MONTREAL–An autumn chill was in the air at the Canada Fintech Forum this week, but for businesspeople gathered there, things are warming up. Attendees of the annual conference hosted by Paul Desmarais III—a prolific fintech investor through subsidiaries of the deep-pocketed family holding company Power Corp.—discussed the sector’s changing fortunes during panel discussions, and over cocktails.

The Wealthsimple barometer: Fintech went through a post-pandemic deep freeze that was even more punishing than that suffered by other tech sectors. In 2022, Power Corp. wrote down its valuation of fintech scaleup Wealthsimple by 20 per cent. For the last three quarters, however, it’s been steadily marking the value of its 55 per cent stake in the company back up, as billions of dollars in new money have flowed into Wealthsimple’s savings and investing accounts, and other products.

While falling interest rates typically prompt customers to shop around, Hanna Zaidi, the fintech’s chief compliance officer, said in an interview that new money is staying at Wealthsimple. “I think people are seeing the value,” she said.

Hot to go: Chris Ferron, head of digital partnerships and fintech at Visa Canada, told The Logic that upcoming fintech-friendly regulatory changes are sparking “a lot of interest in Canada.” The federal government is expected to soon table a second bill on open banking. In November, registration opens for the Bank of Canada’s new oversight for payment fintechs, while the long delayed Real-Time Rail system for instant transactions is scheduled to launch in 2026. “There’s a lot of optimism. You feel it here,” he said.

Banks on board: Fintechs and banks are often at loggerheads in Canada. Scrappy startups mean more competition for traditional financial institutions, which have in the past stood in the way of regulatory changes that would increase that competition. At the conference, however, there were signs of a thaw. Jeet Bhatti, co-founder and CEO of Fathom4sight, said in a presentation that banks and fintechs announced more than 30 partnerships in 2024.

Darryl White, CEO of BMO, said in dinner remarks that fintechs have lit a fire under the traditional financial services sector, which became more innovative in response to the competition. “I actually thank the fintech ecosystem,” he said. “I sat on many panels 10 to 15 years ago where our fintech friends would come and say, ‘We’re here to put you out of business. That was pretty inspiring.”