Canada: White Collar Crime, Anti-Corruption & Fraud

If you hold unreported cryptocurrency gains and you have been telling yourself that the tax authority cannot see a wallet, the arrests reported out of Israel in October 2026 are the clearest available answer.

Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General is considering amendments to introduce unexplained wealth orders (UWOs), a new investigative tool that would compel individuals to explain the origin of their property when there's a significant mismatch between known lawful income and apparent wealth. The proposed regime would shift the burden of proof to respondents and could be used to support civil forfeiture proceedings targeting proceeds of unlawful activity.

Canadian courts are increasingly asked to allocate fraud losses between innocent parties—victims and their financial institutions. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal's decision in Honeybadger Enterprises Ltd. v. Bue provides crucial clarity on common law principles governing liability allocation, establishing that parties whose conduct involves affirmative acts facilitating fraud will bear the loss, while financial institutions owe no duty to police transactions or warn customers absent contractual obli

CRA phishing scams and CRA impersonation fraud continue to increase across Canada, particularly during tax-filing season and periods involving government benefit payments.

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently upheld a landmark decision establishing that corporate officers and directors can be held personally liable for civil fraud when they directly participate in making fraudulent representations. The case arose from a COVID-19 pandemic mask supply contract where an officer recklessly represented his company could deliver three million NIOSH-certified N95 masks to a hospital without having secured any such supply.

Fraudulent communications targeting intellectual property rights holders are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often impersonating legitimate professionals or government offices. Understanding how these schemes operate and recognizing warning signs can help protect your valuable IP assets from exploitation.

La Cour d’appel du Québec confirme le jugement de la Cour supérieure dans l’affaire Leclerc Automobiles International inc. c. Duhamel, où celle-ci avait refusé de lever le voile corporatif malgré le contrôle complet exercé par l’actionnaire unique sur la société. Elle rappelle que, conformément aux critères prévus à l’article 317 du Code civil du Québec, pour lever le voile corporatif, il est nécessaire d’établir la preuve que la personnalité juridique est invoquée pour masquer une fraude, un abus de droit ou une contravention à une règle d’ordre public.

On June 27, 2026, Canada’s Department of Finance published proposed regulations amending the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations under the Bank Act, aimed at combatting consumer-targeted fraud...

The federal government has published proposed Regulations Amending the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations (the “Regulations”) under the Bank Act (the “Act”) for consultation...