Resources
Notes from the desk for Canadian fintech operators.
Plain-English guides, regulator updates, and license-type explainers — written for founders, COOs, and CCOs who need to know what applies to their business and what doesn't.
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Where most fintechs start.
Guide · FINTRAC
What a clean MSB application actually looks like
A walk-through of the structure FINTRAC reviewers expect, the supporting documentation that catches new applicants out, and the questions they always come back with.
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Explainer · RPAA
RPAA registration: what triggers it and what doesn't
The Retail Payment Activities Act applies to more business models than founders expect — and excludes a few that look like they'd be caught. Here's how to tell.
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Brief · CSA / OSC
Restricted Dealer registration for crypto platforms in 2026
Where the regulatory perimeter sits today, what the CSA is asking for in pre-registration undertakings, and how Ontario's overlay changes the picture.
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Everything else from the desk.
Guide · FINTRAC
Building an AML program that survives a FINTRAC examination
What examiners actually open first, where most programs fall apart under questioning, and how to write the parts that don't survive a one-line answer.
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Explainer · RPAA
Risk-management frameworks the Bank of Canada actually reads
The framework section is where most RPAA applications get sent back for revisions. Here's the structure that gets through on the first pass.
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Brief · CSA / OSC
Pre-registration undertakings, in plain English
What a PRU commits you to, what it doesn't, and how the conditions evolve once you move from PRU to full Restricted Dealer registration.
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Guide · AML programs
Transaction-monitoring rules that match your business model
Off-the-shelf monitoring rules generate noise. Here's how to calibrate thresholds to your actual flows so your team can act on the alerts they get.
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Regulator update
What changed in the 2026 FINTRAC bulletins
A short read on the year's MSB-relevant guidance — reporting thresholds, beneficial-ownership expectations, and the parts that quietly tightened.
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Explainer · Provincial
When Québec's AMF overlay applies to your filing
If you have customers in Québec, the AMF likely has a view — even on a federal registration. The triggers, the timing, and what to file in parallel.
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Resources here come from real client questions. If yours isn't covered, ask — we'll answer directly and may turn it into a guide.