The advertisement is not yet loaded, but you can continue reading the article below.Share this Story: Ottawa unveils long-awaited blueprint for open banking in CanadaOttawa unveils long-awaited blueprint to bring about open banking in Canada. But consumers and the fintech industry may have to wait for years. Photo by Reuters/Patrick Doyle/File photoArticle content After months of delays that caused concern in the financial technology industry, the Canadian government released Wednesday's final open banking report.Continue the Advertisement Story below. Your article is below, but this advertisement is not yet loaded.Article content. The advisory committees reviewed a regulatory framework to allow consumers to decide how they want to share their bank data with financial service providers. This could open Canada's financial services sector up to financial technology startups and fintechs.Tap here to view other videos by our team. Refresh your browser or Ottawa releases long-awaited blueprint to bring open banking to Canada. Back to video Consumer-driven Finance, also known as open banking, is already a part of Canadians' lives. Chrystia Freiland, Finance Minister, stated that many people use digital services daily to manage their money and budget for expenses. We will continue to have a strong, stable and innovative financial sector, which is global competitive, supports consumer choice, protects data privacy and contributes to economic development.Continue the Advertisement Story below. Your article is below, but this advertisement hasn't loaded yet.Continue the Advertisement Story below. Your article is below, but this advertisement hasn't loaded yet.Article content. It also describes three fundamental elements. These include rules that allow participants in the open banking industry to protect customer data and ensure liability falls to the right persons or entities; a process and framework to allow third-party service providers (such as payment processors) to participate open banking; and technical details about processing safe and efficient data transfer. Fintech companies currently use screen-scraping technology to gain access to customer data necessary to process transactions. To allow customers to view their bank transaction history and access other financial information, they share their usernames with their financial institutions. This could expose the customer to privacy data breaches.Continue the Advertisement Story below. Your article is below, but this advertisement hasn't loaded yet.Article content According to a 2020 report from the governments advisory committee, up to four million Canadians use data driven financial service providers that require screen scraping. Final report calls for the federal government's implementation of an open banking system that eliminates screen-scraping and offers other solutions. Canada has not yet implemented a system for open banking. It has also been slow to introduce a regulatory framework that allows for new entrants to the sector. This is according to Patrick Searle (director of cyber initiatives at Council of Canadian Innovators), a lobby group representing more than 140 Canadian technology companies.Continue the Advertisement Story below. Your article is below, but this advertisement is not yet loaded.Article content This important policy initiative was not mentioned in the last federal budget. Canada should now adopt a consumer-directed financial system. This will help drive Canada's fintech sector and offer consumers safe, modern, innovative banking. According to the report, the industry may have to wait for a formal governance structure and a legislative framework to be put in place. The United Kingdom and other international markets have adopted open banking frameworks.Continue the Advertisement Story below. Your article is below, but this advertisement hasn't loaded yet.Article content It is crucial to provide Canadians with access and protection to a greater range of competitive, consumer-friendly and useful financial services. Blair Wiley, chief law officer at Toronto fintech Wealthsimple Technology Inc., stated that time is of the essence. We urge the Government of Canada immediately to implement the recommendations of the Advisory Committee. It is crucial that we do not waste any time in creating an open banking system that will benefit millions of Canadians. In its February 2018 budget, Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus stated that the government would examine open banking's merits. Bill Morneau, the former finance minister, created a four-member advisory committee to examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the framework seven months later. Morneau published the initial report of the group in January 2020. It rebranded the framework as consumer-directed financing and recommended that another report be prepared on the proposed regulatory framework. Pandemic caused delays in the final review. Email: smarotta@postmedia.com | Twitter: StefanieMarottaThis article can be shared in your social networksContinue the Advertisement Story below. Your article is below, but this advertisement hasn't loaded yet.The Logic: In-depth reporting from The Logic on the innovation economy, presented in partnership by the Financial Post.Financial Post Top Stories Subscribe to the Financial Post to receive the Daily Top Stories from Postmedia Network Inc. Sign up by clicking the sign up button. 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 We are sending you a welcome email. If you do not see the email, please check your junk mail folder. Financial Post Top Stories' next issue will be arriving in your inbox soon. 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