This article originally appeared in the Hamilton Spectator.
By Cameron Field and Peter Copeland, October 1, 2025
Canada is losing the fight against financial crime, and mortgage fraud is one of the most dangerous and costly fronts.
In 2024 alone, Canadians lost more than $600 million to financial crime. Canada is on pace to take an even bigger hit this year, and mortgage fraud remains a persistent source of these losses. Despite rising scrutiny — from British Columbia’s casino investigations to revelations about underground banking — Canada’s response remains an inadequate patchwork.
The consequences of inaction are profound. Mortgage fraud drives market manipulation, enables unqualified buyers to access credit, and creates ripple effects across the housing sector. This fuels affordability challenges, consumer risk and national security concerns. Ordinary Canadians pay the price, whether through higher housing costs, unstable markets, or reduced trust in the system.
Yet little is being done. Finance Canada and FINTRAC — Canada’s national financial intelligence unit — recently brought the mortgage and real estate industries under Canada’s anti-money laundering laws — an overdue but incomplete step.
There remains a long list of unresolved federal, provincial, and industry-level issues.
Most glaring is the absence of a co-ordinated national approach. Canada still has no centralized financial crime agency. Ottawa floated the idea years ago but little progress followed. The RCMP is well-positioned to take this on because of its national infrastructure. But to date, the political will has been lacking. Parties across the board should resolve to get this done.
This inaction is especially concerning because Canada’s anti-money laundering program is set to be reviewed later this year by the Financial Action Task Force, an international financial crimes watchdog comprised of 40 members, including Canada. The international community will be closely following this process.
Further action is also needed to boost the impact of coming regulatory changes. Ottawa recently took steps to make title insurers subject to reporting requirements under Canada’s anti-money laundering laws, alongside a suite of changes, which take effect Oct. 1. As a next step, making title insurance mandatory to real estate transactions would filter out more fraudulent mortgage applications.
Presently, skilled fraudsters can exploit the system because title insurers do not have to be identified as a party to the transaction, or meet verification and reporting requirements like submitting suspicious transaction and terrorist property reports to FINTRAC. This makes the sector particularly vulnerable to money laundering. For the coming regulations to be effective, government enforcement and industry verification standards must be strengthened, alongside mandatory title insurance.
Another pressing challenge is the exemption of lawyers from reporting requirements under the federal anti-money laundering statute. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled mandatory reporting would violate solicitor-client privilege — leaving a significant gap in Canada’s defences. Law societies have added some useful — though overdue — protections, like mandatory training, comprehensive “know-your-client” rules, and cash transaction restrictions. But concerns remain. None of these measures require additional oversight of lawyers, themselves.
It’s worth noting that public notaries in B.C. are captured by federal reporting requirements, indicating solicitor-client privilege is not necessarily violated in the process. Furthermore, the United States, European Union, and Australia include lawyers in their money laundering provisions.
Australia’s explicitly protect solicitor-client privilege — pointing to how Canada could do more while remaining within the bounds of the 2015 Supreme Court decision. Ottawa could create a process like Australia’s, making lawyers subject to money laundering provisions while allowing them to refrain from disclosing what “a person reasonably believes is subject to legal professional privilege.” An attestation form is required in lieu of full disclosure.
Solutions exist — as outlined above — but they must be implemented. Canada has the expertise, tools, and awareness, but too often stops shorts of action. Endless industry huddles and parliamentary subcommittees are no substitute for decisive reform.
If we fail to act now, we risk not only worsening the housing crisis, but also further eroding Canada’s credibility on the global stage. The solutions are within reach — it’s time to implement them.
Cameron Field served 32 years with the Toronto Police Service where he led major fraud and money laundering investigations. He is a contributor for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Peter Copeland is deputy director of domestic policy at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute
