Canadian Payment Methods and Trends Report 2026 (Payments Canada)

Summary

• Payments Canada's systems cleared and settled 103 trillion dollars in 2025.p.7
• Credit and debit card transactions combined made up 68 per cent of total payment volume in 2025, compared to 63 per cent five years ago.p.8
• Credit card contactless transaction volume grew by 12 per cent in 2025, versus 5 per cent for debit card contactless.p.10
• Online transfer volume increased by 13 per cent and value by 18 per cent in 2025.p.11
• 43 per cent of Canadians do not find agentic commerce appealing, while 24 per cent do.p.17

Key insights

1. CPI rose 2.1 per cent in 2025, down from 2.4 per cent in 2024.p.7
2. EFT value grew by 59 per cent over the past five years while cheque value declined by 16 per cent.p.8
3. Credit cards made up 62 per cent of total card volume and 75 per cent of total card value.p.10
4. The total value of credit card contactless transactions was 2.8 times that of debit card contactless transactions in 2025.p.10
5. 37 per cent of SMEs say payment delays matter greatly to them.p.14
6. 26 per cent of Canadians have ever used BNPL, and 17 per cent of businesses offer a BNPL option.p.15
7. Budget 2025 advances consumer-driven banking, including payment initiation capability by mid-2027.p.18
8. Over 120 countries worldwide currently provide a form of real-time payments.p.21
9. 34 per cent of Canadians would likely switch from current payment methods to real-time payments.p.22
10. The top reasons Canadians do not find agentic commerce appealing include data safety and security concerns (58 per cent).p.17