Six of Canada's largest banks have launched an exploratory project to build a shared Canadian-dollar tokenized-deposit system for interbank settlement.

Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and TD Bank Group disclosed the initiative on Sept. 22 through parallel statements issued by Scotiabank and CIBC. The first phase, the banks said, "aims to move tokenized deposits efficiently across Canadian financial institutions," with additional deposit-taking institutions expected to join later.

The project carries an institutional timeline. Phase 1 is scoped to interbank movement. The announcements describe any linking with broader digital-asset initiatives as a "longer term goal." The stated operational objectives are faster settlement, programmable payments and improved efficiency.

What did Canada's bank regulator say?

The Canadian effort comes 12 days after the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions issued guidance clarifying that "tokenized deposits are ... not legally distinct from traditional deposits." OSFI's framing rests on a product's underlying technology. Per the regulator, that technology does not determine legal nature.

The statement brings tokenized deposits inside the existing deposit-taking framework for federally regulated institutions. It does not waive other prudential requirements. OSFI said institutions remain responsible for compliance with applicable laws and guidance, and should engage lead supervisors before launching novel products or services.

How does the U.S. plan compare?

The Canadian project mirrors a U.S. tokenized-deposit initiative unveiled in June by The Clearing House, a bank-owned operator that has supplied additional technical detail. The Clearing House said it would operate a system for onchain clearing and settlement of tokenized deposits between banks, with a connectivity layer linking blockchain activity to its RTP and CHIPS payment rails. The planned service would be accessible to financial institutions across the U.S.

The Clearing House's existing networks clear and settle more than $2 trillion each day. As of the organization's Aug. 24 update, the U.S. initiative remained in design phase. The operator said the solution would connect tokenized deposits and the underlying U.S. dollars with established payment infrastructure, rather than substitute for it.

What are the operational implications?

For the Canadian banks, the move positions deposit tokenization inside the perimeter of prudential regulation rather than adjacent to it. A tokenized deposit retains the same legal status as a traditional balance under OSFI's framework, which removes one structural uncertainty for institutions weighing issuance on shared ledgers.

The interbank focus of the Canadian Phase 1 also reflects a sequencing choice. Settlement between institutions is the more capital-intensive plumbing problem, and resolving it first lowers the operational risk for any subsequent retail-facing product. The U.S. counterpart has taken a parallel approach but with more disclosed mechanics: an existing operator, named payment rails and a defined connectivity layer to legacy infrastructure.

What comes next?

The Canadian group has not published a target go-live date for Phase 1. The Clearing House's U.S. design phase remains open, with the August update signaling continued work rather than a launch window. The next concrete milestones will likely be an OSFI-supervised pilot by one or more of the Canadian banks, or the publication of technical specifications from The Clearing House that would let U.S. participants begin integration testing.