Federal budget 2025: Plan for stablecoin rules to usher in Canada’s ‘digital dollar era,’ advocates say –The Globe and Mail Federal budget 2025: Plan for stablecoin rules to usher in Canada’s ‘digital dollar era,’ advocates say –The Globe and Mail

While the federal government has promised to introduce a framework for legislation designed to regulate the issuance of stablecoins, Matt Burgoyne, partner and Chair of the Digital Assets and Blockchain Group, says in an interview with The Globe and Mail that the current structure lacks clarity.

Matt says clarity is needed in what types of stablecoin activity will be in the domain of provincial securities regulators versus federal authorities. “I suspect that a stablecoin that pays yield to the holder would be excluded from the federal legislation,” he says.

In Canada, digital currencies have largely been treated as securities, which are under the jurisdiction of provinces and territories. However, stablecoins can also act as a payment instrument similar to cash or credit, with oversight happening at the federal level.

In the U.S., stablecoins generally have been designated as payment instruments, with regulation happening mostly at the federal level. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (the GENIUS Act) sets out rules defining and policing stablecoins.

Ottawa’s new legislation is expected to require issuers of stablecoins to maintain asset reserves, such as cash holdings, to lower risk and to meet national security standards to protect consumers and businesses.

If you subscribe to The Globe and Mail, you can read the full article by Mariya Postelnyak posted on November 5, 2025.