit.