In a published Q&A, Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions set out a more forward-looking supervisory approach that aims to preserve resilience while reducing unnecessary friction for growth, including through policy modernization, streamlined approvals and support for new entrants. Superintendent Peter Routledge said the agency has reinforced capital and liquidity, strengthened supervision, expanded work on integrity and security risks, and modernized supervisory expectations and the policy framework over his five-year tenure. Routledge identified real estate secured lending, exposures to non-bank financial institutions, and funding and liquidity as the main current risks. He said institutions should prepare for localized housing stress, more leveraged activity outside the traditional banking system, and confidence-driven liquidity events through early intervention, disciplined risk limits, stronger analytics, and operational readiness. For eligible credit unions and fintechs, OSFI's streamlined approvals framework is intended to make the path to a federal licence quicker, clearer, and more predictable through shorter review steps, right-sized risk-based prudential reviews, clearer guidance on requirements and timelines, and a more calibrated supervisory posture. Addressing OSFI's recent capital benchmarking note, Routledge said Canadian banks are strongly capitalized and broadly comparable to major international peers. He highlighted the flexible, principles-based Domestic Stability Buffer as leaving a sizable non-binding cushion for systemically important banks, at about CAD 60B+ over the common equity tier 1 range and CAD 45B+ over the Domestic Stability Buffer range, with deployment left to each institution, and said capital expectations will continue to be calibrated to Canadian risks and evidence.
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions 2026-04-22
Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions sets out forward looking risk priorities and streamlined federal entry path for credit unions and fintechs
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions outlined a more forward-looking supervisory approach focused on preserving resilience while reducing friction for growth through policy modernization, streamlined approvals and support for new entrants. Superintendent Peter Routledge highlighted real estate secured lending, exposures to non-bank financial institutions, and funding and liquidity as key risks, and said institutions should prepare for localized housing stress, leveraged non-bank activity and confidence-driven liquidity events. He reiterated that Canadian banks are strongly capitalized, underscoring the flexible Domestic Stability Buffer, which provides a sizable non-binding common equity tier 1 cushion calibrated to Canadian risks and evidence.