Common FINTRAC Deficiencies: What Reporting Entities Should Avoid

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) recently hosted its 2026 Industry Day webinar, which included a discussion of commonly observed compliance deficiencies. Although FINTRAC did not announce new legal or regulatory requirements for reporting entities, the presentation provided useful insight into how FINTRAC may expect reporting entities to operationalize their existing obligations under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and its associated regulations, as well as areas that may continue to receive supervisory attention during future compliance examinations.

A common theme throughout the presentation was that FINTRAC is focused not only on whether AML/ATF program components exist on paper, but on whether compliance controls are current, consistently applied, risk-based, appropriately documented, and tested in practice.