Given how Finance Minister Francois-Phillipe Champagne has publicly stated how Canada will be best in class when it comes to tackling financial fraud and follow the lead of countries like Italy and the UK, it is encouraging to see the posting below from a lead detective in Canada on financial crime. Let’s make sure this reality happens and not forget all the victims who never got the protection they deserve or recourse after being scammed of their hard-earned money
It is also important to keep in mind Canada is a federation where provincial jurisdictions have regulatory powers over financial institutions like credit unions, so they need to be part of reforming Canada’s financial ecosystem too.
Toronto Police Service financial crime detective David Coffey provides optimism to Canadians that the federal government is finally taking financial fraud seriously in committing to a new national anti-fraud strategy where consumers, especially our vulnerable seniors, are going to get more support to prevent them from being scammed. Hopefully it may follow the UK where innocent victims are being reimbursed for Authorized Push Payment fraud.
Thrilled and Hopeful: Canada Responds to Financial Crime
Detective at Toronto Police Service
I’m genuinely thrilled by the federal government’s announcement this week unveiling its new National Anti-Fraud Strategy and the proposed creation of the Financial Crimes Agency of Canada (FCAC). As someone who has spent years on the front lines of financial crime investigations and who has witnessed firsthand the devastation wrought by fraud, this marks an extraordinary and long-awaited development. It signals a level of seriousness and coordination that Canada has needed for far too long.
For years, law enforcement, regulators, and financial institutions have worked diligently, but often in isolation, to respond to a rapidly evolving and increasingly transnational financial crime landscape. Fraud, money laundering, cyber-enabled scams, and financial abuse have grown exponentially and in ever increasing sophistication and scale. The proposed FCAC represents a shift toward unity and purpose in the form of a national, dedicated body with the authority and mandate to investigate complex financial crimes and recover illicit proceeds. That alone makes this announcement one of the most important moments in Canada’s financial crime response in decades.
I’m especially pleased that financial institutions are central to the solution, not as passive reporters of suspicious activity, but as active partners in the fight. The announcement’s emphasis on multi-institutional cooperation and collaboration is critical. Financial crime cannot be effectively confronted by one sector or one agency alone. There is no silver bullet. It requires integration across banks, law enforcement, regulators, technology firms, telecommunications providers, and international partners. This new strategy seems to acknowledge that reality more clearly than ever before.
I also applaud the government’s understanding that we need to evolve beyond a compliance only mindset. Effective fraud prevention and financial crime mitigation depend on intelligence sharing, operational agility, and partnerships built on trust and accountability. The FCAC could become the catalyst for that, a central hub capable of bridging silos, aligning priorities, and coordinating national responses. I have long envisioned and hoped for a national coordination of information, compiling accurate and compelling data which would demonstrate the true value lost to financial crime. The potential is enormous.
That said, my enthusiasm comes with a measure of caution. The agency is still in its early conceptual stage, and success will depend entirely on how it’s implemented, its expertise, its resources, and its ability to integrate with existing entities such as the RCMP, FINTRAC, and the financial sector itself. Not to mention the hundreds of police services across the country, most notably my own, the Toronto Police Service, upon whom the heavy burden of investigating financial crime in this country has historically fallen upon. We’ve seen well intentioned initiatives, most notably a very similar announcement made in the 2022 federal budget, falter when mandates overlap or when coordination lags. The challenge will be turning this promising announcement into a truly operation force capable of tackling sophisticated financial crime at the pace and scale it demands.
Financial institutions, too, will need to adapt. The environment is changing rapidly and compliance regulations, fraud prevention strategies and practices, and internal risk management frameworks will all have to evolve. This should not be viewed as a burden, but as an opportunity to modernize, to collaborate, and to help build a safer financial system for Canadians.
Personally, I am both hopeful and inspired, and I am not alone in my office. This announcement was discussed with optimism, and cries of “finally!!”, although admittedly also with a certain amount of skepticism. As mentioned, this has been proposed and discussed ad nauseum before without results. For those of us who witness firsthand on a daily basis the devastation financial crime inflicts, not just on balance sheets but on people’s lives, this is a moment of cautious optimism.
The announcement represents progress, and if implemented well, it could mark the beginning of a new era in how Canada protects its citizens and its financial integrity. It represents an acknowledgement by our federal government of the threat that financial crime is to our citizens, our economy, and our very national security. For me, it was especially meaningful as it represented being heard by the powers that be and affirmation that those of us who have been shouting from the mountain tops about the threat of financial crimes have not been shouting in vain.
