Budget 2026 Proposes Raising Canada's Deposit Insurance Limit to $250,000
The Canadian federal government's Budget 2026 proposes increasing the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) deposit insurance limit from $100,000 to $250,000. The plan includes unlimited coverage for registered and tax-free accounts, temporary high-balance protections for life events, and mandatory reviews every 10 years.
The Canadian federal government’s Budget 2026 proposes raising the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) deposit insurance limit to $250,000, marking the first increase in more than 20 years. The current limit has been set at $100,000 since 2005.
Canada currently has the lowest level of deposit insurance among G7 countries. According to DBRS Morningstar, about 65 per cent of deposits at Canada’s top six banks — Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank, Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Scotiabank, and National Bank of Canada — are uninsured. In 2023, the Bank and Trust Companies Association urged former finance minister Chrystia Freeland to double CDIC coverage to $200,000 per depositor. By 2025, the Department of Finance stated that adjusting the limit to $150,000 was necessary to protect the real value of deposit protection against inflation.
A $250,000 limit would align Canada with the United States and some Canadian provinces. Beyond raising the cap, Budget 2026 proposes legislating a periodic review of the deposit insurance framework every 10 years. The government also plans to provide a temporary high balance for life events like selling a home, and to remove the deposit insurance limit entirely for eligible deposits in registered and tax-free accounts.
Under proposed amendments, provincial trust and loan companies seeking to become CDIC members would only be able to do so by continuing as federal trust and loan companies. According to its 2025 annual report, the CDIC had 85 members.