Canada

Canada is an advanced G7 country situated in the northern region of North America and is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories, with the capital city being Ottawa. The country enjoys a stable constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy and is known to have minimal amounts of systemic public corruption. However, owing to its open economy and global market proximity, Canada continues to experience money laundering risks. Under its Governance structure, the federal government controls financial activities in Canada mainly through the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA). Canada has made radical changes to its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) framework in anticipation of FATF mutual evaluations. Bill C-12 and the Budget 2025 Implementation Act are some of the major reforms that have helped strengthen the enforcement framework. The financial intelligence unit, FINTRAC, has gained additional powers through the issuance of compliance orders and the imposition of AMPs for up to $20 million or 3% of global revenue.

In terms of the Regulatory Oversight sphere, the regulatory oversight scope has been expanded in order to address systemic vulnerabilities, to make beneficial ownership discrepancy reporting obligatory, and to include lessors, factors, and stablecoin issuers in the list of organizations directly responsible for AML. As far as the Sanctions sphere is concerned, Canada ensures compliance with sanctions through the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA). Recent directives of the [Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)] are aimed at aggressive targeting of trade-based financial crimes and require cross-border traders to attest to the absence of sanctions evasion on the goods they import or export. At the same time, new private-to-private information sharing provisions allow financial institutions to cooperate more closely in order to fight against illegal activities. As for the Risk sphere, Canada is vulnerable to professional money laundering ("snow washing"), organized crime groups, drug trafficking, and financial crime perpetrated using the latest technologies. Real estate, valuables, and corporations are main conduits for placing such illicit money. Therefore, Canada has introduced a federal beneficial ownership registry, as well as an anti-fraud strategy and plans for a federal Financial Crimes Agency.