On April 1, sweeping new anti-money laundering (AML) regulations came into effect in Canada. They arrive at a pivotal moment for Canadian institutions and the global fight against financial crime.
The updated rules under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) signal the government’s commitment to addressing long-standing gaps, especially around beneficial ownership transparency, politically-exposed persons and virtual assets. The challenge, however, will be transforming legislation into impactful actions that meets compliance objectives.
Financial institutions and reporting entities are now confronting three key questions that are playing out across borders. Firstly, do we have access to the right data to meet these new requirements? Are our risk assessments future-proofed? And how can we ensure regulators see us not just as compliant, but as constructive players?
To answer these questions, we need to get serious about the role of public-private partnerships and what they can achieve when fuelled by the right intelligence and infrastructure.
Capability gaps need shared solutions
Canada is not alone in facing the operational shock of regulatory reform. In our work supporting institutions across jurisdictions undergoing Financial Action Task Force evaluations or post-reform transitions, the best results come from building shared ecosystems that balance policy ambition with technological capability.
New obligations on entities to collect and verify beneficial ownership data, monitor high-risk transactions and screen for sanctions or foreign interference will quickly strain internal teams unless firms are equipped with tools that reflect today’s risk reality.
Screening must go beyond watchlists to capture complex ownership structures and due diligence needs to adapt to digital-first platforms and non-traditional payment flows. Equally important is that regulatory harmonization must not come at the cost of local market nuance.
This is where Canada’s financial crime response must embrace a public-private mindset beyond just regulatory consultation. It will mean actively supporting industry’s access to high-quality data, known behaviour patterns — referred to as typologies — associated with money laundering and other illicit activities and shared insight.
What partnership looks like in practice
Globally, we are seeing the emergence of collaborative models that fuse law enforcement insight, data provider reach and financial sector agility. Canada has already begun this journey with the Public-Private Collaboration Steering Committee and initiatives like Project ATHENA, which targets money laundering through information sharing.
What’s still missing, and urgently needed under the new PCMLTFA regime, is scalable infrastructure that turns collaboration into compliance-ready outcomes.
We need risk sharing frameworks that let financial institutions learn from anonymized red flags or network typologies identified by others in their sector in real time. We require cross-sector registers that go beyond ownership and include reputational, legal and sanctions data tied to entities, even across borders. We also need trusted digital ID standards that allow fintechs, insurers and banks to validate customer profiles consistently — especially for politically exposed or high-risk individuals.
Canada has the right talent and regulatory momentum to adopt similar approaches. The key is to treat this regulatory moment as an opportunity to modernize how we tackle illicit finance systemically.
Technology and data as enablers
To make these partnerships work, we need to ensure that data and technology are treated as core enablers.
When institutions rely on fragmented data sources, siloed teams or outdated due diligence methods, risk slips through the cracks. This is especially true for sectors newly covered under the PCMLTFA — like crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers — that may lack legacy compliance infrastructure.
The solution lies in embedding dynamic data, such as adverse media, sanctions ownership and ESG risks into onboarding, monitoring and transaction screening processes. This is increasingly expected by regulators and it deters threat actors from exploiting the gaps that weak or isolated data ecosystems create.
A window of opportunity
The coming months offer a window of opportunity for Canada’s financial institutions and regulatory agencies to lead by example. Implementing the new AML rules can be transformational if approached as a coordinated national effort.
Public-private partnerships, fuelled by accurate data and modern technology, are the most effective way to bridge capability gaps and protect Canada’s financial integrity. In doing so, Canada can help shape the global standard for inclusive, effective financial crime governance.
Che Sidanius is global head of financial crime & industry affairs at LSEG Risk Intelligence.