{ "jurisdiction_id": "CA-QC", "jurisdiction": "Canada – Quebec", "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-quebec/", "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": 11 }, "modules": [ { "code": "crypto_licensing", "name": "Crypto Licensing", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-quebec/#crypto-licensing-crypto-licensing", "standing_position": "Crypto trading platforms serving Quebec residents fall under a dual layer: (1) the province's Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), which since the early-2010s has required virtual-currency ATM operators and trading platforms to hold a licence under the Money-Services Businesses Act, and (2) the pan-Canadian CSA/CIRO securities-law regime, under which platforms holding client crypto assets must register (or hold a pre-registration undertaking) as restricted dealers/marketplaces. As of mid-2026 the overall national architecture remains interim: CSA has issued only limited exemptive relief for pilot projects and CIRO's new custody framework is expressly described as interim guidance, with no bespoke comprehensive statute yet covering derivatives, DeFi or broader tokenized-asset activity.", "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-quebec/#token-classification-token-classification", "standing_position": "Canada does not classify bitcoin or similar cryptocurrencies as securities in themselves, but the CSA has created the 'crypto contract' concept whereby a customer's claim to crypto held by a platform is deemed a security/derivative unless immediate delivery (full transfer of ownership, possession and control with no residual platform risk) occurs. A federal Stablecoin Act enacted in 2026 now creates a distinct issuance-authorisation category for Canadian-dollar stablecoins, separate from the general crypto-contract/security treatment.", "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-quebec/#on-chain-activity-regime-on-chain-activity-regime", "standing_position": "On-chain activity-specific rulemaking (staking, DeFi, node operation) remains largely undeveloped nationally and in Quebec specifically. The clearest concrete development is CIRO-regulated custodians (e.g., Tetra Trust) now providing custody for Canada's first staking-enabled ether and solana ETFs. Coinbase Canada's leadership has publicly stated that Canada lacks a bespoke framework for DeFi, derivatives and broader tokenized-asset products, terming current provisions a patchwork of case-by-case exemptions.", "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-quebec/#stablecoin-regime-stablecoin-regime", "standing_position": "Following Budget 2025's commitment, Canada's federal Stablecoin Act was enacted in 2026, requiring issuers to hold adequate reserves, establish redemption policies, and implement risk-management frameworks, with the Bank of Canada performing key oversight and the government amending the Retail Payment Activities Act to bring stablecoin-using payment service providers into scope. Tetra Trust's CADD, backed by Wealthsimple, Shopify and National Bank of Canada, launched in May 2026 as the first CAD-pegged stablecoin issued by a regulated Canadian financial institution, with reserves held in trust dedicated to redemption; this applies nationally, including to Quebec-based users, though the issuer's provincial approval was via Alberta's Treasury Board and Finance rather than Quebec's AMF.", "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 }, { "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-quebec/#consumer-protection-consumer-protection", "standing_position": "Quebec's AMF, jointly with the national CSA/CIRO framework, imposes custody-segregation and risk-disclosure obligations on crypto platforms. The AMF's original 2014 virtual-currency guidance warned Quebec consumers that losses are not covered by compensation or deposit-insurance plans. The CSA's PRU regime mandates segregation of client crypto assets from proprietary business assets, custody with an 'Acceptable Third-Party Custodian', and a ban on margin/leverage. CIRO's 2026 Digital Asset Custody Framework introduces a tiered, risk-based custody structure aimed at strengthening investor protections against hacking, fraud, weak governance and insolvency.", "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": "tax_treatment", "name": "Tax Treatment", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-quebec/#tax-treatment-tax-treatment", "standing_position": "The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) treats crypto-asset transactions as taxable, applying capital-gains or business-income treatment depending on activity, applicable to Quebec taxpayers alongside their provincial filing obligations. The CRA has acknowledged significant compliance gaps: it estimates 40% of crypto-platform users are evading taxes or at high risk of non-compliance, and has recovered roughly $100 million through audits over the past three years, while pushing for stronger legal tools to compel platform disclosures.", "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": "cross_border_transfer", "name": "Cross-Border Transfer", "confidence": null, "moved_this_cycle": false, "url": "https://cryptoassets.gi/jurisdictions/canada-quebec/#cross-border-transfer-cross-border-transfer", "standing_position": "Canada's registration and custody regime is applied extraterritorially: platforms based outside Canada that serve Canadian (including Quebec) clients fall under the same CSA/CIRO/PRU requirements as domestic platforms. FINTRAC separately enforces registration obligations on foreign money-services businesses dealing in virtual currency, as illustrated by its CAD $19.5 million penalty against Seychelles-based Peken Global Ltd. (operating as KuCoin) for failing to register as a foreign MSB.", "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-quebec/#aml-cft-regime-aml-cft-regime", "standing_position": "Crypto AML/CFT obligations for Canada (including Quebec) are governed federally through FINTRAC under the PCMLTFA and are handled by this consumer's subscribed FIM aml_ctf module rather than produced natively here, per fleet subscription doctrine. Disambiguation context only: FINTRAC treats virtual-currency dealing/exchange as an MSB activity subject to registration, and has actively enforced against unregistered foreign MSBs serving Canadians.", "findings": [ { "finding": null, "instrument_type": null, "source": null, "source_url": null, "source_tier": null, "retrieved_at": null } ] } ] }