Order Fixing the Days on Which Certain Provisions of the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 and the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 Come into Force: SI/2025-24
Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 159, Number 7
Registration
SI/2025-24 March 26, 2025
FALL ECONOMIC STATEMENT IMPLEMENTATION ACT, 2023
BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION ACT, 2024, NO. 1
Order Fixing the Days on Which Certain Provisions of the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 and the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 Come into Force
P.C. 2025-266 February 4, 2025
Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance,
- (a) under subsection 306(1) of the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, chapter 15 of the Statutes of Canada, 2024, fixes April 1, 2025 as the day on which subsection 278(1) and sections 285, 296, 297, 301 and 302 of that Act come into force; and
- (b) under subsections 351(2) and (3) of the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, chapter 17 of the Statutes of Canada, 2024, fixes
- (i) April 1, 2025, as the day on which subsections 340(2) and (4) and 342(2) of that Act come into force, and
- (ii) the day on which this Order is made, as the day on which sections 341, 344 and 347 of that Act come into force.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order.)
Proposal
- Pursuant to subsection 306(1) of the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 (FES Act 2023), this Order in Council fixes April 1, 2025 as the day on which subsections 278(1) and sections 285, 296, 297, 301 and 302 of the FES Act 2023 come into force;
- Pursuant to subsection 351(2) of the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 (BIA 2024), this Order in Council fixes April 1, 2025 as the day on which subsections 340(2) and (4) and 342(2) of BIA 2024 comes into force; and
- Pursuant to subsection 351(3) of the BIA 2024, this Order in Council fixes the date on which the Order is made as the day on which sections 341, 344 and 347 of BIA 2024 comes into force.
Objective
The objective of the Order is to bring into force amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorism Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and consequential amendments to other legislation, relating to the introduction of a regulatory regime for trade-based financial crime administered by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA); implement measures to enhance the ability of reporting entities to share information with each other to detect, deter and disrupt money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions evasion, while maintaining privacy protections for personal information, including an oversight role for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC); expanding anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (ATF) regulation to cheque cashing businesses; and enabling the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to share financial intelligence with an agency or body that administers the civil asset forfeiture legislation of a province or territory. Specifically,
- New Part 2.1 of the PCMLTFA is brought into force to allow for the regulation (reporting) of commercial goods import/export activity in the same manner as currency and monetary instruments. These new authorities allow the CBSA to report suspicions of trade-based financial crime to law enforcement and use regulatory tools to enforce compliance with traders. The amendments also clarify that the Minister of Public Safety is responsible for Parts 2 and 2.1 of the PCMLTFA. This includes consequential amendments to the Customs Act and to the Seized Property Management Act to add a reference to the new PCMLTFA Part 2.1.
- PCMLTFA amendments are brought into force to enable reporting entities to share information with each other to help detect, deter, and disrupt money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions evasion. Consequential amendments to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) are also brought into force to permit organizations subject to PIPEDA to collect, use and disclose personal information without the knowledge or consent of the individual if it was done in accordance with the new PCMLTFA amendments and PIPEDA.
- PCMLTFA amendments are brought into force to update the definition of “money services business” and “foreign money services business” to remove the exclusion of issuing and redeeming personal cheques from the legislative framework in order to facilitate the extension of regulatory requirements to cheque cashing businesses.
- PCMLTFA amendments are brought into force to allow FINTRAC to disclose financial intelligence to an agency or body that administers the civil asset forfeiture legislation of a province or territory. FINTRAC can make such a disclosure if it has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would be relevant to proceedings under the provincial or territorial civil asset forfeiture legislation and would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting a money laundering offence, a terrorist activity financing offence, or a sanctions evasion offence.
Background
Canada’s AML/ATF Regime helps to protect the integrity of Canada’s financial system and the safety and security of Canadians by detecting, deterring, and disrupting money laundering and terrorist financing. The AML/ATF Regime also helps to disincentivize the predicate criminal offences that generate proceeds of crime.
The PCMLTFA, first implemented in 2000, is a key statute in Canada’s AML/ATF Regime. Its objectives are to: facilitate the deterrence, detection, investigation and prosecution of money laundering and terrorism financing offences; counter organized crime by providing law enforcement officers with the information they need while establishing appropriate privacy safeguards; assist in fulfilling Canada’s international commitments, including under the Financial Action Task Force, to the global fight against transnational financial crime; and to protect Canada’s financial system from misuse. To these ends, the PCMLTFA obligates businesses and professionals regulated by the Act (i.e., “reporting entities”) to develop and implement compliance programs to identify clients, monitor business relationships, keep records, and report certain types of financial transactions. It further establishes FINTRAC as Canada’s AML/ATF regulator and financial intelligence unit. Several regulations support the PCMLTFA.
In recent years, the government has made a series of statutory changes and investments to strengthen and modernize the AML/ATF legislative and regulatory framework, including announcements in Budgets 2022, 2023, 2024, and the FES 2023.
Combatting transnational organized crime, fentanyl trafficking, and money laundering
On February 4, 2025, the Prime Minister issued the Directive on Transnational Crime and Border Security (the Directive). This Directive acknowledged the urgent threats that the international and domestic drug trades pose to the livelihoods and safety of Canadians, as well as the role that organized crime groups and money laundering play in driving these threats. The Directive also acknowledged the United States as Canada’s most essential partner in efforts to reduce and disrupt the shared threats posed by transnational criminal activity and drug trafficking to North America.
The Directive acknowledged transnational organized crime, cyber crime, and border security as a Canadian intelligence priority and noted two core objectives: increasing intelligence production and sharing and enhancing cooperation, to disrupt drug trafficking by transnational criminal organizations; and protect Canadian communities from the lethal threat of fentanyl and other illicit drugs. The measures included in this Order were identified as key initiatives to support this Directive. Enhancing Canada’s AML/ATF regulatory framework to crack down on trade-based financial crime, expand the reporting entity population, and enhance the role played by reporting entities to help detect money laundering and terrorist financing activities through a voluntary private-to-private information sharing framework will help Canada to better identify criminals laundering funds derived from the illegal drug trade and deprive them of their profits.
In order to implement these measures as soon as possible, the coming into force date for the trade-related financial crime, cheque cashing, and civil asset forfeiture measures included in this Order have been accelerated from October 1, 2025, as initially planned, to April 1, 2025. This accelerated timeline will allow the government of Canada to advance its efforts to tackle this urgent crisis six months sooner.
Trade-based Financial Crime
Trade-based financial crime, commonly known as trade-based money laundering (TBML), is one of the main methods used by criminals to launder the proceeds of crime. TBML is the process of manipulating trade transactions through actions such as mis-invoicing or falsely describing goods, to disguise the proceeds of crime, move value across borders, and ultimately obscure the illicit origins of money.
The Fall Economic Statement, 2023 announced the government’s intent to strengthen the CBSA’s authorities to detect, deter, and disrupt trade-based financial crime. To support this, the PCMLTFA was amended to introduce new Part 2.1 on the Reporting of Goods. At the same time, consequential amendments were introduced to the Customs Act to ensure it aligns with PCMLTFA Part 2.1 by formally incorporating the new reporting requirements. These changes reflect the CBSA’s expanded role in combatting illicit financial activity in trade and reinforce its ability to address emerging threats.
Consequential amendments were also made to relevant sections of the Seized Property Management Act (SPMA) to include references to the new Part 2.1. The SPMA is legislation that governs the management, disposal, and administration of assets seized or forfeited under various federal laws, particularly those related to criminal activities such as money laundering and drug trafficking. It allows the government to manage seized assets efficiently while legal proceedings are ongoing and ensures proper handling of forfeited property. Updating the SPMA to reflect seizures made under the new Part 2.1 ensures that property seized under this expanded legal framework is properly managed in accordance with existing federal asset management rules. This means aligning administrative processes, storage, and disposal mechanisms with those already established for other seized assets, maintaining consistency and efficiency in law enforcement efforts.
The new PCMLTFA Part 2.1 requires an Order in Council to be brought into force and the introduction of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Reporting of Goods Regulations (the Reporting of Goods Regulations) as a new regulatory title to implement the legislative amendments. These regulations will require traders (e.g., persons and entities) to declare to the CBSA whether their imported or exported goods are proceeds of crime or are related to money laundering, terrorist financing, or sanctions evasion, and attest that the goods are in fact being imported or exported in order to combat phantom shipments. Traders will also be required to retain records consistent with the records they already have to maintain for customs and tax purposes and truthfully answer questions related to the import or export of goods when asked by a CBSA border services officer. The new regulations will allow the CBSA to detect, deter and disrupt trade-related financial crime at our borders.
Information Sharing
Information sharing between private entities has been recognized internationally as an important tool for disrupting money laundering and terrorist financing by breaking down information silos that can allow criminals to evade detection when each institution only has a limited and partial view of their transactions. BIA 2024 introduced legislative amendments to the PCMLTFA and PIPEDA, to enhance the ability of reporting entities to share information with each other to detect and deter money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions evasion, while maintaining privacy protections. These amendments require an Order in Council to be brought into force, and regulatory amendments are needed to operationalize the framework. The regulations will prescribe an oversight role for FINTRAC and the OPC in an information-sharing framework for entities regulated under the PCMLTFA.
The Regulatory Amendments will set out the processes on how to share information in a manner that provides for the protection of personal information. The ability to share and exchange information for private entities will be voluntary. Reporting entities that choose to make use of the information disclosure exception will be required to develop Codes of Practice explaining how the disclosure exception will be applied. The Codes of Practice will be subject to OPC approval and review by FINTRAC. The Regulatory Amendments will also include procedures for reporting entities to modify the Code of Practice, which will recommence the OPC approval and FINTRAC review processes if the changes are material. Reporting entities will be required to resubmit their Codes of Practice to the OPC for approval and to FINTRAC for comment every five years, regardless of whether any changes were made. Information shared under the Code will be subject to existing processes under privacy law (i.e. PIPEDA).
Cheque Cashing Businesses
Cheque cashing is a financial service that offers clients the immediate, hold free, ability to cash a cheque for a fee. Canada’s 2023 Updated Assessment of Inherent Risks of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks in Canada found that cheque cashing businesses are inherently vulnerable to money laundering. For instance, cheque cashing is vulnerable to fraud and to the layering phase of money laundering, as this service can be used to add distance between illicit proceeds and their criminal source.
The government announced its intention to regulate cheque cashing businesses under the PCMLTFA in Budget 2024. BIA 2024 introduced legislative amendments to subject the cashing of personal cheques to the PCMLTFA regulatory framework. These amendments require an Order in Council to be brought into force, and regulatory amendments are needed to subject cheque cashing businesses to regulatory requirements under the PCMLTFA.
Persons and entities that provide cheque-cashing services will be regulated as money services businesses under the PCMLTFA and subject to registration requirements as set out in the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Registration Regulations. The full suite of money services business obligations will apply to this sector, including requirements to keep prescribed records, conduct client due diligence, report specified transactions, and establish a compliance program. Obligations specific to cheque cashing as a service will be introduced to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations. This will include a new requirement to verify the identity of a client that cashes a cheque valued at $3,000 or more and to keep associated records regarding the transaction. The $3,000 threshold triggering these obligations is consistent with the risk-based approach maintained by Canada’s AML/ATF regulatory framework and creates a level playing field within the regulations by aligning with the monetary threshold used for functionally similar obligations in the Regulations that represent a similar money laundering risk.
Corresponding penalties for non-compliance with these obligations will be introduced in the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations. These violations are categorized by degree of importance, from minor, to serious and very serious, and assign corresponding penalty ranges from a maximum of $1,000 per minor violation, to $500,000 per very serious violation committed by an entity. For example, this will include a very serious violation for the failure to comply with a Ministerial Directive, or to report a suspicious transaction report to FINTRAC in the case where a cheque cashing business has reasonable grounds to suspect that a transaction is related to the commission or attempted commission of a money laundering offence. The violation penalties for obligations specific to the activity of cheque cashing, such as requirements to verify client identity and keep records for prescribed cheque cashing transactions, are all classified as minor with a penalty range from $1 to $1,000 per violation.
FINTRAC Disclosure to Civil Forfeiture Offices
FINTRAC receives information and produces financial intelligence related to suspected money laundering and terrorist financing that is relevant to the efforts of civil forfeiture offices to establish that targeted property is linked to unlawful activity. FINTRAC discloses financial intelligence to prescribed investigative and intelligence organizations at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels when it has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting a money laundering offence, a terrorist activity financing offence, or a sanctions evasion offence. The information disclosed must be relevant to the recipient’s mandate. Currently, provincial law enforcement can share intelligence they received from FINTRAC with civil forfeiture offices, who have the systems and processes in place to handle such sensitive information. However, civil forfeiture offices have noted this is a less efficient way of obtaining FINTRAC intelligence, and not all relevant information is received.
Provincial and territorial civil forfeiture laws allow the state to initiate civil legal proceedings to forfeit personal property linked to unlawful activity. Civil forfeiture can be independent of any criminal proceedings or outcomes of such proceedings — it can be initiated against people who have not been charged with a crime, were acquitted, or whose charges were stayed. Eight provinces (all except Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador) and Nunavut have implemented civil asset forfeiture laws. Civil forfeiture offices in each of these jurisdictions administer their respective laws. Generally, for forfeiture to occur, the civil forfeiture office must establish before a court that the property in question is either proceeds or an instrument of unlawful activity. The civil forfeiture office can use evidence gathered by the police in making its case.
The BIA 2024 amended the PCMLTFA to permit FINTRAC to disclose financial intelligence to provincial and territorial civil forfeiture offices to support efforts to seize property linked to unlawful activity. The coming into force date was set to be determined by an Order in Council to allow FINTRAC and civil forfeiture offices to prepare for the implementation of this provision. The preparation for implementation also included discussions on ensuring processes are in place to coordinate on the appropriate, lawful use of intelligence for civil forfeiture and criminal proceedings respectively.
Implications
The Order brings into force on April 1, 2025 legislative amendments introduced in FES 2023 and BIA 2024 to implement measures related to trade-related financial crime, extend AML/ATF obligations to cheque cashing businesses, and designate civil forfeiture offices as FINTRAC disclosure recipients.
This Order also brings into force, on the day on which the Order is made, legislative amendments to the PCMLTFA and PIPEDA, to enhance the ability of reporting entities to share information with each other to detect and deter money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions evasion, while maintaining privacy protections.
Regulations that provide details needed to implement the policy framework for the legislative measures related to trade-based financial crime, information sharing, and cheque cashing businesses were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I on November 30, 2024, and are published in the Canada Gazette, Part II at the same time as this Order. The Order in Council specifies coming into force dates for the legislative amendments that align with those in the Regulatory Amendments. Specifically, the coming into force for the PCMLTFA provisions related to information sharing come into effect the day the Order is made. FINTRAC and the OPC are ready to implement the information sharing provisions upon coming into force. The coming into force for the other Regulatory Amendments related to this Order is April 1, 2025.
FINTRAC and the civil forfeiture offices are responsible for implementing the PCMLTFA amendment that will allow FINTRAC to disclose financial intelligence to civil forfeiture offices upon coming into force on April 1, 2025. This measure does not require regulatory amendments to implement.
Implementing Agencies
The CBSA is the agency responsible for providing integrated border services that support national security and public safety priorities and facilitate the free flow of persons and goods. In fulfilling this role, the CBSA is responsible for the administration of Part 2 of the PCMLTFA, which requires reporting on the cross-border movement of currency or monetary instruments valued at $10,000 or more and any associated seizures. The CBSA will also be responsible for the new Part 2.1 of the PCMLTFA related to the Reporting of Goods. In this role, the CBSA will be responsible for ensuring the compliance and enforcement of the proposed Regulations related to trade-based financial crime. CBSA publishes departmental memoranda on its website that outline the legislation, regulations, policies and procedures that the agency uses to administer its customs and travel operations and provide the public with guidelines: Departmental memoranda (cbsa-asfc.gc.ca). The CBSA will update information on its website as soon as possible and raise awareness of the changes with importers and exporters in advance of the coming into force date of the legislation and regulations. Once in force, the CBSA will enforce regulatory compliance related to these provisions at ports of entry. If non-compliance is identified, the CBSA will be able to exercise various enforcement tools, including the issuance of administrative monetary penalties.
The OPC oversees compliance with PIPEDA and is responsible for certain prescribed activities under the Regulatory Amendments related to information sharing. Once these amendments are in force, the OPC will be responsible for reviewing and approving the Codes of Practice developed by reporting entities that elect to use the framework. If the OPC deems a Code does not satisfy the criteria for approval, the OPC will provide written deficiencies to reporting entities so the Codes can be modified appropriately and resubmitted for approval. The OPC is ready to implement the information sharing provisions upon coming into force.
FINTRAC is Canada’s financial intelligence unit (FIU) and AML/ATF supervisor. In its supervisory role, FINTRAC will be responsible for ensuring the compliance and enforcement of the Regulatory Amendments related to information sharing and cheque cashing businesses. FINTRAC’s supervisory function is entirely funded from its assessment of expenses funding model to charge reporting entities for the annual cost of its compliance program. FINTRAC provides guidance and resources for reporting entities on its website: Guidance and resources for businesses (reporting entities). This includes both sector-specific guidance, as well as detailed guidance broken down by regulatory requirement. FINTRAC will update this information on its website as soon as possible and raise awareness of the changes with existing reporting entities prior to the new Amendments coming into force. FINTRAC will issue new guidance on its website and undertake outreach to cheque cashing businesses as these will become new reporting entities under the PCMLTFA. Cheque cashing businesses will also be able to consult the existing guidance library available on FINTRAC’s website prior to the publication of the new tailored guidance. Under the exceptional circumstances requiring the acceleration of coming into force of the obligations for cheque cashing businesses to April 1, 2025, in the first year following the coming into force date, FINTRAC will, in the context of its risk-based approach, put emphasis on engagement, outreach and guidance activities in order to foster greater awareness and understanding among these new reporting entities. This will include industry consultation to develop guidance such that cheque cashing businesses will be well positioned to implement and mature their compliance programs following the coming into force.After this initial period, FINTRAC will conduct ongoing supervisory activities, including assessments to ensure compliance. If non-compliance is identified, FINTRAC can impose administrative monetary penalties or take other enforcement actions, as necessary. FINTRAC’s administrative monetary penalties policy is available on its website.
In addition to its supervisory functions, as Canada’s FIU, FINTRAC produces and disseminates financial intelligence to designated disclosure recipients under the PCMLTFA. FINTRAC must disclose designated information to appropriate recipients once reasonable grounds to suspect a money laundering, terrorist activity financing offence, or threat to the security of Canada are met. The designated information that FINTRAC can disclose is prescribed in the PCMLTFA; it can include information about people (e.g., name, date of birth and address), information about entities (e.g., corporation name and number, and address), account/transaction details, and financial relationships between persons/entities.
FINTRAC has internal guidelines and best practices to ensure consistent and sound management of financial intelligence disclosures under the PCMLTFA. This will help facilitate the implementation of adding civil asset forfeiture offices as FINTRAC disclosure recipients and ensure that disclosures are made in accordance with the law. Once the provision is in force, FINTRAC will be able to proactively disclose financial intelligence to provincial and territorial civil forfeiture offices that are relevant to their activities, which will support efforts to seize property linked to unlawful activity. Once civil forfeiture offices receive intelligence from FINTRAC, they must treat the information in accordance with all relevant legislation, including applicable privacy and data protection laws. The civil forfeiture offices will be ready for implementation by the coming into force on April 1, 2025.
When the PCMLTFA amendment to add civil asset forfeiture offices as FINTRAC disclosure recipients was introduced in BIA 2024, the Charter Statement assessed it to be consistent with section 8 of the Charter, which guarantees the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure. The Charter Statement noted that disclosure is only authorized where FINTRAC has already developed reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would be relevant to the investigation of a money laundering or terrorist financing offence, and so would already be obligated to disclose it to the appropriate police force. Further, disclosure to civil asset forfeiture offices would be incidental and would contribute to the PCMLTFA’s statutory objective of depriving criminals of the proceeds of their criminal activity.
Other Implications
No specific financial, environmental, economic, or social concerns have been identified for any of the measures included in this Order. The changes, particularly those related to civil asset forfeiture offices, support positive federal-provincial/territorial relations on financial crime.
Money laundering is a threat to the safety and security of Canadians and the integrity of the financial system. The measures strengthen the AML/ATF Regime, helping to reduce the adverse effects of financial crimes on Canadians, the financial sector, and the economy. Furthermore, combatting money laundering indirectly helps to combat criminal offences that generate proceeds of crime (such as human trafficking, drug and weapons smuggling, and fraud). Victims of these linked offences are comprised of various diverse, often vulnerable, groups with different characteristics, among these are women, Indigenous Peoples, black or other racialized/visible minority communities, seniors, and newcomers or immigrants. Additionally, by contributing to Canada’s efforts to combat the laundering of proceeds derived from the trafficking of fentanyl, these measures will also indirectly benefit males and individuals aged 30 to 39 years who are most directly affected by accidental apparent opioid toxicity deaths. Most of these deaths involve fentanyl.footnote 1
Measures included in this Order also respond to Canada’s commitment, in partnership with the United States, to reduce and disrupt the shared threats posed by transnational criminal activity and drug trafficking to North America.
Consultation
The Department sought stakeholder views on possible changes to Canada’s AML/ATF Regime through its 2023 public Consultation on Strengthening Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime. While most stakeholders broadly supported enhanced information sharing and the extension of AML/ATF obligations to new sectors with higher risk, stakeholders also flagged concerns regarding privacy protections, the reporting burden on small businesses, and the proportionality of new obligations.
The Regulatory Amendments were published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on November 30, 2024, followed by a 30-day comment period that ended on December 30, 2024. The Department of Finance received comments through the Online Regulatory Consultative System (ORCS) and by e-mail. The Department received 31 submissions in total. The following summarizes the submissions related to the trade-based financial crime, information sharing, and cheque cashing related measures.
On February 4, 2025, following the conclusion of the pre-publication consultation on the Regulatory Amendments, the Prime Minister issued the Directive on Transnational Crime and Border Security. As the measures in this Order were identified as key initiatives to support this Directive, the coming into force dates for the trade-based financial crime and cheque cashing measures were accelerated to April 1, 2025 from the initial proposed October 1, 2025 date that was identified during prepublication public consultation period. In order to ease this accelerated approach, the Department of Finance, in partnership with the CBSA and FINTRAC has informed impacted industry of the acceleration of this coming into force date and has committed to working with regulated persons and businesses to ease the implementation process along this accelerated and exceptional timeline. Supervisory activities related to these measures intend to place emphasis on engagement and outreach in the first calendar year following coming into force to improve awareness and understanding of compliance obligations under the PCMLTFA and its associated Regulations.
Trade-related Financial Crime
The Department of Finance received feedback from seven stakeholders on the Reporting of Goods Regulations, leading to one key change in the Regulatory Amendments. Specifically, the base administrative monetary penalty was increased from $1 to $150 to align with the Low-Value Amount Regulations under the Financial Administration Act and the CBSA’s penalty framework.
Other stakeholder requests, such as clearer guidance on declarations, responsibilities, and supply chain implications, as well as concerns about protecting sensitive business information, will be addressed by the CBSA through implementation guidance. Suggestions for enhanced government collaboration, artificial intelligence-based fraud detection, and additional due diligence measures were noted but fall outside the current regulatory scope. The Department also confirmed that the existing record-keeping requirements already encompass a broad range of documentation necessary to detect trade fraud, aligning with international best practices. Additionally, the regulations support international cooperation by enabling the CBSA to share trade data with foreign governments to combat trade-based financial crime.
Information Sharing
The Department of Finance received comments from eleven stakeholders on the information-sharing framework, leading to several changes in the Regulatory Amendments. In response to stakeholder feedback, the regulations now require Codes of Practice to specify the personal information that may be disclosed, removed redundant provisions regarding additional information for the OPC, extended the OPC approval timeline from 90 to 120 days, and eliminated the complaints provision due to redundancy with PIPEDA.
Other requests, such as reducing the regulatory burden, explicitly defining the scope of personal information, creating a centralized platform, or granting the OPC additional oversight powers, were not adopted to maintain privacy protections and align with the voluntary nature of the framework. While stakeholders sought clearer guidance and standardized templates for Codes of Practice, these concerns will be addressed through ongoing discussions rather than regulatory changes. Additionally, the framework remains consistent with federal and provincial privacy legislation, ensuring that businesses comply with applicable laws. The Department also declined to introduce additional transparency requirements, citing concerns that increased disclosures could enable bad-faith actors to circumvent AML/ATF efforts.
Cheque Cashing Businesses
The Department of Finance received comments from two industry associations regarding Regulatory Amendments for cheque cashing businesses. No changes were made to the regulations based on this feedback. One stakeholder requested updates to the RIAS to clarify that payday lending is not subject to AML/ATF regulation and sought guidance on large cash transaction reporting, which was referred to FINTRAC for further clarification. Another stakeholder, representing credit unions, raised concerns that the regulations might limit access to cheque cashing services for certain groups and create regulatory burden. The Department maintained that the $3,000 identity verification threshold is appropriate for managing money laundering risks while minimizing undue burden and updated the RIAS to confirm that the new obligations apply only to money services businesses, not credit unions.
FINTRAC Disclosure to Civil Forfeiture Offices
This provision does not require regulatory amendments and was therefore not included in the Regulatory Amendments that were published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on November 30, 2024. Relevant consultations on this measure took place in summer 2023.
From June to August 2023, the government held a public Consultation on Strengthening Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime, which sought views on, among other things, ways different orders of government can better collaborate on civil asset forfeiture. In response, several stakeholders (provincial government ministries, a consulting firm and two individuals with expertise on anti-money laundering issues) expressed support for FINTRAC disclosing financial intelligence to civil forfeiture offices to support their activities. The Department of Finance did not receive any submission expressing concerns or opposition to this policy. In addition, the Department of Finance has received requests from civil forfeiture offices and the National Civil Forfeiture Committee, which brings together representatives from civil forfeiture offices across Canada, for civil forfeiture offices to become recipients of FINTRAC intelligence disclosures.
Contact
Erin Hunt
Director General
Financial Crimes and Security Division
Financial Sector Policy Branch
Department of Finance
90 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G5