Canada should open up its banking sector to mergers and more foreign investment to improve competition, IMF chief Rodrigo Rato said in a speech today.

If Canada further developed its markets for high-yield bonds and venture capital, the financial sector would become an even stronger motor of economic growth, the IMF’s managing director said.

Speaking in Toronto, Rato also urged Canada to adopt a common national securities regulator to replace the patchwork system of provincial bodies it now uses.