Canadian Lenders Association

About

The Canadian Lenders Association (CLA) is a membership organisation for bank and non-bank companies involved in lending and credit innovation in Canada. Active since 2016, it says it represents more than 300 members across consumer, small business, home, equipment, automotive and mortgage finance, as well as lending-adjacent areas such as Banking-as-a-Service, core banking and open banking. It supports the sector through policy advocacy, executive roundtables, industry events and certification standards, including a Certified Lender programme for lenders and an Approved Vendor programme for technology, data and service providers. Its 13 roundtables cover topics including BNPL, crypto, SMB lending, risk and sustainable finance, and it lists summits such as the Canadian Lenders Summit. The CLA states that it is not a trade association for payday lending and focuses on responsible instalment lending and other regulated consumer and commercial finance.