Wealthsimple Inc. says it’s received the regulatory green light to offer futures and forecast contracts, making it the second firm in Canada to get the go-ahead to launch products in the prediction markets.
A spokesperson for the fintech company confirmed on Wednesday that the firm received regulatory approval from the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) to offer futures and forecast contracts tied to economic indicators, financial markets and climate trends. The news was first reported by The Globe and Mail.
The spokesperson noted, however, that Wealthsimple hasn’t yet announced any product plans in this realm, which is drawing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers south of the border.
Interactive Brokers Canada Inc. announced the launch of the country’s first forecast contracts last April.
In essence, these contracts are financial instruments that allow investors to bet on the outcome of specific events, such as inflation rising above a certain level.
In the U.S., traders can go as far as betting on the outcomes of sporting events and elections, which has raised concerns about potential insider trading and violations of state gambling regulations.
For example, there have been allegations of insider trading on the online platform Polymarket as it relates to key political decisions associated with the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, and the U.S.’s military operation in Venezuela this January, which led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
U.S. lawmakers across political stripes are looking at addressing these concerns.
On Monday, a bipartisan Senate bill, dubbed “The Prediction Markets Are Gambling Act,” was introduced. It seeks to bar companies like Kalshi and Polymarket from offering prediction markets contracts tied to sporting events.
And on Wednesday, Politico reported that lawmakers in Congress are looking to introduce bipartisan legislation, called the “Preventing Real-time Exploitation and Deceptive Insider Congressional Trading Act,” or PREDICT Act, to prohibit members of Congress, the U.S. president and others from trading in certain prediction markets.
Prediction markets trading has so far been limited in Canada due to regulations. In 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators implemented a rule that made it illegal to advertise or trade short-term “yes” or “no” contracts, also known binary options, with individual investors. And in 2025, the Ontario Securities Commission reached a settlement with current and former operators of Polymarket — Blockratize Inc. and Adventure One QSS Inc. — for their failure to comply with the ban.