The RTR resource library
Every Real-Time Rail source that matters, annotated by the team that built and operationalized RTR at Payments Canada. Free to use — no forms, no email wall.
Official specs
The primary Payments Canada material every RTR program is measured against. Our RTR Send package starts from these message specs. See the matching package.
Real-Time Rail payment system
The program hub — system overview, current status and links to every official RTR artifact.
Open resourceRTR ISO 20022 message specification companion document
The definitive message portfolio and usage rules. Your payment engine mapping is graded against this document.
Open resourceISO 20022 resource centre
Background, education and operational support for ISO 20022 adoption across Canadian payment systems.
Open resourceParticipation & access
Who can join, what the access requirements are, and how testing and launch phases work. This is the ground covered in an RTR Receive discovery. See the matching package.
Accessing the Real-Time Rail
The access bar in plain terms: 60-second funds availability, recourse, and errors and exceptions handling.
Open resourceTesting and launch
How industry solution assurance and the road to go-live are sequenced — the schedule your plan has to fit.
Open resourceRTR Participation Guide for Payment Service Providers
Ecosystem roles, primary and supporting actors, and the key decisions a new participant has to make early.
Open resourcePayment service provider participation
Membership eligibility for registered PSPs and the application path to RTR participation.
Open resourceNeed help turning these specs into a delivery plan?
We translate the Payments Canada rulebook into a scoped, fixed-price program — from discovery through certification and hypercare.
Regulation
The legislation that opened RTR participation to payment service providers and set the supervisory bar. See the matching package.
Retail Payments Activities Act supervision
PSP registration and supervisory obligations — a prerequisite before RTR membership is on the table.
Open resourceBy-law and rules approved for Canada's Real-Time Rail
The rulebook milestone that turned RTR obligations from draft guidance into binding requirements.
Open resourceDeveloper & testing
Sandbox and integration material for the teams doing the build and certification work. See the matching package.
RTR Sandbox API
Where integration teams exercise RTR message flows before certification testing begins.
Open resourceRTR quarterly update with Jude Pinto — 2026 Q3
Latest delivery status from Payments Canada, including the move into industry solution assurance.
Open resourceIndustry analysis
Third-party perspectives on readiness, timelines and what participants are getting wrong. See the matching package.
Canada Real-Time Rail rules, PSP access and 2026 launch
A readable intelligence guide to the rules and access model, useful for briefing non-payments executives.
Open resourceCanada's Real-Time Rail: how to get ready before go-live
Six focus areas for participants entering assurance testing — a decent cross-check on your own readiness plan.
Open resourceRTR has moved into industry solution assurance
Payments Canada's latest quarterly update confirms participants are now interacting with the platform and each other using their own workflows and transactions. Planning time is over — the work is now proving your flows, exceptions and operations against the live assurance schedule.
Read the quarterly updateTurn RTR readiness into a dated, costed plan
A 15-minute call is usually enough to tell you where your gaps are against Wave 1.