Trade reporting, cheque cashing added to AML rules

Summary#

This Order in Council fixes the dates when parts of the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 and the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 come into force. Most of the changes take effect on April 1, 2025, while certain information-sharing rules came into force on the day the Order was made (February 4, 2025). The changes bring new reporting rules at the border, a private information‑sharing framework, cheque‑cashing businesses under anti‑money‑laundering rules, and allow FINTRAC to share intelligence with civil forfeiture offices.

What it does#

• Brings into force a new Part 2.1 of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) to regulate trade-related reporting of imported and exported goods.
  • The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will require traders to declare whether goods are proceeds of crime, keep records, and answer questions at the border.
• Allows regulated entities to voluntarily share information with each other to detect money laundering, terrorist financing, and sanctions evasion.
  • Amendments to the PCMLTFA and Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) create this framework.
  • The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) have oversight roles for the Codes of Practice that participants must use.
• Extends anti‑money‑laundering rules to cheque‑cashing services by updating the PCMLTFA definitions so these businesses are treated as money services businesses.
  • Businesses that cash personal cheques must follow registration, record‑keeping, client ID, transaction reporting, and compliance program rules.
  • Identity must be verified for cheque‑cashing transactions of $3,000 or more.
  • Penalties for non‑compliance range from $1 to $1,000 for minor violations, up to $500,000 for very serious violations; the base administrative penalty was set at $150 in one rule change.
• Allows FINTRAC to disclose financial intelligence directly to provincial and territorial civil forfeiture offices when it has reasonable grounds the information is relevant.
• Timing: information‑sharing provisions came into force on February 4, 2025; most other measures come into force on April 1, 2025.

Who's affected#

• CBSA — will enforce the new goods‑reporting rules at ports of entry.
• Traders, importers and exporters — may face new declaration and record‑keeping requirements at the border.
• Cheque‑cashing businesses — newly regulated as money services businesses with ID, record, and reporting duties.
• FINTRAC — gains a new disclosure recipient class (civil forfeiture offices) and supervises cheque‑cashing and info‑sharing rules.
• Provincial and territorial civil forfeiture offices — can receive FINTRAC intelligence to support asset forfeiture cases.
• Reporting entities and other private businesses that choose to share information — must prepare Codes of Practice and meet oversight requirements from FINTRAC and the OPC.
• Individuals — may see more checks (for example, ID checks for cheques $3,000+) and their personal information may be shared under the new, narrowly defined frameworks.

Why it matters#

• Border enforcement will now target trade‑based money laundering more directly. That aims to stop criminals who hide value in cross‑border goods transactions.
• Bringing cheque‑cashing into the AML regime means those services will have to confirm identity and keep records, which could reduce misuse but may add steps for customers and small providers.
• Voluntary private‑to‑private information sharing could help spot complex laundering patterns that no single business sees on its own. The OPC and FINTRAC oversight is meant to protect privacy, but the change raises privacy and compliance questions for businesses and individuals.
• Letting FINTRAC send intelligence to civil forfeiture offices may lead to more civil seizures of assets linked to suspected unlawful activity — including in cases where criminal charges are not laid.
• The government accelerated the start dates (from an earlier plan of October 1, 2025) so these tools are available earlier, on April 1, 2025, to respond to urgent threats like illicit drug trafficking.