regulator · reports to Department of Finance Canada
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions
Bureau du surintendant des institutions financières
OSFI supervises federally regulated banks, insurers, and private pension plans. Under the OSFI Act the Minister presides over the Office and is responsible for it. The Governor in Council appoints the Superintendent. OSFI is not the Bank of Canada and it does not set the policy interest rate.
Official websiteOffice-holders
Related policy debates
Financial regulation
Bank capital, supervision, and the line between stability and lending.
Not scored.
Common misconceptions
OSFI is not the Bank of Canada
Commonly assumed: Coverage and conversation routinely treat “the banking regulator” and “the Bank” as one Ottawa institution that both sets rates and supervises the banks.
In fact: The Bank of Canada’s governing council sets the policy interest rate. OSFI supervises federally regulated banks, insurers, and pension plans. Section 4 of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Act says the Minister presides over OSFI and is responsible for it. Section 5 says the Governor in Council appoints the Superintendent. The Minister of Finance in this ministry is François-Philippe Champagne. The Superintendent is Peter Routledge. The Governor is Tiff Macklem.
A rate decision, a capital-buffer decision, and a budget decision are three different levers held by three different offices. Mixing them up sends a client to the wrong door.
Source