C-29 proposes the Financial Crimes Agency Act, a new federal law, and amendments to other federal laws and regulations. It would create a federal agency led by a Commissioner, under the Minister of Finance. The bill’s stated goal is to build expertise to investigate serious and complex financial crimes, help recover crime proceeds, and take part in international efforts against financial crime.
The Commissioner may investigate financial crimes and related federal offences, on their own initiative or at the request of, or with, another law enforcement agency or public body. The Commissioner may set criteria to focus investigations on serious and complex cases; the bill does not require every case to be investigated.
The Commissioner may designate agency employees as investigations officers and, under regulations, as police officers. Designated police officers would have the legal powers and protections of peace officers across Canada.
The agency must make an arrangement with the RCMP for services and assistance. The bill does not specify how many RCMP personnel or what services would be provided.
The federal Attorney General could conduct proceedings for a financial crime investigated under the Act. A federal Attorney General’s “fiat” (formal notice) served on a province’s Attorney General would give the federal Attorney General exclusive authority over proceedings for that offence.
The bill would allow information-sharing agreements and regulations on handling information. It also names the agency in federal privacy, access-to-information and information-sharing laws, and allows regulations for handling biometric and related personal information provided to it.
The Commissioner must report to Parliament through the Minister each year after the agency’s first full year of operations. The Minister must arrange a review of the Act five years after the relevant section comes into force.
People and businesses: The bill creates no new financial crime offence or penalty. It would give the agency authority to investigate offences that fall within its definition of financial crime.
People whose conduct is investigated: The bill does not set out an application, notice, decision or appeal process for investigations. It does not require the agency to investigate every reported matter.
People making complaints: The bill would allow any individual to complain about the conduct of an agency employee designated as a police officer, through the Public Complaints and Review Commission Act’s complaint process. The bill also provides for a transition of unresolved complaints if a complaint-review entity has already been created under regulations.
Federal government and RCMP: The agency would be a new federal institution, not an independent corporation. The Commissioner would control and manage it, subject to the Minister’s direction on matters the Minister considers important to public policy or strategic direction. The Commissioner must arrange for RCMP services and assistance.
The public: The bill does not create a direct benefit, fee or new public-facing service. It does not say how people or communities would be involved in setting investigation priorities.
No publicly available information gives an estimated cost.
The bill provides for an agency, offices, a Commissioner and agency employees, and requires an arrangement for RCMP services and assistance. It gives no staffing numbers or cost estimate.
The bill contains no specific appropriation or fee amount. It allows real property to be acquired for agency investigations and provides for certain related dispositions, but gives no cost estimate.
“Financial crime” covers a broad range of federal offences, including conduct that has, or could have, an adverse effect on Canada’s economy or financial system. The bill does not further define that test.
The Commissioner may set investigation criteria, but the bill does not require public criteria, case-selection rules, timelines or an appeal process.
The bill does not specify the agency’s budget, staffing, the RCMP services to be supplied, or how the agency’s information powers would be overseen in practice.
The bill allows regulations on information handling and police-officer designations, but those regulations are not included in the supplied material.
The bill names several Acts and regulations that it would amend. Their full current texts were not supplied, so the exact change against current law, including how some information-sharing and complaint rules would operate, could not be verified.
A specialized federal agency could build expertise focused on complex financial offences and recovery of crime proceeds.
The agency could start investigations itself or work with Canadian and foreign law-enforcement bodies and public bodies.
Federal prosecution authority could help address offences that cross provincial borders or have a national interest, while provincial authority remains unless a federal fiat is served.
Annual reports and a five-year review would provide for some public reporting and later review of the law.
The bill gives the Commissioner broad discretion over which matters to investigate, while leaving key criteria and processes to later decisions or regulations.
The Commissioner works under the Minister’s direction on public-policy or strategic matters. The direction must be made public as soon as feasible, but the bill does not require advance notice or independent approval.
A federal fiat would remove a province’s authority to conduct proceedings for the offence described in it. The bill lists factors the federal Attorney General may consider, but does not set a required test.
The bill establishes significant staffing and investigative capacity without providing a public cost estimate or detailed safeguards and procedures for its use.