The Canadian province of Ontario is looking to burnish its reputation as a financial innovation hub by setting up a fintech regulatory sandbox and accelerator office.
Ontario is one of the biggest centres in North America for both financial services and technology. This has inevitably seen the province, and specifically Toronto, become a major fintech hub.
Recently the government set up a fintech strategy panel to help create an ecosystem that lets it take on US centres such as New York, Silicon Valley and Chicago.
Last year the Ontario Securities Commission introduced a LaunchPad team to help fintech businesses navigate regulatory requirements.
Now, Ontario finance minister Charles Sousa says that he wants to follow in in the footsteps of the UK and others by creating an sandbox which lets fintech startups operate outside of some regulatory requirements in order to help them innovate. Meanwhile, the accelerator office will help fintech startups get on their feet.
"We have the evolution, the convergence of IT and financial services. We see it happening all over the world, and Ontario has become an attraction for this because we have strong talent. It's about seizing the opportunities," Sousa is quoted as saying by the Globe and Mail.