The Bank of Canada is building capacity for issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) – a digital form of money that would be made available to all Canadians. While the decision to issue a CBDC ultimately rests with Parliament, the Bank is committed to being ready should the need arise. Considerable work has gone into improving the technical understanding of possible design choices, exploring the Canadian payment landscape, engaging with federal institutions and financial sector stakeholders, analyzing the potential benefits and risks of issuing a CBDC, and collaborating with other central banks and experts to help meet relevant public policy objectives.
This session covers:
- Overview of the issues to be discussed
- What do we mean by digital currency/digital assets?
- What are the necessary underpinnings of a CBDC?
- What is driving/motivating adoption of CBDC in Canada and worldwide?
- Bank of Canada areas of research/projects underway to build CBDC capacity
- CBDC specific use cases envisioned
This session is eligible for 1.5 Professional Development credits from IIROC accreditations.
Moderator
Robert Fay
Managing Director – Digital Economy Research
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Panelists
Brian Gelfand
Director – Technology Consulting; Digital Assets Lead
EY Canada
Scott Hendry
Senior Special Director – Banking and Payments Strategic Leadership
Bank of Canada
Andreas Veneris
Connaught Scholar and Professor – Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science
University of Toronto
