Payments Canada announced that the Government of Canada has launched two concurrent 30-day public consultations, published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on proposed amendments to Payments Canada’s Compliance By-law (By-law No. 6) and to the Canadian Payments Association Election of Directors Regulations. The proposals would introduce an expedited investigation process for certain contraventions, raise the maximum penalty per contravention, and revise the criteria for independent directors. For compliance enforcement, the amendments would allow the President to investigate simple or uncontested contraventions without referral to a committee, while retaining procedural rights including the right to a fair and impartial investigation. The maximum penalty available as a sanction would increase to CAD 1,000,000 per contravention from CAD 250,000. Changes to the Election of Directors Regulations would reduce the cooling-off period in the independent director criteria to one year from three years, and would allow directors, senior officers or employees of eligible entities that are not Payments Canada members to serve as independent directors provided those eligible entities are not majority-owned or controlled by one or more members. The consultation period for both proposals closes November 10, 2025.
Payments Canada 2025-10-24
Payments Canada consults on expedited compliance investigations, a CAD 1 million penalty cap and updated independent director criteria
Payments Canada proposed amendments to its Compliance By-law and Election of Directors Regulations, now open for public consultation. Key changes include an expedited investigation process for certain contraventions, an increase in the maximum penalty per contravention to CAD 1,000,000, and revised criteria for independent directors. The amendments aim to streamline compliance enforcement and adjust governance structures.