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Key takeaways
- The Financial Crimes Agency (FCA) will be an independent agency under the Minister of Finance, possessing full investigative authority and police powers across Canada.
- The FCA will collaborate with international law enforcement and has federal prosecution powers, enhancing enforcement capabilities against financial crimes.
- The bill aims to address longstanding criticisms of Canada’s enforcement of financial crimes, following previous initiatives that have had limited success.
On April 27, 2026, the federal government introduced long-awaited legislation providing for the creation of the Financial Crimes Agency (FCA), a specialized law enforcement agency dedicated to investigating serious and complex financial crimes and contributing to the recovery of proceeds of crime.
Bill C-29, An Act to establish the Financial Crimes Agency and to make consequential amendments to certain Acts and regulations, has been many years in the making. The creation of the FCA was first proposed in the Liberal Party’s 2021 platform and was featured in several subsequent budgets.
While the details of the FCA’s operational infrastructure will continue to take shape as the bill progresses through Parliament, its establishment — if enacted — will represent Canada’s latest attempt to give its financial crime enforcement regime real teeth.
Key features of Bill C-29
Bill C-29 was tabled in the House of Commons on April 27 and has completed its first reading. The bill must still pass second reading (including a parliamentary committee review), third reading and Senate approval before becoming law. Amendments are likely as it moves through the legislative process.
As it currently stands, the bill sets out the following key features of the new FCA.
Structure and governance
The FCA will operate as an independent agency under the Minister of Finance and be headed by a Commissioner appointed by the Governor in Council (although the Minister may direct the Commissioner on matters affecting policy or strategic direction). It will be headquartered in Ottawa, with the Commissioner able (with the Minister’s approval) to establish regional offices across Canada.
The FCA will be subject to annual reporting and parliamentary oversight, and its enacting legislation will be reviewed by the Minister on its five-year anniversary.
Operational police powers
The FCA is designed to be an operational law enforcement body, not merely an advisory or intelligence unit (unlike the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)). The Commissioner may designate employees as investigations officers or police officers with peace officer powers across Canada. This gives FCA officers full investigative authority, including the tools available to law enforcement under the Criminal Code, rather than relying solely on referrals from existing law enforcement.
The bill also contemplates an arrangement with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for the provision of its services and assistance.
Broad investigative mandate
Bill C-29 adopts an expansive definition of “financial crime,” capturing any federal offence involving financial assets (including digital assets), financial services or financial markets. Specifically, this includes
- offences involving laundering, trafficking or possession of proceeds of crime, or conduct that threatens the security or integrity of Canada’s economy or financial system
- designated Criminal Code offences that generate proceeds of crime
- offences under the PCMLTFA
Cross-border cooperation and information sharing
Recognizing that financial crime frequently crosses borders, the bill empowers the FCA to collaborate with foreign law enforcement and public bodies. The Commissioner may open investigations on its own initiative or upon request from — or in collaboration with — law enforcement bodies domestically or internationally.
The bill also contemplates information-sharing and collaboration arrangements and includes consequential amendments to several laws, notably including the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the sharing of biometric information and related personal information, and the Special Economic Measures Act and Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Magnitsky Act) to integrate the FCA into Canada’s sanctions enforcement framework.
These provisions position the FCA as a key participant in both domestic inter-agency coordination and international enforcement efforts.
Federal prosecution powers
Under the bill, the Attorney General of Canada may prosecute any financial crime investigated by the FCA. Notably, the Attorney General may also issue a “fiat” — a formal assertion of exclusive federal jurisdiction — over a provincial prosecution where the alleged offence is transnational in nature, spans more than one province or engages the national interest. While this tool may streamline prosecutions in complex, multi-jurisdictional cases, it will likely invite debate about the appropriate division of federal and provincial authority in criminal matters.
In its Spring Economic Update [PDF], released on April 28, 2026, the federal government committed to financially supporting the FCA’s ambitious mandate with $352.7 million over five years, starting in 2026–2027 (spread out across the FCA, Public Prosecution Services of Canada and the Department of Finance). The update also announced the federal government’s intention to explore new criminal justice reforms to support the investigation and prosecution of complex financial crimes.
Significant development in Canadian financial crimes enforcement
For many years, Canada has faced criticism over a perceived lack of enforcement of white-collar and financial crime, including corruption and money laundering. These include, among other things, the findings of the 2022 Cullen Commission tasked with inquiring into and determining where and how money laundering is taking place in British Columbia, the 2023 report of the OECD’s Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions’ Phase 4 evaluation of Canada’s performance under the OECD Convention and Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index, ranking countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption.
Enforcement efforts into serious financial crimes more generally have been hampered by Canada’s patchwork enforcement landscape. Investigative and prosecutorial responsibilities have been divided among FINTRAC (which gathers valuable financial intelligence but lacks arrest powers), the RCMP (which has struggled with resource constraints and competing priorities), provincial police forces, securities regulators and the Canada Revenue Agency. This fragmented system has produced modest results: financial crime investigations (which are long and complex) have been difficult to sustain, prosecutions have been rare and asset recovery has lagged.
The FCA’s introduction follows a recent trend of establishing specialized enforcement authorities in Canada, including the Serious Frauds Office in Ontario and the RCMP’s Integrated Market Enforcement Team, which last year launched a National Special Advisory Group pilot project, building on the success of the Toronto-specific Special Advisory Group pilot project launched in 2021.
Legislative improvements — to the Criminal Code, Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and related laws and regulations — have also been steadily introduced consistent with the federal government’s Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime Strategy 2023–2026 [PDF] to address weaknesses in information sharing, low levels of investigations and prosecutions, and legislative and regulatory gaps. Notably, in February of last year, the federal government launched a new Integrated Money Laundering Intelligence Partnership (IMLIP), which aims to improve the sharing of money laundering and organized crime intelligence between law enforcement and Canada’s big banks.
However, these measures have had limited impact to date in spurring financial crime enforcement in Canada. The FCA is the latest attempt by government in Canada to create a more robust enforcement framework. It remains to be seen whether it will lead to more rigorous enforcement where other initiatives have not.
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