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New Federal Agency to Fight Financial Crime

An Act to establish the Financial Crimes Agency and to make consequential amendments to certain Acts and regulations

Summary

  • Creates a new federal Financial Crimes Agency under the Minister of Finance to investigate serious and complex financial crimes (including digital assets), and to recover proceeds of crime.
  • Authorizes the Commissioner to designate investigators and police officers with peace officer powers, requires an operational arrangement with the RCMP, and allows the Attorney General of Canada to prosecute cases and, by fiat, take exclusive carriage where transnational, multi‑provincial, or national‑interest factors apply.
  • Expands information‑sharing across federal regimes (e.g., sanctions and Magnitsky laws, security information disclosure, immigration biometrics, citizenship, employment and social development) and enables property acquisitions/dispositions to support covert operations.
  • Grants HR and staffing flexibilities outside some Financial Administration Act constraints, mandates annual reporting and a five‑year review, and routes public complaints about designated FCA police officers to the Public Complaints and Review Commission.

Builder Assessment

Vote Yes

This bill materially strengthens Canada’s capacity to combat complex financial crime, which supports prosperity, investor confidence, and national security. Its benefits depend on disciplined implementation that avoids duplication, protects privacy, and ensures transparent use of powerful prosecution tools.

  • Pros: specialized enforcement against illicit finance, stronger sanctions/Magnitsky enforcement, improved cross-government data flows, focus on recovering proceeds of crime.
  • Risks: mandate overlap with existing federal/provincial units; potential bureaucratic growth; broad data access (including biometrics) and ministerial direction powers; centralization of prosecutorial control via fiat.
  • Safeguards to add: mandatory MOUs and a de-confliction protocol with RCMP, FINTRAC, CRA, OSFI, CBSA, provinces; clear case-selection criteria published annually; service standards for time-to-charge and time-to-seizure; annual targets for proceeds-of-crime recovered and sanctions enforcement outcomes.
  • Accountability: embed public cost caps and a value-for-money framework; require independent performance and privacy audits (including OPC-reviewed PIAs and strict retention/deletion rules); publish all ministerial directions promptly with reasons.
  • Federalism and independence: define transparent, narrow triggers for federal prosecution fiats, with post-fiat reporting to Parliament; affirm PPSC independence in operational decisions.
  • Business impact: commit to no new private-sector reporting burdens unless replacing or consolidating existing ones; prioritize risk-based, intelligence-led enforcement to protect law-abiding firms while enhancing safety for Canadians.

Question Period Cards

What is the projected multi-year cost, headcount, and timeline to full operational capability for the Financial Crimes Agency, and how will the government prevent overlap with FINTRAC, RCMP IMET, CRA Criminal Investigations, and provincial police services?

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Given the bill authorizes the Agency to collect, retain, and share sensitive financial and biometric data, what statutory safeguards and independent audits will ensure privacy protection, data minimization, and prompt deletion once information is no longer needed?

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When the Attorney General of Canada uses a fiat to take exclusive control of a case, what transparent criteria, reporting to Parliament, and safeguards will protect prosecutorial independence and respect provincial jurisdiction?

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Principles Analysis

✓

Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.

Stronger enforcement against money laundering, fraud, and sanctions evasion supports market integrity, investor confidence, and recovery of criminal proceeds that can be reinvested productively.

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Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).

Centralizing expertise may streamline complex financial-crime work, but creating a new agency risks duplication with RCMP, FINTRAC, CRA, and provincial units unless de-confliction and clear mandates are enforced.

✓

Drive national productivity and global competitiveness.

Cleaner, safer financial markets reduce illicit distortions and reputational risk, improving competitiveness for legitimate firms and capital formation.

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Grow exports of Canadian products and resources.

The bill does not directly target trade or export expansion, though improved financial integrity can indirectly support Canada’s trade reputation.

✓

Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.

Reducing financial crime risk — including in digital assets — can attract investment and protect innovators and resource developers from illicit interference.

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Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).

HR flexibilities and an RCMP service arrangement could improve agility, but without clear cost controls and performance benchmarks, efficiency gains are uncertain.

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Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.

No direct tax reform; any impact is indirect via better enforcement that may deter tax-related financial crimes.

✓

Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.

Standing up a specialized national agency with police powers and broad information-sharing is a structural reform aimed at systemic integrity rather than a small tweak.

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C-29

PartyMinister of Finance and National Revenue
StatusAt second reading in the House of Commons
Last updatedN/A
TopicsCriminal Justice, Economics, National Security, Technology and Innovation, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Commerce, Immigration
Parliament45