{ "jurisdiction_id": "CA-ON", "jurisdiction": "Canada – Ontario", "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-ontario/", "generator": "render_jid v13.3.0", "date_modified": "2026-08-17", "schema_version": "crypto-v2.0.0", "counts": { "modules": 8, "sourced_findings": 23, "source_register": 24 }, "modules": [ { "code": "crypto_licensing", "name": "Crypto Licensing", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-ontario/#crypto-licensing-crypto-licensing", "standing_position": "Ontario applies existing provincial securities law to crypto asset trading platforms (CTPs) through the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), acting within the multi-provincial Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) framework. Platforms holding or trading crypto contracts for Ontario residents must register — typically as a 'restricted dealer' and/or 'marketplace' — following a pre-registration undertaking (PRU) process, later hardened into enhanced investor-protection commitments after the FTX collapse. Registered examples include Wealthsimple, Coinberry, Netcoins, CoinSmart, Fidelity, Bitbuy and, as of April 2025, Kraken. Unregistered platforms (Binance, Bybit, KuCoin) have faced OSC enforcement, fines and bans. A dedicated, permanent crypto-specific statute does not yet exist; the regime remains an interim tailoring of general securities law.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "token_classification", "name": "Token Classification", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-ontario/#token-classification-token-classification", "standing_position": "The CSA treats bitcoin and similar crypto assets as commodities rather than securities, but the contractual right a user obtains against a custodial platform (the 'crypto contract') is generally treated as a derivative/security subject to securities law, capturing most custodial exchanges. Non-custodial platforms that provide immediate delivery without retaining risk are more likely to fall outside this scope. Stablecoins have historically been treated ambiguously — at times as securities or derivatives — pending the federal Stablecoin Act, and some platforms (Wealthsimple, Coinberry) voluntarily prohibited USDT under OSC direction.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "on_chain_activity_regime", "name": "On-Chain Activity Regime", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-ontario/#on-chain-activity-regime-on-chain-activity-regime", "standing_position": "Staking is permitted for registered platforms and has been extended to regulated investment vehicles — e.g., 3iQ's proposed Solana Staking ETF using Sol Strategies as staking provider, filed with the OSC and other Canadian regulators — but there is no dedicated, comprehensive staking statute; staking-as-a-service is assessed under the existing 'crypto contract' securities framework. DeFi, DEX, mining, node operation and standalone validator activity lack dedicated Ontario/CSA rules; industry figures (e.g., Coinbase Canada's CEO) have publicly called for a harmonized national instrument to cover DeFi and derivatives, indicating this remains an active gap rather than a settled regime.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "stablecoin_regime", "name": "Stablecoin Regime", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-ontario/#stablecoin-regime-stablecoin-regime", "standing_position": "The federal government committed in Budget 2025 to a Stablecoins Act placing the Bank of Canada as regulator of fiat-backed stablecoin issuers, requiring 1:1 reserves, redemption policies, risk-management frameworks and amendments to the Retail Payment Activities Act to cover stablecoin payments. By mid-2026, industry commentary describes the Stablecoin Act as enacted, and Alberta-regulated Tetra Trust launched Canada's first CAD-pegged stablecoin (CADD) from a regulated financial institution in May 2026 — though CADD's provincial approval (Alberta Treasury Board and Finance) is distinct from Ontario-specific oversight, and CIRO's custody framework treating stablecoin-adjacent custody remains explicitly interim guidance.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "consumer_protection", "name": "Consumer Protection", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-ontario/#consumer-protection-consumer-protection", "standing_position": "Ontario's registration regime imposes custody-segregation, disclosure, and complaint-handling requirements as terms and conditions of OSC registration. The 2023 enhanced PRU required segregation of client cash/crypto assets from proprietary assets, custody with an 'Acceptable Third-party Custodian', prohibition of margin/leverage for Canadian clients, and prohibition on selling stablecoins without CSA permission. In February 2026, CIRO layered a tiered, risk-based Digital Asset Custody Framework on top — capping internal (self-)custody by dealer members at 20% of client crypto assets, requiring insurance, independent audits, penetration testing and clear custody-agreement liability terms — explicitly as interim guidance following the 2019 QuadrigaCX collapse that left $123 million unaccounted for.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "tax_treatment", "name": "Tax Treatment", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-ontario/#tax-treatment-tax-treatment", "standing_position": "The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) treats crypto assets as property for federal income tax purposes: transactions can be taxed as barter transactions (crypto used to pay for goods/services) or as capital gains/losses or business income (speculative trading), determined by the specific facts of each case, under the Income Tax Act. This applies uniformly to Ontario residents as tax is federally administered. The CRA has publicly acknowledged an enforcement gap, estimating roughly 40% of crypto-platform users have failed to file or are at high non-compliance risk, and has pursued Federal Court orders compelling user-data disclosure from platforms including Coinsquare and Dapper Labs.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "cross_border_transfer", "name": "Cross-Border Transfer", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-ontario/#cross-border-transfer-cross-border-transfer", "standing_position": "Canada applies extraterritorial reach to its crypto securities registration regime: foreign platforms serving Canadian (including Ontario) residents are subject to the same CSA/OSC registration, custody and disclosure requirements as domestic platforms, and unregistered foreign platforms have faced OSC enforcement and market bans. Dedicated crypto-specific cross-border payment reporting thresholds and travel-rule mechanics are administered federally by FINTRAC and fall under the AML/CTF FIM subscription rather than this module; no crypto-specific outbound capital restriction was identified.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null }, { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] }, { "code": "aml_cft_regime", "name": "AML/CFT Regime", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-ontario/#aml-cft-regime-aml-cft-regime", "standing_position": "Crypto consumer baseline subscribes to the FIM aml_ctf module; AML/CTF obligations for Ontario/Canada crypto businesses (registration as a Money Services Business, KYC/CDD, STR reporting, sanctions screening) are supervised federally by FINTRAC under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and are captured in the FIM baseline rather than here. This module is emitted as a shell per subscription discipline; no AML/CTF claims are produced in this crypto DR pass.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] } ] }