Significant changes to Canada’s FINTRAC Regime are scheduled to come into force on June 1, 2021.
Key changes include:
- A new obligation to determine whether a client is a politically exposed person or head of an international organization.
- A new obligation to obtain beneficial ownership information from corporate and other entity clients.
- A new obligation to report large virtual currency transactions.
For more information on key changes see FINTRAC’s New Regulatory Requirements for the Real Estate Sector.
Updated materials to assist members in complying with the new obligations have been posted to REALTOR Link® and WEBForms®. The updated materials replace the draft versions that were previously made available on REALTOR Link®.
As a result of lobbying by the Canadian Real Estate Association, FINTRAC has issued a notice that until March 31, 2022, FINTRAC will focus on assessing compliance with regulatory requirements that were in effect prior to June 1, 2021. This means that although REALTORS® are still required to comply with the new obligations, and should make good faith efforts to do so, the likelihood of an administrative monetary penalty being levied if a deficiency is found with respect to the new obligations is significantly lower.
For more information on how FINTRAC will enforce the changes see FINTRAC’s Notice on the assessment of new regulatory obligations.
Note that FINTRAC’s large virtual currency report has not yet been published on FINTRAC’s website. CREA will update its template office manual to include a link to the report once it becomes available. REALTORS® wishing to report large virtual currency transactions in the interim should consult FINTRAC’s Notice on the assessment of new regulatory obligations when deciding how to proceed.
If you have any questions please contact Dil Puar, Director, Government Relations (dpuar@crea.ca), or Simon Parham, Legal Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer (sparham@crea.ca).
Brampton Real Estate Board 