News for residents of the “11th province”: Canadians abroad.
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Big Banks Build Digital Dollars
Canada's six biggest banks are working to figure out how to move Canadian dollars on the blockchain. RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC and National Bank announced the project on Tuesday, finally putting some muscle from the country's banking establishment into the digital-money game.
The first test will be a transfer of tokenized deposits between participating banks. These tokens are digital representations of normal bank deposits, not a new cryptocurrency. Canada's banking regulator says they will be treated legally in the same way as traditional deposits. A shared ledger could mean faster payment settlements and eventual connections with similar systems already running abroad.
Don’t expect a tokenized chequing account anytime soon, though, since their first phase is going to be just between themselves. For Canadians who frequently send money home, that could eventually take some of the lag out of what’s traditionally been a rather lethargic piece of Canadian banking.
Read more: The Globe and Mail / CoinDesk
Alberta’s Big Vote Leaves Expats Out
Alberta will put 10 questions to voters on October 19, including whether the province should stay part of Canada or if it should begin the process of moving toward a binding separation referendum. This vote will be non-binding.
Elections Alberta says expats and people who have “moved away” are not eligible to participate in this one, though, as voting will be restricted to Canadian citizens 18 or older who are “ordinarily resident in Alberta.” People temporarily out of the country for work, school, military service or travel will still be allowed to vote by mail if Alberta continues to be their ordinary residence.
If you’re eligible, you have until Friday, September 25 to ask for a special ballot and the completed package must then get back to Elections Alberta by mail before 5 p.m. on October 16.
The other nine questions in the poll deal with immigration policy and provincial power, including court appointments, the Senate and federal programs.
Read more: Elections Alberta / Global News
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Ontario Gives Landlords a Better Deal
Ontario has reduced the minimum notice period for unpaid rent in half. Since Monday, landlords are able to give most monthly or yearly tenants a total of seven days to pay up or leave after serving an N4.
This change doesn’t mean anyone will be subject to a seven-day eviction, though. Paying the arrears by the termination date will void the notice, and a landlord would still need an eviction order from the Landlord and Tenant Board before he can put anyone out on the street. Three late payments of more than seven days within six months are now enough to meet a new definition of persistent late payment, though the board says that it will still “consider the circumstances.”
The rules also change landlord-use evictions. An owner who gives at least 120 days worth of notice to take back a unit for personal use no longer has to pay a month's rent or offer another unit. This may matter to you if you kept an Ontario condo while living abroad, or if you rent out your former home and plan to move back into it.
Read more: MoneySense / Government of Ontario
ASEAN Deals Approaches the Finish Line
Separate free trade deals with the Philippines and the 10-country ASEAN bloc are more than 90 per cent done. Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu is keen to make sure that both agreements are ready by the time PM Mark Carney visits Manila in November.
The ASEAN agreement would reduce or eliminate tariffs on Canadian exports into a market of more than 700 million people. Canada-ASEAN merchandise trade was $52.5 billion in 2025, up nearly one-quarter in a year. Imports from the region have doubled since 2020.
The Philippines deal by itself is also an important piece. Ottawa expects it to triple bilateral trade by 2035, with agriculture and forest products among the Canadian industries that will be in line for new access. Two-way merchandise trade was $3.4 billion last year.
These are trade agreements only, not new visa or residence programs. Their immediate audience will be exporters and businesses, including Canadians running companies in Southeast Asia or who move goods between the region and Canada. Stay tuned.
Read more: The Globe and Mail / Global Affairs Canada