Canada’s financial intelligence agency has intensified enforcement against crypto-related money services businesses (MSBs). FINTRAC says it has revoked 50 MSB registrations so far this year, 47 of them linked to crypto activity, and on Monday announced a further 23 cancellations. Revoked entities have 30 days to request a review of the decision.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne framed the measures as part of a broader effort to combat money laundering, saying the government is “strengthening enforcement and increasing transparency on compliance actions.” He added that the accelerated pace of cancellations will be maintained and that authorities will continue to pursue new steps targeting risks from virtual currency businesses, including cryptocurrency MSBs and crypto ATMs, which can be used to facilitate money laundering and fraud.
FINTRAC has stepped up penalties for serious compliance failures. Last October the agency fined crypto platform Cryptomus C$126 million, citing a range of alleged violations including failure to report suspicious transactions on more than a thousand occasions in July 2024 and lack of written compliance policies. In September, crypto exchange KuCoin received a C$14 million penalty for alleged failures to register as a foreign MSB and to report large crypto transactions with required information.
Authorities note that traditional financial systems—such as wires and correspondent banking—have long been exploited for money laundering because of their scale. The Financial Action Task Force estimates that 2–5% of global GDP may be laundered through traditional systems. By contrast, industry analytics firm Chainalysis estimates that under 1% of crypto transaction volume is linked to illicit activity, a gap regulators cite when targeting crypto-specific channels.
The recent string of revocations and fines signals a stricter regulatory environment for crypto service providers in Canada. Firms operating MSBs or crypto-related services should review compliance programs, registration status, and reporting processes to avoid enforcement action and to align with the government’s renewed focus on transparency and anti-money-laundering controls.