The Bank of Canada (BOC) is shelving its plan to introduce a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Tiff Macklem, governor of the BOC, addressed the Institute of International Finance and the Canadian Bankers Association late last month, and declared that “there is not currently a compelling case to move forward with a CBDC in Canada.” As a result, “the Bank is scaling down its work on a retail central bank digital currency and shifting its focus to broader payments system research and policy development.”

It was apparent in the BOC’s Digital Canadian Dollar Public Consultation Report, released in November 2023, that the Canadian public is unequivocally not supportive of a “digital loonie.” Eighty-five per cent of the 89,423 surveyed Canadians stated “I would not use a Canadian digital dollar.” Over 79 per cent affirmed that “regulation should be introduced to require merchants to accept cash as a form of payment.”

Advertisement

The Bahamas, Jamaica and Nigeria have fully implemented CBDCs. According to the Atlantic Council, over 100 other nations are conducting pilot programs or in the research and development phase.

The Catholic Register article “Cash no longer king,” published in February, presented the pros and cons of a digital dollar.

Dr. Josephine Gemson, a finance and economics professor at King’s University College at Western University in London, Ont., said a CBDC could “provide businesses as well as consumers with features like privacy, transferability, convenience, accessibility and financial security.”

Professor Saeed Moshiri, economics department head of St. Thomas More College, a Catholic liberal arts institute amalgamated with the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, said it “will be probably less costly to produce a digital currency than paper currencies because it does not require physical materials.”

Advertisement

Conversely, Michael Ryall, a Catholic professor and policy director for Florida Atlantic University’s Madden Centre for Value Creation, warned that CBDC is an innovation that can help advance the agenda of societal leaders who desire to exert control over populations.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to prohibit the creation of a CBDC in America if he prevails in the November general election.

“Such a currency would give the federal government – our federal government – the absolute control over your money,” said Trump on Jan. 17 during a campaign speech in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “They could take your money; you wouldn’t even know it was gone. This would be a dangerous threat to freedom – and I will stop it from coming to America.”

Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur who became a Trump campaign surrogate after ending his bid for the GOP nomination, advocated for the 45th president to adopt this electoral promise.

Henri Arslanian, a University of Hong Kong crypto and financial technology professor, theorized to BNN Bloomberg that a Trump presidency rejecting a digital dollar could result in a "CBDC Cold War era" as the U.S. would be taking the opposite course to its geopolitical rival China.

Advertisement

While Trump opposed CBDCs, he has promised to champion decentralized forms of digital money, particularly cryptocurrency. He was a keynote speaker at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference and launched a crypto platform called World Liberty Financial on Sept. 16.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party nominee for president, has not issued any statements about CBDCs since entering the race. According to Axios, Harris signalled her openness to crypto at a Wall Street fundraiser on Sept. 22. She reportedly said “we will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets, while protecting investors and consumers."