The parliamentary committee is calling on the Trudeau government to provide information on a financial crime-fighting program it introduced three years ago and has committed to in the last two budgets. The Commons foreign affairs committee released a report on Jan. 31, stating that the government had announced its intention to establish a Canada Financial Crimes Agency (CFCA) in Budget 2022, a commitment that was reinforced in the 2023 budget. The report said that the Finance Department had informed the committee in June 2023 that Public Safety Canada was working on potential options for the scope and mandate of such an agency, but no specific details have been revealed.
The committee’s report requested Ottawa to create the necessary guidelines for running the agency and urged the government to provide information on the structure and mandate of the proposed Canada Financial Crimes Agency in Budget 2024. Additionally, it recommended that the government consider designating a unit within the agency to handle sanctions enforcement. The Liberals initially proposed the creation of the CFCA in their 2021 re-election platform and committed $200 million to the agency over the next four years.
In the report, the Liberals emphasized the importance of establishing a nationwide agency dedicated to investigating complex financial crimes and enforcing federal law in this area. They planned to leverage the resources and expertise of the RCMP, Canada Revenue Agency, and FINTRAC under one roof. Independently, FINTRAC stated in a report that China is involved in numerous money laundering transactions and other fraudulent financial activity in Canada. The federal government had launched a public consultation to improve Canada’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime, and Public Safety Canada issued a tender notice seeking a contractor to help develop the final report outlining options for the design of the CFCA, due March 31, 2024.