The Future of Financial Services: Takeways from the Canada Fintech Forum

At the 2025 Canada Fintech Forum in Montreal, leaders from banking, fintech, and technology gathered to examine how new tools and regulatory shifts are changing the financial landscape.  

Over two days at the heart of downtown Montreal, sessions explored AI, consumer finance, cross-border payments, and the growing push for bank-fintech collaboration. Five key themes emerged for financial leaders navigating the next era of innovation. 

From Competition to Collaboration 

The adversarial relationship between banks and fintechs is giving way to strategic partnership. The Forum closed with a plenary on "platformization," where speakers emphasized that banks are increasingly repositioning themselves as technology platforms that integrate fintech partners. Panelists emphasized that meeting rising customer expectations depends on banks and fintechs acting as partners rather than competitors. 

This shift reflects customer demands for unified experiences rather than siloed services. Partnerships are evolving from trial efforts to core strategy, with both sides recognizing their complementary strengths. Banks provide trust, networks, and compliance expertise, while fintechs deliver speed and customer-focused interfaces. Together, they're easing friction through tools like embedded treasury management and digital KYC, though inconsistent regulations remain a major obstacle.  

AI Agents Reshape Financial Workflows 

Artificial intelligence was a recurring theme throughout the Forum. In fraud prevention, panelists noted how bots now drive both attack strategies and defensive measures. Behavioral biometrics and real-time analytics are becoming essential tools, but institutions stressed that collaboration and information-sharing matter as much as technology itself.  

Discussions focused on the rise of AI agents in financial workflows. While fully autonomous systems remain rare, semi-autonomous tools are increasingly used in customer service and back-office functions. Adoption remains gradual due to regulatory concerns and cultural readiness. Speakers agreed that progress comes from small pilots in lower-risk areas, combined with staff education and governance frameworks that evolve alongside technology.  

Consumer Credit Seeks Ethical Alternatives 

The conversations shifted to financial pressures facing consumers, with speakers highlighting emerging demand for alternatives that better align with consumer interests. Industry leaders shared examples of products designed to avoid the pitfalls of revolving credit, such as late-fee revenue models.  

Canadian households face structural barriers from rising debt to housing affordability. Speakers positioned challenger banks as part of the solution, using technology to lower costs and broaden access. They emphasized that trust stems not from legacy or scale but from consistently delivering value in products and services. Technology enables cost-efficient operations that translate into better consumer value through competitive rates and responsive service.  

Payments Infrastructure Modernization  

Payments infrastructure was another focal point. Stablecoins were presented as enabling faster, cheaper international transfers. With transaction volumes already approaching half of Visa's annual totals, their scale is significant, but panelists warned that Canada's lack of a defined framework could limit domestic adoption.  

The pending rollout of Canada's Real-Time Rail (RTR) system was described as a turning point. RTR will bring instant settlement and richer transaction data, improving reconciliation and liquidity management for businesses. At the same time, irrevocable transfers heighten the need for fraud controls and coordinated readiness across the ecosystem.  

Cross-border sessions emphasized the theme of balance between innovation and compliance. While new technologies promise reduced costs and faster settlement, fundamental challenges around regulatory frameworks and conversion to local currencies persist.  

Smart Regulation Enables Innovation 

Regulatory evolution emerged as critical to the industry's future. Canadian regulators highlighted how thoughtful frameworks can accommodate innovation while maintaining system stability. The introduction of retail payment activity regulation exemplifies this balanced approach, creating oversight tailored to payment service providers rather than applying full banking regulation.  

International speakers shared lessons from global regulatory modernization efforts. Countries that embedded fraud controls, central risk monitoring, and resilient system design into real-time payment systems from launch avoided problems that plagued earlier implementations. Progressive regulators adopt flexible approaches—sandboxes, principles-based guidance, and ongoing industry dialogue—allowing innovation while preserving the ability to implement rules as technologies mature.  

Transparent Communication Builds Trust 

Technology, regulation, and consumer expectations are advancing together. AI adoption, real-time payments, and stablecoins each bring opportunities, but they also demand governance and clarity in execution. The opportunity for communications leaders is to translate these shifts into narratives that reinforce trust and transparency.  

The discussions in Montreal showed that while technology sets the pace, credibility comes from how effectively institutions explain their choices to customers, partners, and regulators. Consumer trust remains the ultimate currency—institutions must demonstrate consistent competence, transparency about practices, and protection of customer interests to succeed in this evolving landscape.  

The Canada Fintech Forum demonstrated that realizing the potential of emerging technologies requires institutions to embrace collaboration, invest in foundational capabilities like data governance, maintain customer focus, and navigate complexity with both ambition and humility. Those that succeed will shape a more accessible, efficient industry aligned with economic needs.