Open Banking Expo has revealed the influential figures on the Powerlist 2026 and the winner of the inaugural Andrew Moor Award at a ceremony in Toronto.
Neela Maharaj, director, Open Banking and APIs at RBC has been named the winner of the Andrew Moor Award, which was presented by Dan Broten, senior vice president at EQB and head of EQ Bank.
The new award, which honours the former president and chief executive officer of EQ Bank who passed away suddenly last year, recognises an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to advancing Open Banking in Canada.
Maharaj, who was also on last year’s Powerlist, led the build of RBC’s Open Banking data-sharing platform, including the delivery of live use cases, such as KONEK and HSBC Global View. She contributes to several FDX working groups, helping to advance the standard for Canadian legislation. Her work has informed the build of a functional, inclusive ecosystem for both data providers and data recipients in Canada.
This year’s Powerlist, which was unveiled on the Main Stage at the close of Open Banking Expo Canada, celebrates 46 key figures driving change and innovation across Open Banking and Open Finance in Canada.
Among the influential figures on this year’s Powerlist are Senator Colin Deacon, Jane Barratt (MX), Dominique Samson (Flinks), Ron Morrow (Bank of Canada), Joyce Wong (Symcor), Natacha Boudrias (National Bank of Canada), and Tom Carpenter (Mastercard).
Kelly Stanley, co-founder and operations director at Open Banking Expo Canada, added: “The Powerlist goes from strength to strength, as the Canadian ecosystem gears up for Open Banking implementation.
“It reflects the diversity of voices at the table when it comes to shaping Canada’s financial future. If you want to know who is driving change, then look no further than this year’s Powerlist.”
The Powerlist ceremony rounded out a day that featured keynote appearances from Ron Morrow, executive director of payments, supervision and oversight at the Bank of Canada, and Jeanne Pratt, Acting Commissioner of Competition at the Competition Bureau.
Attendees then headed into the Powerlist Drinks Reception in the Expo Hall to celebrate the winners and raise a glass to the future of Open Banking and Open Finance in Canada.
View the Powerlist 2026 in full here.