Canada: Money Laundering

A recent Alberta court decision provides critical guidance on Canadian sanctions compliance, examining how businesses must assess whether counterparties are controlled by sanctioned entities through voting power, board composition, and governance structures. The case demonstrates that sanctions screening extends far beyond checking names on official lists, requiring deeper analysis of corporate ownership chains and practical control mechanisms.

Expanding a payment business into Canada requires navigating FINTRAC's Money Services Business registration framework. Understanding the regulatory requirements, compliance obligations, and practical steps for MSB registration helps international payment providers establish compliant operations in one of the world's most established financial markets.

FINTRAC's 2026 Industry Day webinar revealed critical compliance deficiencies across Canada's AML/ATF framework, highlighting gaps in risk assessment, ongoing monitoring, training programs, and effectiveness reviews. The presentation emphasized that reporting entities must demonstrate not only that compliance controls exist on paper, but that they are current, consistently applied, risk-based, appropriately documented, and tested in practice. These observations carry significant implications for financial i

The Reporter provides a monthly summary of Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments of relevance to federally regulated financial institutions.

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) released its latest annual compliance report (the Report) which details areas of focus for CIRO-regulated dealers in 2026 and beyond.

On March 26, 2026, Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, received royal assent. The Bill significantly amends Canada’s anti-money laundering (AML) legislation...

2026 will see increased compliance and enforcement in Canada's financial services, focusing on anti-money laundering measures and new regulations.

In this article, we highlight the top takeaways from Torys' webinar "Dealing with FINTRAC: Navigating FINTRAC supervision and enforcement", hosted on November 25, 2025.

Although terrorist designations are not new, before the latest cartel designations, companies often had significantly less exposure because the jurisdictions implicated...