Canada fared relatively well during the 2007-08 global financial crisis, mainly due to the conservative approach favoured by its institutions. As a result, it was touted around the world as a safe place for banking and viewed as a gold standard in managing systemic risk.
However, without such a shock to the system, Canada’s banking industry has been slow to respond to fintech innovation. “In one respect, [being insulated from a crisis] is great, but it doesn’t spur on real innovation,” says Jay Ferst, managing partner at Ferst Capital Partners, a Montreal-based fintech venture capital (VC) firm.
