Payments Canada has published the results of its public consultation on policy proposals linked to amendments to the Canadian Payments Act that would expand eligibility for Payments Canada membership. Feedback from the consultation, which ran from February 4 to March 6, 2025, will be used to develop consequential by-law and rule amendments to prepare for new entitled members and system participants. Responses from members, prospective members, payment service providers, stakeholder groups, associations and consumer representatives broadly supported the proposed approach to membership expansion. Key themes included requiring payment service providers captured under the Retail Payments Activities Act to provide evidence of registration in membership applications, keeping non-member PSPs eligible for the Stakeholder Advisory Council, and avoiding entity-based restrictions for new entitled member categories so that system access is determined by participation requirements. Submissions also supported redefining affiliation in Automated Clearing Settlement System participation requirements, introducing an expedited process for straightforward or uncontested alleged contraventions, and increasing the maximum penalty from CAD 250,000 to CAD 1,000,000. Payments Canada also addressed requests for clarification, including concerns about over-representation of certain groups across advisory councils and confirmation that it is not proposing to remove existing entity-based restrictions in By-law No. 3. Comments suggesting future reconsideration of those restrictions were noted for consideration as part of ongoing ACSS modernization, and Payments Canada said it will continue working with the ecosystem and regulators as the amendment process advances.

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