Deloitte Canada and Stablecorp are collaborating to develop stablecoin infrastructure for Canadian financial institutions, as federal regulators move closer to establishing rules for fiat-backed digital assets.

In a Monday announcement, the professional services firm said it plans to integrate Stablecorp’s Canadian dollar-pegged stablecoin, QCAD, into payment and settlement workflows for institutional clients.

Stablecorp is a Toronto-based fintech company and the issuer of QCAD, a fiat-backed stablecoin designed to maintain a one-to-one value with the Canadian dollar.

Soumak Chatterjee, a partner in Deloitte Canada’s financial services division, said the initiative is aimed at helping banks and other institutions prepare for the adoption of stablecoins once a regulatory regime is established.

The companies said potential use cases include enabling around-the-clock payments, improving settlement efficiency compared to traditional banking systems and using blockchain-based recordkeeping for transaction transparency. They also pointed to the possibility of new financial products built on tokenized infrastructure.

No bank partners or rollout timeline were provided.

Related: Canada’s budget promises laws to regulate stablecoins, following US lead

Canada moves toward stablecoin rules as global regulatory race intensifies

The development comes as the Canadian government advances a federal framework for stablecoins under Bill C-15, a budget implementation bill introduced last November that includes a proposed federal framework to regulate fiat-backed stablecoins.

While Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously expressed skepticism about crypto, he has lately acknowledged that the technologies underpinning digital assets could “improve financial stability; support more innovative, efficient and reliable payment services as well as have wider applications.”

The Bank of Canada has also called for clearer rules governing stablecoins, arguing that regulatory certainty is needed to modernize the country’s payment systems. The central bank has said any framework should ensure stablecoins are fully backed by high-quality liquid assets and redeemable at par, while warning that delays in regulation could leave Canada lagging behind other jurisdictions.

The push comes as stablecoin regulation in the United States has gained traction, culminating in the passage of the GENIUS Act for payment stablecoins last summer.

Currently, the market for Canadian dollar-denominated stablecoins remains limited, particularly compared to the dominant US dollar segment, where Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s $USDC($USDC) account for the vast majority of global stablecoin supply and usage.

The Bank of Canada shelved plans for a central bank digital currency in September 2024 after more than seven years of research, including a public consultation process that drew nearly 90,000 public responses.

Related:Crypto part of Canada’s ‘core’ financial system, but risk concerns remain

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