Canada tables financial crime bill to tighten anti-money laundering and mail search rules

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Canada financial crime bill

Highlights

Bill S-8 expands FINTRAC's powers, tightens money services business registration, restricts crypto ATMs, and bans large cash transactions over C$10,000.
The legislation allows law enforcement to search mail under lawful authority and enables financial-sector information sharing for anti-money laundering efforts.
Budget 2025 allocates C$1.7 billion over four years for RCMP crime response and Spring Economic Update 2026 proposes C$352.7 million over five years for a new Financial Crimes Agency.

Bill S-8 expands enforcement tools

As reported by Government of Canada, Bill S-8, the Combatting Financial Crimes and Drug Trafficking Act, introduces a broader set of powers aimed at detecting, disrupting and deterring economic crime. The legislation targets abuse of money services businesses by strengthening registration rules, increasing criminal record checks and expanding FINTRAC's authority to refuse or revoke registrations.

The bill also seeks to curb unlawful crypto ATMs while preserving access to provincially licensed and regulated machines and to in-person and online cryptocurrency exchanges. In addition, it restricts large cash transactions of C$10,000 or more and third-party cash deposits, measures the government says are aimed at common money laundering channels linked to fraud and drug trafficking.

Another provision amends the Canada Post Corporation Act to allow law enforcement to search and seize mail when they already have lawful authority under the Criminal Code, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, or the Cannabis Act. The government says the change aligns Canada Post with private courier companies and does not allow postal inspectors to open letters.

Broader financial crime strategy and funding

Ottawa says the legislation builds on measures set out in Budget 2025 and the Spring Economic Update 2026, including efforts against extortion, work on a National Anti-Fraud Strategy and the planned creation of a Financial Crimes Agency. The bill also allows regulated businesses to receive and use information disclosed by law enforcement for anti-money laundering purposes, a step intended to support cooperation with major banks through the Integrated Money Laundering Intelligence Partnership.

On April 27, 2026, the government introduced Bill C-29 to establish the Financial Crimes Agency as Canada's lead enforcement body for financial crime. The Spring Economic Update 2026 proposes C$352.7 million over five years starting in 2026-27, plus C$82.1 million ongoing, for the agency, alongside C$46.2 million over five years and C$11.5 million ongoing for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, and C$19.6 million over five years and C$1.5 million ongoing for the Department of Finance Canada.

Budget 2025 also provides C$1.7 billion over four years for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to strengthen its response to transnational organized crime, financial crime and money laundering. Since 2019, the government says it has invested close to C$379 million to bolster FINTRAC supervision, financial intelligence and investigative capacity.

Our earlier article on Q3 2026 cybersecurity and privacy startup activity highlighted a surge to $6.8 billion in funding, driven by larger late-stage rounds even as overall deal counts fell. It also noted accelerating consolidation, with major anti-fraud and identity-security deals underscoring how investment and M&A are increasingly shaped by the need to strengthen fraud detection in an AI-driven threat environment.

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