Canadian Lenders Association Welcomes Ontario’s Commitment to Join Canada’s Securities Passport System
By Chi Nneji
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Canadian Lenders Association Welcomes Ontario’s Commitment to Join Canada’s Securities Passport System
Toronto, ON, July 16, 2026
The Canadian Lenders Association (CLA) welcomes the Government of Ontario’s commitment to join the Canadian Securities Administrators’ (CSA) passport system, a decision that finally brings every province and territory under a single, coordinated approach to securities regulation.
The commitment was confirmed by federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and his provincial and territorial counterparts at this week’s finance ministers’ meeting in Charlottetown. It closes a gap that has persisted for nearly twenty years. Ontario had been the only jurisdiction outside the framework, having long favoured a separate national regulator, while the rest of the country operated under a system that lets a business clear its filings once, with one principal regulator, and have that decision recognized everywhere else.
The CLA sees this as more than a securities story. It is proof that governments can take a fragmented, province-by-province rulebook and make it work as one system. That is a principle the financial services sector has been asking Canada to apply for years, and it is one that matters well beyond capital markets.
“This is a genuinely good day for anyone trying to build a financial services business in Canada,” said Gary Schwartz, President of the Canadian Lenders Association. “For too long, operating across provincial lines has meant clearing the same hurdle over and over in different offices. Ontario joining the passport system shows we can do better, and it should be the start, not the finish.”
For the CLA’s members, the significance is as much about direction as it is about securities law. Lenders, fintechs and other financial services providers still navigate a patchwork of provincial licensing, registration and disclosure regimes that duplicate effort, slow down good products, and add cost that ultimately reaches consumers. The passport system is a working template for fixing exactly that kind of fragmentation.
The CLA is calling on governments to carry the same logic forward. The internal trade agenda that produced this week’s announcement should extend to the broader financial regulatory framework, so that responsible lenders and innovators can serve Canadians in every province without rebuilding their compliance from scratch each time they cross a border.
“The passport system took the better part of two decades to complete, and we cannot afford that pace on everything else,” Schwartz added. “Governments have shown this week that harmonization is possible when the political will is there. We want to see that will applied to the rest of the financial system, and the CLA will be at the table to help make it happen.”
The Association also welcomes the broader commitment from federal, provincial and territorial governments to keep dismantling the barriers that slow the movement of capital, services and investment across the country, and it looks forward to supporting the reforms that follow.
About the Canadian Lenders Association
The Canadian Lenders Association (CLA) is Canada’s national voice for the consumer lending industry, representing responsible lenders and financial service providers committed to improving financial inclusion, consumer outcomes, and innovation within Canada’s financial services ecosystem. The Association works collaboratively with governments, regulators and industry stakeholders to advance evidence-based public policy that supports a modern, competitive and well-regulated financial sector.