Canada's AML enforcement regime is being rebuilt around penalties.
The 2026 amendments to the PCMLTFA expand FINTRAC's enforcement toolkit substantially, and add an enrolment obligation for reporting entities that were not previously required to register. The enforcement changes are the near-term risk; the enrolment date is still to be set by regulation.
The amendments raise maximum penalties, add compliance orders as an enforcement tool, make contravention of a compliance order a distinct violation, and elevate certain compliance programme violations to a more serious class.
Who is in scope
All Canadian reporting entities, money services businesses included.
What to do
Confirm the coming-into-force date against FINTRAC directly. Reporting places it in March 2026, on Royal Assent of the implementing legislation, but this hub does not assert a date it has not read at the source.
Mandatory FINTRAC enrolment for reporting entities
Confirm before launch
Businesses subject to the PCMLTFA that are not already required to register will have to enrol with FINTRAC. The obligation comes into force alongside regulations that had not been published when this hub was written.
Who is in scope
Reporting entities that are not currently required to register, which notably does not include MSBs, who already must.
What to do
There is genuinely no date to plan against yet. Watch for the regulations rather than assuming a deadline, and confirm before treating any reported year as fixed.
Beneficial ownership and discrepancy reporting obligations
Confirm before launch
Reporting entities must obtain beneficial ownership information, take reasonable measures to confirm its accuracy, and report discrepancies against registry information.
Who is in scope
All Canadian reporting entities dealing with entity clients.
What to do
This one is about whether your file actually contains the ownership chain, not about a future date. Confirm the in-force date at the source; reporting places it in late 2025, which would mean the obligation is already live.
The amendments expand FINTRAC's enforcement powers: higher maximum administrative monetary penalties, compliance orders as a new tool, contravention of an order as its own violation, and certain compliance programme failures reclassified as more serious.
Does my business have to enrol with FINTRAC?
Money services businesses already have to register. The amendments extend an enrolment obligation to reporting entities that did not previously have one, coming into force with regulations that were not yet published when this page was written.
What does FINTRAC expect on beneficial ownership?
Identification of individuals who directly or indirectly own or control twenty five percent or more of an entity, the ownership control and structure recorded, and reasonable measures taken to confirm the information is accurate.
Is your policy ready for this date?
Two ways to find out without a call: have your current policy graded against this regulator, or read the rule pack the Onboarding Agent would run for you.
Hub created. Every date on this hub is marked for confirmation: the amendments are recent and the enrolment regulations were not published at the time of writing.
Dates marked “confirm before launch” are ones we have not yet read in a primary source. We would rather show you that than a date we are not sure of. This is not legal advice.