Backgrounder: Establishment of a new liaison function to support efforts countering extortion

Overview

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) will establish a liaison function dedicated to enhanced operational activities aimed at countering extortion through accelerated production and sharing of tactical financial intelligence. Complemented with surge operational resources, this liaison function will provide regular, onsite engagement with select law enforcement agencies, fostering timely exchange of operational insights and identification of emerging money laundering indicators relevant to extortion.

Rationale

The rise in extortion-related criminal activities necessitates a focused and agile response to support law enforcement investigations and private sector detection efforts. Drawing on the success of FINTRAC's rapid intelligence production model pilot launched in 2025 to prioritize intelligence related to the fentanyl surge, FINTRAC will replicate and bolster that approach to the extortion threat. The model demonstrated that dedicated resources and close liaison with law enforcement significantly enhanced intelligence development and provision to law enforcement. This effort will make sure that provincial and municipal police forces have financial intelligence to support them in their work against this crime.

Key components

Liaison Officers

Financial Intelligence Liaison Officers will be deployed to engage directly with priority law enforcement agencies in targeted areas, such as British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

These officers will build new and bolster existing relationships with law enforcement to provide on-the-ground financial intelligence expertise. The activities will emphasize purposeful and focused outreach that provides financial intelligence expertise to police of jurisdiction and helps them fully leverage FINTRAC's capabilities to support their investigations and disruption activities. They will provide education and insights on engaging with FINTRAC to enable our intelligence work and they will receive insights and feedback on how the crime of extortion is evolving in their jurisdictions to communicate back to analysts at FINTRAC.

These targeted engagements will build new and deepen existing lines of communication, expand mutual understanding of priorities and information holdings, identify intelligence gaps and support faster and more effective information flows related to cases of this type of criminality.

Analytical support

Reassigned intelligence officers will:

provide up-to-date insights to liaison officers, internal FINTRAC analysts, law enforcement, and the Security and Intelligence (S&I) community through a focus on strategic analysis of disclosures and reporting and identifying and relevant extortion-related indicators;
accelerate the development of financial intelligence disclosures involving extortion proceeds. Their work will generate actionable intelligence for law enforcement and identify trends, patterns, and emerging threats to be communicated on a regular basis; and
support domestic and international engagement, contribute to ongoing strategic assessments, enhance international cooperation, and monitor/report on operational results.

Expected outcomes

Rapid and prioritized deployment of financial intelligence resources to address extortion threats.
Enhanced operational support to law enforcement agencies through onsite liaison and expert engagement.
Accelerated development and dissemination of tactical and strategic intelligence products.
Improved identification and communication of emerging money laundering indicators relevant to extortion.

Conclusion

The establishment of this focused liaison function, supported by analytical resources and increased domestic and international cooperation, will provide a rapid and targeted response to this evolving threat. By leveraging FINTRAC's expertise and proven operational models, this initiative will enhance the effectiveness of financial intelligence in supporting law enforcement. It will also enable the identification and sharing of indicators and trends to increase private sector efforts to detect, investigate, and disrupt extortion-related criminal activities.

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