Puberty blockers do not cause problems with sexual functioning in transgender adults

Amsterdam University Medical Center

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During puberty, all kinds of hormonal changes take place in the body, which lead to the development of external sexual characteristics, such as breast growth, a lower voice or body hair growth. For transgender young people, who do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth, these are often undesirable changes, which can be very drastic. Puberty blockers can temporarily halt these developments and give young people time to explore their gender identity. Although puberty blockers have been proven to contribute to the mental well-being of transgender young people, little is known about the influence of puberty blockers on sexual satisfaction and sexual problems later in life. 

Researchers from Amsterdam UMC presented 70 transgender adults with questionnaires. All participants started with puberty blockers and then received gender-affirming hormones. The participants completed the questionnaire about sexual experiences, satisfaction, and possible sexual problems on average 14 years after the start of their treatment. Isabelle van der Meulen, researcher at Amsterdam UMC, explains: "Our results show that more than half of trans men and 40% of trans women are satisfied with their sex lives. This corresponds to the sexual satisfaction of the cisgender population. There was also no difference between people who started puberty blockers early or later in puberty." 
 

Most participants had no trouble with desire, arousal or having an orgasm. Of the sexual problems that were mentioned, difficulty taking initiative was the most common problem among trans men, while reaching orgasm was the most frequently mentioned among trans women. However, most participants indicated that these problems were only experienced as stressful to a limited extent. The frequency of sexual problems was consistent with previous studies among transgender adults who did not start hormone therapy until adulthood. 

These results provide important insights for healthcare providers in the guidance of transgender youth and can reduce concerns about sexual functioning later in life. Van der Meulen emphasises: "With these results, we can better inform young people when starting puberty blockers about what they can expect sexually later in life." At the same time, the researchers underline that sexual experiences are complex and are influenced by both physical and psychosocial factors. "For example, seeking and initiating sexual contact was often mentioned as a problem, something that is not directly related to the physical effects of hormone therapy. That is why it is important to pay attention to the psychosocial aspects of sexuality in the counselling," says Van der Meulen. 

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Journal

Journal of Sexual Medicine & Research

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Sexual satisfaction and dysfunction in transgender adults following puberty suppression treatment during adolescence

Article Publication Date

17-Jun-2025

Toy company challenges Trump’s tariffs before the U.S. Supreme Court in long shot bid for quick decision

By The Associated Press
June 17, 2025 

Rick Woldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, an educational toy company whose products are manufactured in China, stands at a warehouse in Vernon Hills, Ill., April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — An Illinois toy company challenged President Donald Trump’s tariffs in front of the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a long shot bid to press the justices to quickly decide whether they are legal.

Learning Resources Inc. filed an appeal asking the Supreme Court to take up the case soon rather than let it continue to play out in lower courts. The company argues the Republican president illegally imposed tariffs under an emergency powers law rather than getting approval from Congress.

While the company won an early victory in a lower court, the order is on hold as an appeals court considers a similar ruling putting a broader block on Trump’s tariffs. The appeals court has allowed Trump to continue collecting tariffs under the emergency powers law ahead of arguments set for late July.

The company argued in court documents the case can’t wait that long, “in light of the tariffs’ massive impact on virtually every business and consumer across the Nation, and the unremitting whiplash caused by the unfettered tariffing power the President claims.”

The Supreme Court is typically reluctant to take up cases before appeals courts have decided them, lowering the odds that the justices will agree to hear it as quickly as the company is asking.


Still, Learning Resources CEO Rick Woldenberg said tariffs and uncertainty are taking a major toll now. He’s looking ahead to the back-to-school and holiday seasons, when the company usually makes most of its sales for the year.

“All the people that are raising their prices are doing it with a sense of dread,” Woldenberg told The Associated Press. But, “we do not have a choice. We absolutely do not have a choice.”

Attorneys for Learning Resources and sister company hand2mind, suggested the court could consider whether to take up the case before the end of the term in June and hear arguments when their next term begins in the fall, a relatively quick timetable.

The Trump administration has defended the tariffs by arguing that the emergency powers law gives the president the authority to regulate imports during national emergencies and that the country’s longtime trade deficit qualifies as a national emergency.

Trump has framed tariffs as a tool to lure factories back to America, raise money for the Treasury Department and strike more favorable trade agreements with other countries.

“The Trump administration is legally using the powers granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to address our country’s national emergencies of persistent goods trade deficits and drug trafficking. If the Supreme Court decides to hear this unfounded legal challenge, we look forward to ultimately prevailing," said White House spokesperson Kush Desai.

Woldenberg said he’s putting “enormous resources” into shifting his company’s supply base but the process is time-consuming and uncertain.

“I think that our case raises uniquely important questions that this administration won’t accept unless the Supreme Court rules on them,” he said.

Based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, the family-owned company’s products include the Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register for $43.99 and Botley the Coding Robot for $57.99.

__

Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report.


Lindsay Whitehurst, The Associated Press

Solar stocks drop on U.S. Senate proposal to phase out tax credits by 2028

By Reuters
June 17, 2025

This  photo shows a view of the Sugar Hill Solar Site in Clifton Park, N.Y.

 (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

U.S. solar stocks tumbled on Tuesday after a Senate panel proposed phasing out solar and wind tax credits by 2028, as part of changes to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-and-spending bill.

Solar inverter maker Enphase Energy and solar panel manufacturer First Solar slid 27.2 per cent and 19.3 per cent, respectively, among the biggest decliners on the benchmark S&P 500.


Market chart of ENPH:UN
ENPH:UN
$34.94-10.95-23.85%
As of:June 17, 2025 at 6:46 PM

Other solar panel sellers, Sunrun and SolarEdge Technologies, plunged 43 per cent and 39.4 per cent, respectively.Latest updates on commodities here

The draft bill, circulated by a U.S. Senate committee, amends Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” that the House narrowly passed last month.

“On first glance, the Investment Tax Credit/Production Tax Credit provisions for solar and wind look worse than the industries had hoped, though not quite in the same way as the House bill,” said Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov.

The committee’s draft bill proposes cutting solar and wind incentives to 60 per cent of their value in 2026 and ending them by 2028.

Under current law, the credits wouldn’t begin phasing out until 2032.

Analysts, however, remain skeptical of whether policymakers will pass the bill in its current form before Trump’s self-imposed July 4 deadline.

“It will take time – probably several months – for House and Senate Republicans to bridge those differences. During that time, there will be a window for solar and wind industry lobbyists to make their views heard,” Molchanov said.

Citi strategists said they “remain a sell on residential solar,” calling the proposal “a slight improvement” over the House version but “far more restrictive than the original bill.”

Solar firms are already grappling with weak U.S. residential demand, pressured by high interest rates and metering reforms in California that have slashed credits for excess power sent to the grid.

Shares of Sunrun have shed 27 per cent in the past one year, while Enphase Energy is down 63 per cent in the same period.

The Invesco Solar ETF has dropped 22.8 per cent over the past year.Latest updates on investing here

The U.S. Senate proposal will, however, extend tax credits for hydro, nuclear, and geothermal energy through 2036.

Shares of some nuclear energy-related companies rose, with Nano Nuclear Energy gaining 1.2 per cent.


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Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Pooja Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath.

BBB

Trump tax bill would widen deficits by US$2.8 trillion after factoring in economic impacts, CBO says

By The Associated Press
 June 17, 2025 


WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump’s tax and budget bill would increase deficits by US$2.8 trillion over the next decade after including other economic effects, according to a more fulsome analysis of the measure released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office.

The report, produced by the nonpartisan CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation, factors in expected debt service costs and finds that the bill would increase interest rates and boost interest payments on the baseline projection of federal debt by US$441 billion.

Tuesday’s report uses dynamic analysis by estimating the budgetary impact of the tax bill by considering how changes in the economy might affect revenues and spending. This is in contrast to static scoring, which presumes all other economic factors stay constant.

The CBO released its static scoring analysis earlier this month, estimating that Trump’s bill would unleash trillions in tax cuts and slash spending, but also increase deficits by US$2.4 trillion over the decade and leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance.

Marc Goldwein, senior vice president and senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said Tuesday on social media that considering the new dynamic analysis, “It’s not only not paying for all of itself, it’s not paying for any of itself.”


The analysis comes at a crucial moment as Trump is pushing Congress, where Republicans have majority control, to send the final product to his desk to become law by the Fourth of July. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other Republicans have sought to discredit the CBO, saying the organization isn’t giving enough credit to the economic growth the bill will create.

Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee unveiled a proposal Monday for deeper Medicaid cuts, including new work requirements for parents of teens, as a way to offset the costs of making Trump’s tax breaks more permanent in draft legislation unveiled for his self-described big, beautiful bill.

The first House proposal on the new Medicaid work requirement exempted parents with dependents. But the Senate’s version broadened the requirement to include parents of children older than 14, as part of their effort to combat waste in the program and push personal responsibility.Latest news & updates on tariffs and the trade war here

The proposals from Republicans keep in place the current US$10,000 deduction of state and local taxes, called SALT, drawing quick blowback from GOP lawmakers from New York and other high-tax states, who fought for a US$40,000 cap in the House-passed bill. Senators insisted negotiations continue.

Bessent said Tuesday that the Senate Republican proposal for the tax cuts bill “will deliver the permanence and certainty both individual taxpayers and businesses alike are looking for, driving growth and unleashing the American economy.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Senate and the House to further refine this bill and get it to President Trump’s desk,” he said in a news release.

The CBO separately released another analysis on the tax bill last week, including a look at how the measure would affect households based on income distribution. It estimates the bill would cost the poorest Americans roughly US$1,600 a year while increasing the income of the wealthiest households by an average of US$12,000 annually.

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Fatima Hussein And Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press

Survey finds most Canadians don’t think they will ever be able to retire

By Jordan Fleguel

 June 17, 2025 

BNNBLOOMBERG

A person walks up a set of stairs in this undated stock image. (Shutterstock)

As Canada’s population continues to age, an increasing number of Canadians are examining their finances and weighing retirement options, but a majority of those who have yet to retire don’t believe they will ever be able to, according to a new survey.

On Tuesday, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), in partnership with Abacus Data, released the findings of its seventh annual Canadian Retirement Survey, which was conducted in April.

The survey found that among unretired respondents, 59 per cent believe they will never be in a financial position to retire, while 66 per cent believe they’ll need to continue working even if they do retire to support themselves financially.

Many Canadians simply don’t have the means to save for retirement, the survey found. Sixty per cent of respondents reported having no disposable income, with all the money they earn going directly to necessities.

The survey also found that 49 per cent of respondents had not set aside any money for retirement in the past year, while 39 per cent reported having never saved for retirement.

Canadians’ inability to save for retirement is due to a variety of factors including day-to-day living costs, economic uncertainty, inflation, housing affordability and cuts to government healthcare services, according to the survey respondents.

Fifty-five per cent of Canadians described their financial situation as living paycheque to paycheque, up from 48 per cent in the same survey in 2023.

Homeownership

Amongst unretired people, the survey found that there was a stark difference when it came to saving for retirement between those that owned their home and those that didn’t.

It found that 71 per cent of homeowners had set aside money for retirement at some point, compared to only 36 per cent of non-homeowners, the majority of whom reported having never done so.

Sixty-two per cent of survey respondents said they viewed homeownership as a “key part” of their retirement strategy, and half of unretired homeowners plan to set themselves up for retirement by selling their property, according to the survey.

But for those who have yet to retire and currently have a mortgage, the survey found that 65 per cent of them are worried about their ability to pay it off so they can retire when they plan to. That’s up from 51 per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2023.

The survey also found that 66 per cent of mortgage holders have either seen their mortgage payments rise in the last year or expect them to in the next 12 months.

The vast majority of non-homeowners – 84 per cent – worry about the rising cost of rent, and for 66 per cent of them, paying rent is their top financial priority.
Geopolitics and Canada-U.S. relations

The survey found that Canadians are also concerned about the ongoing trade war with the U.S. and global geopolitical instability.

Sixty-seven per cent of respondents said they were “very concerned” with the state of U.S.-Canada relations. Concern over the impact of the trade war between the two countries is highest amongst seniors, but was also one of the top economic worries for Canadians aged 55 to 64.

The implications of U.S. tariffs and prolonged global conflicts have also changed how some Canadians are managing their finances. The survey found that 22 per cent of respondents were putting aside more savings as a result of geopolitical instability.

In a press release discussing the survey’s findings, the CEO of Abacus Data said giving more Canadians access to pensions is one of the best ways to protect against uncertainty.

“When Canadians are feeling even more uncertain about the future as they are now, pensions can offer more certainty about the future,” said David Coletto.

“Policy makers and employers should be taking a closer look at this now, more than ever.”

Methodology

Findings are based on an online survey of 2,000 Canadians aged 18 and older from April 11 to 16, 2025. A random sample of panelists was invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform.

These partners typically use double opt-in survey panels, blended to reduce potential skews in the data from a single source.

The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 2.19%, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error will be larger for data that is based on sub-groups of the total sample.

Jordan Fleguel
Journalist,

 BNNBloomberg.ca

CANADA

MEG Energy unlikely to find another buyer after rejecting Strathcona: expert

By Jordan Fleguel

BNNBLOOMBERG
Published: June 17, 2025 

After MEG Energy urged its shareholders to reject a takeover proposal from rival Strathcona Resources on Monday, an expert says the Alberta-based oil company may struggle to find another buyer.

“The ‘go it alone’ approach seems very implausible because the market didn’t like that approach before the offer,” Cole Smead, CEO and portfolio manager of Smead Capital Management, told BNN Bloomberg in a Tuesday interview.

“(Investors) were effectively trading MEG like they had something wrong… their capital allocation overall, we don’t disagree with, and we think the management did a really good job. The difference though is they don’t have an anchor shareholder, a large capital allocator like Adam Waterous.”

Waterous is managing partner and CEO of Waterous Energy Fund, which owns Calgary-based Strathcona, one of the fastest growing oil companies in North America that has pursued a number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in recent years.

“Ultimately, when I went through (MEG Energy’s) rejection proposal they provided yesterday to shareholders, going through that deck it just says one thing: ‘If you’d like to provide us a better offer, please come with it and we will discuss it,’” Smead said.

Strathcona’s unsolicited takeover offer valued MEG at nearly $6 billion, a number MEG said was inadequate. Despite rejecting the offer, MEG’s board announced it would be launching a strategic review to explore alternatives to its current business model.

“They’re up for sale, there’s no doubt about that, the question is at what price and who’s the buyer, and in our opinion, we just don’t see another buyer out there,” said Smead.

Jordan Fleguel
Journalist, BNNBloomberg.ca

CANADA

New technologies can reduce electrical waste as demand surges: energy expert

By Joshua Santos

BNNBLOOMBERG
Published: June 17, 2025

As Canadian energy suppliers face an unprecedented demand to power artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres, an expert says new technologies can reduce electrical waste.

“We waste as a country, 50 per cent of the energy we produce,” said Emily Heitman, president of Schneider Electric Canada, in an interview with BNN Bloomberg on Tuesday.

“With digital technology coming alongside electrical equipment in your home, building and factory and the onset of AI, we can now real time monitor and manage the electrical usage that’s being utilized throughout the entire system of that building.”

The Canada Energy Regulator says that there are currently an estimated 239 data centres operating across Canada and the industry is expanding. It states data centres and their data transmission networks consume a lot of energy.Latest updates on commodities here

Schneider Electric Canada is a subsidiary of French power-equipment manufacturer, Schneider Electric SE. It helps customers, such as homeowners and building owners, manage and improve energy efficiency and resiliency.

“A good example would be an airport running the HVAC system at night when there is nobody in the section of the airport or a machine idling in a factory in the middle of the night when there’s no production going on,” said Heitman. “These are great examples of where energy is wasted every single day in practical applications.”

According to the International Energy Agency, data centres consumed an estimated 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) globally, or roughly 1.4 to 1.7 per cent of global electricity in 2022. That amount of energy is about 71 per cent of Canada’s electricity generation that same year and the agency projects global data centre energy consumption will double by the end of 2026.

“We like to say: ‘We don’t make energy, but we help our customers manage the energy that they’re utilizing,’” said Heitman.

Heitman acknowledged the conversation around energy use and production has ramped up in Canada in recent months considering the ever-changing geopolitical and trade environment.

After the U.S. placed blanket tariffs on Canadian imports earlier this year, Ontario Premier Doug Ford briefly introduced a 25 per cent levy on U.S.-bound electricity exports as an initial retaliatory measure. Ford suspended the levy after a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington.

“It is our plan to say: ‘Let’s produce as much as we can in Canada, strengthen the global supply chains we have and make sure we’re still serving our customers effectively no matter what is going on in the uncertainty of our geopolitical situation,’” Heitman said.Latest updates on investing here

The company is expanding its production capacity in Quebec by 30 per cent and adding 70 new employees to meet the rising demand for electricity, driven by AI and digital technology.

“We make switchboards, from panel boards to all types of electrical equipment for low voltage and medium voltage applications that are both produced in Quebec but also shipped across Canada for electrical distribution in this country,” said Heitman.



Joshua Santos
Journalist, BNNBloomberg.ca

Canadian DHL Express to suspend operations countrywide amid strike, lockout

By The Canadian Press
Published: June 17, 2025 a

An airplane stands in the hangar during the official launching ceremony of the Airbus A330-200 cargo airplane by the European Air Transport Leipzig GmbH (EAT) at the European DHL Express air freight hub in Schkeuditz near Leipzig, Germany, Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

DHL Express Canada says it will shut down operations across the country amid a strike and lockout involving 2,100 truck drivers and other workers.

With the two sides at an impasse, the company says it will halt parcel deliveries starting June 20, the day federal legislation banning replacement workers takes full effect. Inbound packages to Canada will cease on Tuesday night.

On June 8, the German-owned carrier said it was rolling out a “contingency plan” that allowed it to keep serving its more than 50,000 customers, which range from retailer Lululemon to e-commerce giants Shein and Temu.

Spokeswoman Pamela Duque Rai had said in an email at the time that DHL did not expect “significant disruptions” to its service.

Unifor, which represents DHL truck drivers, couriers and warehouse and call centre employees, had warned against any steps to supplant unionized workers with temporary ones, with president Lana Payne saying the move would impose a chill on contract talks.


The upcoming shutdown adds to the labour turmoil in the parcel market, as Canada Post remains at loggerheads with 55,000 workers amid strained negotiations and an overtime ban imposed by the union last month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

Carney Faces Crisis as Alberta Oil Anger Boils Over

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Jun 16, 2025

• Alberta separatist sentiment is rising, driven by dissatisfaction with federal policies, particularly regarding oil and gas regulations and export restrictions.
• 
  
• Premier Danielle Smith doesn't support separation, but will allow a referendum if citizen-led efforts meet signature thresholds, reflecting significant local frustration.
• 
  
• Prime Minister Carney faces a critical unity test, emphasizing infrastructure projects and pipelines to address Alberta’s grievances and prevent a potential secession crisis.
• 
  

Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney faces his first real challenge to Canadian unity amid a soured relationship with the long-time trade partner and ally, the United States.

A movement to secede from Canada is growing in the oil-rich province of Alberta, which contributes a large part to Canadian economy and budget and has the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita among Canadian provinces. 

Alberta could hold a referendum to leave Canada next year if a citizen-led petition gathers the requisite number of signatures requesting such a question to be put to a referendum.

Danielle Smith, the Premier of the Alberta province, said last month “I do not support Alberta separating from Canada. I personally still have hope that there is a path forward for a strong and sovereign Alberta within a United Canada.”

“To be clear from the outset, our government will not be putting a vote on separation from Canada on the referendum ballot; however, if there is a successful citizen-led referendum petition that is able to gather the requisite number of signatures requesting such a question to be put to a referendum, our government will respect the democratic process and include that question on the 2026 provincial referendum ballot as well,” Smith said.

For years, Alberta has been opposing federal legislation regarding emissions and resource development. Alberta has been fighting the federal government on the plan to cap emissions from oil and gas production, which the province and the industry see essentially as a cap on output.

For years, Alberta has been trying to have more pipeline options to export its huge oil and gas resources, including to markets other than the United States.

With the U.S. under President Trump, Carney’s federal government has started to realize that diversification of oil exports – 90% of which go to the U.S. – could be a smart move.

During a meeting with oil and gas executives in Canada’s oil-producing province of Alberta, Carney pledged earlier this month that the federal government would work to fast-track major projects to make Canada an energy superpower.

Carney said he discussed with Smith “what matters most: building one united Canadian economy — including getting big things built and major infrastructure projects off the ground, in Alberta and across Canada.”

Smith, for her part, said that Alberta needs a guaranteed corridor and port access to tidewater off the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic coasts for the international export of Alberta resources. The oil-rich province also needs an approval of an oil pipeline to the B.C. Northwest coast, repealing the Tanker Ban to enable exports from the Port of Prince Rupert, and returning the regulation of industrial emissions to the provinces, among other things, Alberta’s premier added.

Alberta is working to engage private backers for a new pipeline to ship about 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude from Canada’s oil-producing province to British Columbia on the West Coast, Premier Smith said last week. The pipeline would run from the oil sands in Alberta to the Port of Prince Rupert on British Columbia’s northwest coast, and to international markets afterwards, according to the plans of the province.

“There has to be a real demonstration, and very soon, that some of the priorities of Alberta are going to be addressed,” Smith told The Wall Street Journal in an interview last week.

Albertans are dissatisfied with the way the province has been treated by the federal government for years and the sentiment to secede is not just a fringe movement.

“They are quite literally our friends and neighbours who have just had enough of having their livelihoods and prosperity attacked by a hostile federal government,” Premier Smith said last month.  

In May, a poll by Ledger found that 47% of Albertans are in favor of the province becoming an independent country, while 48% are opposed.

Analysts say that the federal government addressing some or most of Alberta’s grievances, including increased access for oil and gas to international markets, could sway potential “leave” voters to want to remain part of a united Canada.  

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

CANADA

Feds say they will move open banking forward at ‘earliest opportunity’

By The Canadian Press
June 17, 2025 

A magnifying glass enlarges the holographic image of Parliament Hill's Peace Tower on a 20 dollar bill issued at the Bank of Canada Museum in Ottawa on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA — The federal government says it will introduce legislation to implement open banking at its “earliest opportunity” as some advocates warn the project’s momentum may have stalled.

Open banking — or consumer-driven banking, as Ottawa calls it — is about allowing Canadians and businesses to securely share their financial data with third parties other than their banks.

Open banking could let Canadians with multiple accounts across different banks see their entire financial picture on one convenient dashboard. It also could help renters build their credit scores just by paying their rent on time every month.

Other nations have implemented open banking systems and the federal Liberals passed initial legislation last year to break ground on open banking in Canada.

But getting to that point — and keeping up the pressure to get the second half of that legislation tabled — has been “a slog,” said Fintechs Canada executive director Alex Vronces.


“I don’t think the government at first understood really what consumer-driven banking was,” he said.

After years of study, Ottawa got the ball rolling on open banking through the legislation to implement the 2024 federal budget roughly a year ago.

That bill gave the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada a mandate to head up the country’s open banking framework. Legislation is still required to implement a plan to accredit service providers and set the common rules that financial institutions will have to follow.

The Liberal government said in the 2024 fall economic statement that it’s looking at early 2026 for implementation of open banking.

But Canada has gone through a federal election since those plans were made — and while the Liberals were returned to power with another minority government, references to consumer-driven banking were absent from the party’s election platform.

And the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney did not table a spring budget, which it normally would use to outline its legislative priorities.

Natacha Boudrias, leader of the National Bank of Canada’s open banking strategy, said the industry lacks “clarity” on the future shape of consumer-driven banking. She said the spring election likely stalled movement on the file.

“We’re certainly hoping that the government is going to kick-start the effort sooner rather than later so that we don’t get stuck in a loop of consultation,” she said.

A Finance Canada official said in a media statement that the government is still committed to consumer-driven banking.

“The remaining elements of the consumer-driven banking framework will be introduced at the earliest opportunity, to ensure that Canadian consumers and business can securely benefit from tools that help them reduce costs and improve their financial outcomes,” the statement says.

Instead of waiting on Ottawa, the National Bank has moved forward on its own open-banking framework that lets fintechs — financial technology firms that develop apps for Canadians and businesses — essentially plug into their databases to share information securely when users give their permission.


The status quo for financial data sharing is “screen scraping,” a process that usually sees an individual share banking credentials with a third party to access the information an app needs to run.

But Boudrias said there’s no control over how much or how little data is shared through screen scraping — it’s all or nothing, making it a potential privacy nightmare.

Open banking ideally takes that firehose of data and narrows it, giving users control over the information a fintech sees and how long it can access it.

“It’s about putting the rails of trust in place,” Boudrias said.

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada commissioner Shereen Benzvy Miller addressed the risks of screen scraping in notes for her keynote address at the Open Banking Expo in Toronto on Tuesday.

Benzvy Miller said Canadians are already sharing data widely with fintechs but they may not know much about the privacy risks involved. She said part of the agency’s task will be to drive consumer awareness of open banking to build trust.

“We envision a future — not far off — where consumers can securely share their financial data with trusted providers at the tap of a button,” she said in a copy of the speech shared with The Canadian Press.

The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada will be in charge of building and vetting a public registry of fintechs that Canadians and financial service providers can trust to handle data securely. These fintechs will be granted a handy visual logo to mark their accreditation.

Benzvy Miller said the agency is also working with Finance Canada on setting out common rules for the system and the agency is looking forward to seeing legislative amendments from the finance minister.

But if that final legislation isn’t tabled soon, Vronces said, the agency will be stuck in “regulatory purgatory.”

“They’ll have a mandate but they won’t be able to do anything with it,” he said.

Getting to this point has been a long haul for Vronces, who has been lobbying on behalf of Canadian fintechs for roughly seven years.

He said he has reasons to believe Carney will be a champion of consumer-driven banking. Carney was governor of the Bank of England when the United Kingdom introduced such a system in 2017.

The opportunity to implement open banking comes as a pivotal time, Vronces said, as Carney looks to overhaul the Canadian economy and improve productivity in the face of global trade upheaval.

Open banking could light a fire under Canada’s financial sector, he said, because big banks would be forced to diversify their services and compete with the wider fintech industry.

Vronces said early conversations with the federal government give him hope that the second half of the legislation will be tabled soon, possibly alongside the federal budget in the fall.

He compared the open banking file to a magazine that’s already had the articles written and the layout set, with just a few finishing touches remaining.

“It’s really not a lot of work for the government to complete its promise,” he said. “It just needs to hit print.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 17, 2025.

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press