Regulation and transformation have been key focuses in 2023-2024
Canada’s financial institutions regulator has been reflecting on another year of activity with the release of its annual report for 2023-2024.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) says that it has continued to deliver on its strategic plan for 2022-2025 and its 2024-2025 Departmental Plan. It also noted the challenging risk environment of the past year and how it has made significant progress in bolstering the resilience of the Canadian financial system.
OSFI supervises over 400 financial institutions and 1,200 pension plans covering over 700,000 members with $245 billion in assets and in 2023 its mandate expanded to include integrity, security, and foreign interference. It issued updated guidelines, particularly on integrity and security, and modernized data collection with enhanced analytical capabilities.
The supervisory framework was updated in the past year to address emerging financial and non-financial risks, with a focus on cybersecurity, climate risk, and the housing market downturn. The update included new risk categories and the use of data analytics to provide earlier indicators of risk.
The regulator’s major accomplishments in the year include conducting 368 supervisory reviews and introducing institution-specific loan-to-income limits. It also launched public consultations on capital and liquidity treatment for crypto-asset exposures and implemented a new Supervision Institute to train staff for the updated framework.
Transformation is another key element of OSFI’s work and the report sets out how it has concluded its transformation journey aimed at modernizing supervisory activities, fostering a stronger internal culture, and improving data and governance capabilities.
Looking ahead, OSFI’s 2024-2027 Strategic Plan outlines six priorities:
- expanded mandate
- supervisory renewal
- culture initiatives, data management
- critical functions
- operational resilience
The report also reveals that OSFI’s expenses for the past year increased by 28.4%, reaching $311.7 million, due to expanded responsibilities and increased personnel.
