According to a study by Canada’s financial market regulator, 1 in 4 Canadians now owns crypto assets directly or indirectly, while interest in the market reached its highest level in 3 years. At the same time, most respondents believe digital assets will play an important role in Canada’s financial system.
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) published the results of a crypto asset market study conducted in partnership with Ipsos. The study found that 59% of Canadians had an accurate understanding of crypto assets in 2026, compared with 54% in 2023 and 51% in 2022. Meanwhile, 25% of Canadians owned cryptocurrencies or shares of crypto investment funds, up from 10% 2 years earlier.
The study was based on an online survey of 2,360 Canadian adults conducted by Ipsos between December 18, 2025, and January 22, 2026.
Key findings included:
- 59% of Canadians correctly identified what crypto assets are.
- 39% of professional investors owned cryptocurrencies, compared with 25% of Canadians overall.
- 38% of respondents familiar with cryptocurrencies said they were likely to purchase digital assets in the future, up 18 percentage points from 2023.
- 50% of cryptocurrency owners checked whether a trading platform was registered with a regulator before using it, compared with 38% in 2023.
- 52% believed crypto assets would play an important role in Canada’s financial system in the future, up from 34% in 2023.
Most cryptocurrency owners continued to use centralized trading platforms. Among survey participants, 59% purchased digital assets through centralized platforms, while only 18% used decentralized exchanges. The most popular platforms were Coinbase at 48%, Wealthsimple Crypto at 37%, Crypto.com at 29%, and Binance at 20%.
Despite growing interest in cryptocurrencies, the study showed that public knowledge remained limited. Many Canadians still misunderstood how cryptocurrencies are regulated, how investor protection works, and how crypto transactions are conducted. Nearly half of respondents, or 49%, didn’t know which government authority oversees crypto asset regulation, while only 6% identified provincial securities regulators.
The study also examined interest in emerging segments of the digital asset market. Stablecoins were recognized by 34% of Canadians, while 24% were familiar with tokenized real world assets, or RWAs. Among respondents familiar with RWA tokens, 74% said they’d consider purchasing them if banks or investment firms offered such products.
In the press release, Naizam Kanji, Executive Vice President, Strategic Regulation at the OSC, said the cryptocurrency market continued to evolve and that participation by Canadians kept increasing. He said the study helped the regulator identify emerging trends and potential risks early, allowing it to improve regulation while protecting investors and maintaining an efficient financial market.
Canada’s digital asset market also continued to develop. In March 2026, the Bank of Canada (BoC), together with the country’s largest commercial banks, tested the issuance of tokenized bonds. In May, with support from the BoC, Canada’s first regulated Canadian dollar backed stablecoin was launched.
