In a speech, Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) outlined a shift toward reducing regulatory content while maintaining intensive supervision of material risks, including non-financial risks such as cyber, third-party, governance and compliance. The Superintendent positioned the approach as enabling “smart” risk-taking without weakening the resilience mandate focused on protecting depositors, policyholders and creditors. OSFI reported it rescinded 20 guidelines and industry advisories in 2024 and signalled further withdrawals are planned for November 2025, January 2026 and May 2026, which it described as the most comprehensive reduction of regulatory content in its history. It also noted it paused increases in the Basel III output floor earlier in 2025, and that it announced a reduction in capital requirements in July 2025 for Canadian infrastructure debt and equity investments made by OSFI-regulated life insurers. On supervision, OSFI described a redesigned framework that expands risk ratings shared with boards, moving from a single overall assessment to four component grades covering business risk, risk governance, financial resilience and operational resilience, supported by an annual “report card” and clearer signalling on the direction of risks. OSFI indicated additional guideline and advisory rescissions will follow on the stated schedule through May 2026, and that it plans to put forward a first round of ideas to improve capital requirements later in the fall.
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions 2025-10-10
Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions sets out major reduction in regulatory guidance and a revamped board-focused supervisory rating framework
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) announced a shift towards reducing regulatory content while maintaining intensive supervision of material risks, including cyber and governance. OSFI rescinded 20 guidelines in 2024 and plans further withdrawals through May 2026, marking its most comprehensive regulatory reduction. Additionally, OSFI paused Basel III output floor increases, reduced capital requirements for infrastructure investments by life insurers, and introduced a redesigned supervision framework with expanded risk ratings.