Canadians are telling banks what innovation should look like 

Written by Susan Sanei-Stamp

Canadians are not asking their banks to be “more innovative” in the abstract. They are pointing to the areas where innovation would make the biggest difference, and their expectations are far more practical than many innovation roadmaps suggest. 

Our latest Financial Services sector data show that a majority of Canadians, 56%, believe AI will be the force that most transforms banking over the next five years. That view is not coming from a niche group of tech enthusiasts. It reflects a broad market perspective on where banking is headed. At the same time, Canadians are not imagining a distant or highly futuristic version of banking. What they seem to want is a system that feels easier to navigate, resolves problems more quickly, and removes unnecessary effort from everyday interactions. 

That same instinct carries through in the next set of priorities. Real-time payments rank second at 24% as a driver of change in banking. Open banking, despite the attention it receives in industry and policy conversations, comes in lower at 15%, while blockchain remains far behind at 5%. Taken together, these results offer a clear message for leaders willing to read them plainly: Canadians want progress that feels intelligent, but they also want the fundamentals of banking to feel current and responsive. 

AI may represent the future in theory, but payments modernization is where customers see whether that future is becoming real. 

Think about the everyday moments that define how banking actually feels to people. Splitting a dinner bill, paying back a friend, moving money to cover an unexpected expense or simply confirming that a payment has gone through are all small interactions, but they carry weight. When those moments still feel slow, unclear or stressful, any message about AI risks sounding disconnected from reality.  
 
When the basics work smoothly, however, AI becomes easier to believe in because it is experienced as something that quietly removes friction rather than something designed only to impress. 

There is also an important Canadian nuance in how AI is perceived. Expectations differ notably between French– and English-speaking Canadians. Nearly two-thirds of French respondents, 65%, identify AI as the biggest driver of change, compared with 53% of English respondents.

This data points to a strategic distinction in how innovation may be received across the country. In some markets, enthusiasm may come more readily. In others, the bar for relevance may be higher. A single national innovation narrative may therefore create as many blind spots as it does efficiencies. 

So yes, Canadians expect AI. They also want the infrastructure behind everyday banking to work better. That could suggest a market eager to embrace new solutions. The reality is more restrained

When asked about trying new financial products from fintech or digital-only firms, Canadians reveal a more cautious mindset. Overall, 45% say they are open to doing so, while 55% are not. Only 9% describe themselves as very open. 

For fintech leaders, that should reshape expectations around growth and adoption. For incumbents, it offers an important reminder that competitive pressure may not always come from rapid switching, but from gradual shifts in trust and relevance. In either case, the message is the same: the mainstream Canadian customer is not looking to experiment for the sake of it. They are looking for a reason to believe. 

Age makes that divide even more pronounced. Among Canadians aged 18 to 24, 64% say they are open to trying new financial products from fintech or digital-only firms. Among those aged 65 and older, that number falls to 20%. The gap itself is not surprising, but its size matters. 

Two very different adoption realities coexist in the same market. One group is more comfortable learning through trial and error. The other is far more likely to interpret change as a source of risk. 

This is where innovation strategies can start to lose the market. Too often, the assumption is that new capabilities will speak for themselves and that customers will naturally catch up. Canadians are signalling the opposite. Innovation has to earn permission. It has to reduce perceived risk and make change feel safe, simple and worthwhile.
 

Are banks keeping pace with technology leaders when it comes to customer innovation?  
A majority of Canadians, 61%, say yes. That is encouraging, but it is only part of the picture. The remaining 39% who say no should not be treated as background noise. In a trust-based category, that level of skepticism has consequences. It can slow adoption and weaken the impact of new initiatives before they have a chance to take hold. 

This tension is especially visible among Canadians in the 45- to 54-year-old age group, where 46% disagree that banks are keeping pace. These are customers managing multiple products, competing priorities and the practical realities of everyday financial complexity. Their expectations are grounded in lived experiences. If innovation does not reduce hassle for them, it is unlikely to feel meaningful. 

Regional nuance matters as well. In Quebec, 57% agree that banks are keeping pace, compared with 63% in the rest of Canada. When that result is read alongside the stronger expectation around AI among French respondents, a distinctly Canadian pattern begins to emerge. In Quebec, there may be more openness to where banking is heading, paired with greater sensitivity to whether the experience actually delivers on that promise. 

So what should leaders take from all of this? Innovation should not be approached as a checklist of launches. It should be treated as something customers need to believe in before they are willing to adopt it. 

Canadians are already telling us what that belief is built on: 

• Making core journeys feel modern  

• Making intelligence tangible in the customer experience  

• Designing adoption pathways that reflect Canada’s cautious relationship with risk rather than a more optimistic Silicon Valley model  

This is also where Leger brings a distinct advantage. Canada rewards a very specific kind of understanding. It requires a perspective that is bilingual by design, attentive to regional realities and grounded in how trust actually works in everyday financial behaviour. 

When you can connect expectations around AI at 56%, infrastructure credibility through real-time payments at 24%, resistance to trying new fintech products at 55% and the 39% who believe banks are not keeping pace, the conversation moves beyond surface-level insight and becomes something more useful: strategy. 

If you want your next wave of innovation to resonate, focus less on impressing Canadians and more on solving the moments that matter most. Build the future they need, and make it tangible in everyday experience. 

Leger can help identify the friction points that shape belief, pinpoint where trust breaks across audiences and regions, and turn AI ambition into something customers are actually ready to adopt.