Canada and the EU are discussing a link between their instant payment systems.
The project would connect Canada’s Real-Time Rail (RTR) with the European Central Bank’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS), allowing payments to move between the two regions more quickly and at a lower cost.
The announcement came at the Canada-EU summit in Montreal on October 29–30. The payment project is one of several areas covered by the new Alliance for the Future. The agreement also addresses trade, energy and technology, as well as access to financial services on both sides of the Atlantic.
For now, the payment connection is still at the planning stage. Canada and the EU have agreed to support work on linking their systems, but neither side has announced a launch date. The project will involve Payments Canada, the Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank.
RTR is expected to launch in the final quarter of 2026, following industry testing. The system will handle payments between individuals and businesses at any time of day, including weekends and holidays. It will use ISO 20022, a messaging standard that lets payment networks share more information about transactions. Payments Canada says the use of this international standard will also make it easier to connect RTR with systems in other countries.
Europe’s TIPS platform is already in operation. It settles instant payments in central bank money and is available around the clock. The system supports payments in euros, Swedish kronor and Danish kroner. Its cross-currency service, introduced in October 2025, allows customers in Sweden and Denmark to pay recipients in the euro area in their local currency, with the recipient receiving euros within seconds.
The ECB has also been looking at connections with payment networks outside Europe. Its work includes a link with India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), participation in the Nexus network and possible connections with Switzerland’s SIC IP and Brazil’s Pix. The India project has moved into the implementation phase, while the others remain at earlier stages.
The Canada agreement would add another market to these efforts. For businesses and consumers, linking the systems could eventually reduce the time and cost involved in sending money across the Atlantic. However, the technical and regulatory work still needs to be done.
Financial services are also on the agenda. Canada and the EU want a joint working group to examine what makes it difficult for banks, insurers and fintech companies to enter each other’s markets. Smaller businesses and startups will be part of those discussions.
Canada and the EU have also concluded negotiations on a digital trade agreement. It is intended to give companies a clearer framework for selling goods and services online across the two markets and make cross-border digital trade easier.
The broader partnership was announced as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called for closer cooperation between Canada and Europe. Speaking in Montreal, he pointed to the erosion of democratic norms and the use of trade as a political tool as challenges facing both sides.
