Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions maps 2026 priorities with final liquidity guideline and consultations on credit risk and senior leader accountability

In a speech in Toronto, Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) set out its near-term supervisory priorities amid an uncertain external environment, concentrating resources on credit risk, liquidity risk and clearer institution accountability at senior leadership and board level. On 29 January 2026, OSFI launched a six-month consultation to consolidate existing credit risk management guidance for mortgage lending, commercial real estate and corporate lending into a single principles-based guideline, and issued its final Liquidity Adequacy Requirements Guideline for 2026 to improve consistency in liquidity risk measurement and support longer-term planning. A nine-month consultation on senior leader accountability was also launched. The speech also pointed to ongoing consultation on draft revisions to the Capital Adequacy Requirements Guideline, including targeted recalibrations such as lowering the risk weight on some business loans from 100 percent to 75 percent where evidence supports it, and more granular treatment for land acquisition, development and construction lending, alongside lower standardized risk weights for some small and medium-sized enterprise and investment-grade corporate exposures. Looking ahead, OSFI intends to launch a pilot fast-track framework for federal continuance in June 2026, initially focusing on credit unions and technologically innovative or emerging banking models such as fintechs and crypto custodians, with further detail to be shared at an Industry Day on 12 February. OSFI also said the loan-to-income limits pilot has been successful and will remain in place, complemented by the minimum qualifying rate, while it continues to monitor mortgage credit risks including variable rate fixed payment mortgages and rising 90+ day delinquencies.