Discrepancy Co-Founders Visited the Canada Fintech Symposium

Hello, Calgary! With fintechs in Canada evolving at rapid speed, this summer’s fintech conferences felt like being part of history. This June, Discrepancy co-founders attended and spoke on a panel at the Canada Fintech Symposium. Although the Discrepancy team didn’t get to stay for the Calgary Stampede (maybe next year!)There was still plenty to learn at the exciting 2 day event, which brought together leaders in banking, blockchain, AI, and venture capital. 

Here are some of the highlights from our visit:

Second Annual Canada Fintech Symposium

The second annual Canada Fintech Symposium explored Web3, blockchain, and data technology in downtown Calgary. Panelists discussed global trends, industry challenges, and emerging developments in the fintech space. The 2025 symposium was a landmark event, with a broad international scope and interesting speakers.  

After provincial leaders laid out new possibilities for Alberta’s fintechs, we learned from an excellent array of conference speakers. Speakers included Kris Read (co-founder at Neo Financial), executive marketer Donna Galloway, and Canadian Blockchain Consortium Executive Director Koleya Karringten. 

Other highlights included interesting data from Paige Schoenfeld (the SVP of Leger Consumer Insights, and speakers like Chelsea Gillett, Harish Consul, Stephen Pederson, Paul Twigg, Mike Nabavi, Babu Nair, Ibrahim Dabash, and so many more! 

What We Learned About the Future of Fintech in Canada

It was wonderful to attend a fintech focused event, with so many interesting topics to share. 

Discrepancy co-founder Samantha spoke on the second day of the two day event, in a panel hosted by Lisa Patrick. The panel discussed everything from knowing your ‘why’ to ranking on AI chatbots and reimagining the future of marketing. We enjoyed being part of the conversation on how fintech brands can scale, and learning more about how other fintechs approach strategy, trust, and impact. 

Regulatory activities were on the menu as well, and Canada’s government is aiming to embrace open banking in the near future. Payment processing systems are being re-imagined by API infrastructure, and digital currencies are taking off. It seems traditional banking will be getting a makeover in future years, and we can’t wait to see how and where fintechs come in. Speaking of fintech investment, panelists on the “Fintech Funding and Venture Capital” panel also discussed access to capital, as even in an environment of rapid fintech growth, a tighter market can still cause challenges.

We attended on both days, in between taking in the great food (CHARCUT, Made by Marcus, Shokunin, and Spolumbo’s were some highlights from our visit), sunny weather (did you know Calgary is the sunniest city in Canada?) and fun scenery. Calgary was a beautiful city, and the Canadian Fintech Symposium gave us so many new opportunities to network, learn, and explore.