April 13 2016
The federal agency tasked with curbing money laundering has been stepping up its efforts to educate real estate agents about their obligations to monitor and report suspicious transactions, documents show.
The anti-money laundering watchdog put together a work book and a webinar for real estate agents, and last summer gave a presentation to the Canadian Real Estate Association, according to emails obtained by The Canadian Press through an access-to-information request. Despite the federal agency’s educational efforts, there appears to be some uncertainty on the real estate association’s part about some of the regulations.
Meanwhile, the Department of Finance has identified the real estate industry as highly vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing given its “very significant” size and the fact that it often involves large sums of money changing hands. Those looking to hide their identities and the source of their funds can do so by conducting transactions through third parties and using complex corporate structures, the department said in an assessment published last year.