Points of Focus

• Wealthsimple will launch a Kalshi-powered prediction markets app this summer.
• Canadian investors will be able to trade nearly 4,000 regulated event contracts.
• CIRO rules restrict trading to climate, economic, and financial market events.

Canadian investors are set to gain access to prediction markets through a regulated channel, an asset class that has so far had only a limited presence in Canada’s retail market.

Toronto-based Wealthsimple said on June 18 that it will launch Wealthsimple Predict this summer, a standalone application built in partnership with Kalshi that will allow retail clients to trade about 4,000 event contracts. The offering marks one of Canada’s first large-scale attempts to bring prediction markets to everyday investors under existing derivatives rules rather than gambling laws.

Prediction markets are coming to Canada.

For the first time, millions of Canadians will be able to trade what's next through Wealthsimple. pic.twitter.com/UemU39GOhQ

— Kalshi (@Kalshi) June 18, 2026

Wealthsimple Predict opens regulated access to event contracts

Prediction markets allow traders to buy and sell contracts tied to the outcome of future events. Each contract settles at either $1 or $0 depending on whether a specific outcome occurs, while market prices imply the probability assigned to that event by participants.

Wealthsimple’s initial menu will focus on categories approved by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), including climate-related events, economic indicators, and financial markets. Contracts must have settlement periods of at least 30 days.

Wealthsimple cited contracts tied to inflation and interest rate expectations as examples of the types of events available under the approved categories.

Brett Huneycutt, co-founder and chief product officer of Wealthsimple, said Canadians have had limited access to prediction markets despite their growing popularity internationally. The company plans to include educational materials, trading disclosures, guided onboarding, and liquidity warnings within the app. Users will also need to complete Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements before trading.

Canadian rules keep sports and election markets off the table

The CIRO approved Wealthsimple to offer event and forecast contracts in March 2026, making it the second investment dealer authorized to provide prediction market trading in Canada.

The approval framework remains narrower than the one available in the United States, where Kalshi lists contracts tied to politics, sports, and other topics under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Wealthsimple has indicated that it plans to continue engaging with regulators as prediction markets evolve in Canada, though it has not announced plans to expand into additional categories.

Regulators appear to be taking a cautious approach. Canada prohibited the sale of short-term binary options in 2017, while Ontario securities regulators barred Polymarket from operating in the province for two years in 2025.

An Angus Reid Institute survey released in May 2026 found that fewer than one in 20 Canadians had ever traded on a prediction market, while only 8% of respondents said they knew a lot about how these markets function.

Wealthsimple Predict is scheduled to become available to Canadian residents later this summer, while sports and election contracts remain outside the categories currently approved by Canadian regulators.