Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada's 2024-2025 Departmental plan at a glance

A departmental plan describes a department's priorities, plans and associated costs for the upcoming three fiscal years.

• Vision, mission, raison d'être and operating context
• Minister's mandate letter

Read the full departmental plan

Key priorities

Modernization and innovation

• Explore new analytical methods and techniques, and implement investments in data science, data analytics, data governance and data management capabilities.
• Spearhead the adoption of productivity tools that will boost efficiency, foster collaboration and support corporate enablers. Tools will be selected for their adaptability, user-friendliness, and capacity to enhance various corporate functions.
• Advance the realignment of certain functions within FINTRAC to ensure the rapid adoption of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Partnerships, collaboration, and awareness

• Support the Department of Finance Canada to prepare for the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) fifth round Mutual Evaluation of Canada's AML/ATF Regime.
• Implement legislative and regulatory amendments and continue to provide guidance and support to all reporting entity sectors.
• Provide ongoing support to the Parliamentary Review of the PCMLTFA.
• Expand upon the highly successful, industry-led, public-private partnerships by identifying new areas of risk and additional indicators of potential money laundering.
• Regularly review and evaluate the new assessment of expenses (i.e., cost recovery) funding model throughout its maturity.

Refocusing government spending

In Budget 2023, the government committed to reducing spending by $14.1 billion over the next five years, starting in 2023–24, and by $4.1 billion annually after that.

As part of meeting this commitment, FINTRAC is planning the following spending reductions.

• 2024–25: $1,342,000
• 2025–26: $1,675,000
• 2026–27 and after: $2,132,000

FINTRAC will achieve these reductions by doing the following:

• Operating efficiencies will be gained through three strategies:
  • Leveraging cloud-based infrastructure to replace on-premise infrastructure and software licenses.
  • Phasing out costly software licenses and replacing them with more cost efficient, modern services. These modern services will use automation for routine tasks which will also allow FINTRAC to reduce staff through attrition.
  • Finally, FINTRAC will obtain cost efficiencies through the pursuit of tools enabled by artificial intelligence to assist in the preparation of strategic and operational materials and guidance.
• Travel efficiencies will be gained through reviews of planned travel as well as leveraging tools for virtual attendance wherever possible while continuing to meet FINTRAC's operational requirements.
• Professional services efficiencies will be gained through a thorough review of current and projected contracts with external vendors. Reductions will be primarily supported by optimizing new technologies and modern processes that have been brought about by previous investments, and through the use of existing staff to replace external consultants.

The figures in this departmental plan reflect these reductions.

Highlights

A Departmental Results Framework consists of an organization's core responsibilities, the results it plans to achieve, and the performance indicators that measure progress towards these results.

Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Legislation and Regulations

Departmental results:

• Reporting entities are compliant with their anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing obligations and requirements.

Planned spending: $49,361,846

Planned human resources: 273

To effectively evolve the compliance framework towards a supervisory one requires the right suite of policies and procedures, supported by the right systems and training mechanisms, together with a capacity to change within a complex and dynamic operating environment.

In 2024–25, FINTRAC plans to undertake the following major activities:

• FINTRAC will work closely with the Department of Finance Canada, other Regime partners, foreign financial intelligence units and international organizations to help enhance global knowledge of money laundering and terrorist activity financing issues and to combat the threat posed by these and other financial crimes.
• As part the fifth round Mutual Evaluation of Canada's AML/ATF Regime, FINTRAC will actively support a number of initiatives led by the Department of Finance Canada, including a self-assessment of the Regime to identify gaps and priority actions to address those gaps. The Centre will also advance a number of internal activities to prepare for the review.
• In 2024–25, FINTRAC will update its operations to align with recent legislative and regulatory amendments to the PCMLTFA, including the enhancement of terrorist property reports to include the reporting of sanctions information by reporting entities, and enhancements of the money services businesses (MSB) registration framework. FINTRAC will also conclude the implementation of a new method to receive system-to-system reports, and an updated FINTRAC web reporting system.
• In addition, FINTRAC will implement a solution to ensure alignment with legislative amendments that were introduced in 2021 and 2022 to cover Armoured Cars and Mortgage Lenders respectively under the PCMLTFA as new reporting entities. FINTRAC will conduct outreach and focus its supervisory activities to assist the new regulated entities in understanding their obligations, and to build new relationships with regulators and associations.
• In 2024–25, FINTRAC will be implementing new legislative measures to bring white-label automated teller machines (ATMs) and title insurers into the Regime, as well as other initiatives that form part of Budget Implementation Act no. 2, 2023.
• FINTRAC will support the Department of Finance Canada in assessing opportunities to address legislative and regulatory gaps flowing from the Parliamentary Review of the PCMLTFA.
• FINTRAC will ensure strong administration of its new funding model (i.e., cost recovery) by conducting multi-year forecasting exercises to inform the estimated total costs of the Compliance program that it will recover from reporting entities. FINTRAC will routinely review and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the funding model throughout its maturity.
• FINTRAC will continue to modernize its compliance-led activities by equipping the Centre and its people with automation, digital tools and advanced data management solutions that leverage innovative technologies.
• In 2024–25, FINTRAC will operationalize its new compliance MOU with the Bank of Canada (Bank) which will enable the sharing of information on payment service providers (PSPs) and MSBs.
• As a partner in the Government of Canada's National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, FINTRAC will continue to raise awareness and support survivors of human trafficking as they work to regain their financial freedom.
• To evolve our innovative partnerships with domestic stakeholders, FINTRAC will continue to engage with diverse stakeholders to advance whole-of-system operational alignment and effectiveness. Current priorities include a risk framework for reporting.
• To enable reporting entities to meet their obligations, FINTRAC will provide ongoing guidance and support through conferences, working groups, training sessions, as well as through collaboration with industry associations and other regulators. Key investments will be made to enhance engagement and support Canadian businesses by introducing new online educational products and automated onboarding tutorials that are sector-specific.
• FINTRAC will support, collaborate with, and build the capability of the reporting entity population to ensure they have access to tools, guidance and information that allows them to play a part in creating a financial system free from criminal abuse.

More information about Compliance with Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Legislation and Regulations can be found in the full departmental plan.

Production and dissemination of financial intelligence

Departmental results:

• FINTRAC's tactical intelligence informs investigative actions.
• FINTRAC's strategic financial intelligence informs policy and decision-making.

Planned spending: $45,123,869

Planned human resources: 237

As part of its core mandate, FINTRAC provides actionable financial intelligence to Canada's law enforcement and national security agencies to help them combat money laundering, terrorist activity financing and threats to the security of Canada. The Centre's intelligence plays a key role in helping to protect the safety of Canadians, particularly Canada's most vulnerable citizens and communities.

In 2024–25, FINTRAC plans to undertake the following major activities:

• FINTRAC will strengthen its intelligence capabilities by advancing targeted investments, such as the intelligence suite renewal program, that enhance the quality of financial intelligence disclosures. FINTRAC's approach will support cutting-edge analysis through more rapid adoption of solutions that better integrate with FINTRAC's analytical system.
• FINTRAC will access new analytical methods and techniques, and augment its data science, data analytics, data governance and data management capabilities to ensure the Centre can strategically and sustainably manage, enhance, use and share intelligence data to adapt to the ever-changing threat environment.
• FINTRAC will operationalize Canada's National Inherent Risk Assessment (NIRA) of current and emerging risks of money laundering and terrorist financing to inform the production of FINTRAC's strategic intelligence, tactical intelligence disclosures and targeted threat analysis products.
• As FINTRAC looks to strengthen collaboration and build innovative partnerships with stakeholders, priority will be given to supporting FINTRAC's highly successful, industry-led, public-private partnerships (PPPs).
• Internationally, FINTRAC will support and expand collaboration with key stakeholders to counter major transnational organized crime (e.g., trafficking of illicit fentanyl).
• FINTRAC will also continue to share its insight and best practices related to Project Protect with international partners in response to their overwhelming support and interest. Since the creation of Project Protect, FINTRAC has seen a 750% increase in suspicious transaction reporting related to money laundering associated with human trafficking in the sex trade.
• As announced under the Fall Economic Statement 2023, FINTRAC will be able to share financial intelligence with new disclosure recipients at Environment and Climate Change Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada in 2024–25. Financial intelligence will provide additional tools for these agencies to support their enforcement efforts and combat money laundering associated with environmental crime.
• FINTRAC will demonstrate its leadership within the Egmont Group to ensure that the implementation of good governance practices results in a well-run international organization and delivers results for FINTRAC and financial intelligence units (FIU) globally.
• In addition, FINTRAC will continue to bolster national and international efforts in combatting trade-based money laundering through active engagement with the Canada Border Services Agency led multi-disciplinary Trade Fraud and Trade-Based Money Laundering Centre of Expertise, and through participation in the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.
• FINTRAC will continue to develop and deepen its Strategic Intelligence program through targeted reports and analysis on priority areas of money laundering and terrorist activity financing.
• FINTRAC will continue to participate in the Counter Illicit Finance Alliance of British Columbia. Under this initiative, FINTRAC continues to collaborate with public and private partners in various subgroups, which seek to enhance awareness and understanding of financial criminal activity to improve the detection, analysis, prevention, and investigation of these activities in Canada.
• FINTRAC will continue to invest analytical resources in 2024–25 into the production of Sector and Geographic advisories.

More information about Plans for Production and dissemination of financial intelligence can be found in the full departmental plan.