Strengthening Canada’s anti-money laundering regime through collaboration and capacity building

December 3, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario

Money laundering is a complex and significant problem that threatens the integrity and stability of the financial sector and broader economy. It is a serious crime that affects Canadians' safety, security and quality of life. Criminal organizations rely on laundered funds to feed other criminal activity like corruption, fraud, drug and human trafficking and other serious crimes that harm our communities.

Today marks the conclusion of a weeklong virtual conference, which brought together more than 850 investigators, prosecutors and other experts from across Canada to discuss anti-money laundering enforcement efforts. Organized by the Financial Crimes Coordination Centre (FC3), it was the first large scale conference of anti-money laundering professionals in this country.

Key areas of discussion included:

• COVID-19's impact on money laundering trends
• sophisticated and current money laundering tactics including the use of virtual currency;
• information sharing and investigational challenges and best practices; and
• prosecutorial perspectives and lessons learned.

The Financial Crimes Coordination Centre is a five-year pilot initiative first announced in Budget 2019. Now operational, the FC3 will coordinate support to investigators and prosecutors across jurisdictions. Its creation signals an important step in strengthening Canada's Anti-Money Laundering Regime and demonstrates the Government of Canada's commitment to taking stronger action on combatting financial crime.

The FC3's inaugural conference concluded with a renewed sense of determination to improving enforcement outcomes.