By Jude Pinto, Chief Delivery Officer, Payments Canada
The technical build of the Real-Time Rail (RTR) has achieved 60 per cent completion on all fronts and is on target to be finished, as planned in Q3 of 2025. Once built, testing will begin on the system.
In my previous Total Finance article, I shared that Payments Canada and our delivery partners had successfully commenced the technical build of the RTR. Today, I’ll provide an update on our progress.
For context, the RTR is a new piece of national payment infrastructure that will allow Canadians to send and receive irrevocable, data-rich payments in real-time. These payments will not only be sent and received in real-time, but they will also clear and settle between their financial institutions in real-time, 24/7, 365 days a year, something that is not currently available in a single payment system in Canada.
The technical build of the RTR can be broken down into the development of four main components: the build of the real-time clearing and settlement application, the re-platforming of the real-time exchange, technical preparations for the conversion to the real-time clearing and settlement system and the fraud foundational build.
The build of the real-time clearing and settlement component is more than halfway complete and the real-time exchange is being moved to the same infrastructure, allowing the connection of the two systems. Recently, the team successfully sent a test message from the exchange to the clearing and settlement application, demonstrating that both applications are now working together seamlessly.
Payments Canada is working in close collaboration and alignment with the payment ecosystem to deliver a “made for Canada” system for the benefit of all Canadians. The real-time movement of money enabled by the RTR will give Canadians more control over their finances and greater confidence that payments have been finalized.
The foundational fraud build, which is also at 60 per cent complete, includes new protections for the ecosystem that will work in tandem with our member participants’ existing fraud controls. These new RTR fraud controls will strengthen existing efforts and continuously evolve as the fraud landscape evolves and changes.
We will soon enter the comprehensive internal testing phase which follows the technical build phase. The safety and security of the RTR are our top priorities, just as they are for all of our systems. We are working closely with our regulators and the industry to deliver this important piece of national infrastructure without compromising on these critical standards.
Lastly, I’d like to personally invite you to join us at The 2025 Payments Canada SUMMIT to continue this conversation about the RTR, fraud and the future of payments in Canada and around the world. I’ll be hosting a panel with our delivery partners on our approach to RTR delivery in addition to multiple other sessions at The SUMMIT on the RTR and real-time payments.
Join us in Toronto from May 6-8, 2025 and use my promo code to save $100 on your registration: SUMM25PCVIP.
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