Last Updated On 20 February 2026, 9:28 AM EST (Toronto Time)
The government of Canada has announced five new measures to combat the surge of extortion crimes affecting Canadian communities, with a particular focus on Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta.
The announcement, made on February 19, 2026, in Mississauga by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and several cabinet colleagues, mobilizes Canada’s financial intelligence agency FINTRAC to work directly with banks, police, and provincial authorities to disrupt criminal networks targeting businesses and families.
Extortion has become an increasingly serious problem across Canada, with organized criminal networks using digital platforms and cross-border operations to threaten and intimidate victims.
South Asian business communities in the Greater Toronto Area, particularly Brampton, and Surrey in British Columbia have been especially hard hit.
The new measures aim to follow the money trail, enhance information sharing between institutions, and give law enforcement better tools to investigate and prosecute these crimes.
Table of Contents
The 5 New Anti-Extortion Measures
1. FINTRAC Resource Surge Against Extortion
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) will immediately surge resources specifically dedicated to combating extortion.
This reallocation of Canada’s financial intelligence capacity means law enforcement agencies will receive more timely and relevant financial intelligence to identify criminal networks operating extortion schemes.
FINTRAC serves as Canada’s financial intelligence unit, analyzing transaction reports from banks and other financial institutions to detect patterns associated with money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes.
By prioritizing extortion-related analysis, the agency can provide police with actionable intelligence about where extortion proceeds are flowing and who controls the criminal networks.
2. Countering Extortion Partnership Launch
A new Countering Extortion Partnership will bring together financial institutions, government agencies, and law enforcement in a coordinated effort to fight extortion.
This partnership includes Canadian banks, credit unions, and financial service providers handling virtual assets including cryptocurrencies, working alongside the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and local police forces.
The partnership structure recognizes that extortion often involves sophisticated money movement across multiple financial institutions and sometimes into cryptocurrency to obscure the trail.
By sharing information and best practices among all these stakeholders, the government aims to close gaps that criminals exploit when moving illicit funds.
Financial institutions will be better equipped to identify suspicious patterns and report them promptly.
3. Financial Intelligence Experts Assigned to Local Police
FINTRAC will assign dedicated liaison officers to work directly with local law enforcement in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta, the three provinces most heavily affected by extortion crimes.
These specialized officers will provide financial intelligence expertise, strengthen information sharing channels, and ensure that financial intelligence directly supports enforcement efforts, investigations, and prosecutions.
This measure addresses a longstanding challenge in fighting financial crimes: the disconnect between federal intelligence agencies and local police who often handle the initial reports from victims.
By embedding experts directly with municipal and provincial police forces, investigators can more quickly access the financial analysis needed to build strong cases against extortion networks.
4. Targeted Indicator Profile for Financial Institutions
FINTRAC will issue a Targeted Indicator Profile (TIP) providing practical guidance to help financial institutions recognize patterns and behaviours commonly associated with extortion.
This document will detail the red flags that bank employees, compliance officers, and fraud detection systems should watch for when processing transactions.
The TIP will help ensure suspicious transactions are reported quickly and accurately to FINTRAC.
Currently, financial institutions have general guidance on suspicious transaction reporting, but extortion-specific indicators will make it easier to identify when a customer may be a victim being forced to make payments, or when an account is receiving extortion proceeds.
Faster, more accurate reporting means intelligence reaches investigators sooner.
5. Strategic Intelligence Publication on Extortion Money Flows
FINTRAC will publish strategic intelligence detailing how criminals launder extortion proceeds, including indicators and typologies to aid detection.
This public intelligence will help the broader financial sector, law enforcement at all levels, and even potential victims understand how extortion money moves through the financial system.
Strategic intelligence publications differ from operational intelligence shared with specific investigators.
By making this information publicly available, FINTRAC enables smaller financial institutions, fintech companies, and money service businesses to improve their own detection capabilities.
It also supports academic research and policy development around financial crime prevention.
Why This Announcement Matters
Extortion has escalated dramatically in Canada over recent years, with criminal networks increasingly targeting businesses in immigrant communities.
Restaurant owners, trucking company operators, and small business proprietors have reported being threatened with violence unless they pay regular sums to criminal organizations.
Some victims have been physically attacked or had their property damaged when they refused to pay or sought police assistance.
The government recently convened summits on extortion in Surrey, British Columbia and Brampton, Ontario, bringing together federal, provincial, and municipal leaders alongside law enforcement partners including the Canada Border Services Agency and RCMP.
These summits highlighted the cross-border nature of many extortion operations and the need for coordinated response across jurisdictions.
Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu, who represents a Brampton riding, spoke directly to the impact on his community.
“In Brampton, I’ve heard from families and business owners about the real fear that extortion creates in our community. No one should feel unsafe in their own neighbourhood or workplace,” he said in the announcement.
Part of Larger Anti-Crime Investment
These five measures build on substantial federal investments in fighting organized crime and financial crimes.
Budget 2025 announced $1.7 billion in funding to strengthen the RCMP’s response to transnational organized crime, financial crimes, and money laundering while enhancing intelligence and national security capacity.
This funding supports the government’s commitment to hire 1,000 new RCMP personnel, with 150 specifically dedicated to tackling financial crimes including money laundering networks, organized crime, online fraud, and recovery of illicit assets.
Budget 2025 also proposed establishing a new Canada Financial Crimes Agency to serve as the country’s lead enforcement agency against financial crimes.
This agency will unite police and civilian expertise needed to investigate complex cases of money laundering, organized criminal activity, and online financial scams.
The Minister of Finance and National Revenue is working with the Ministers of Justice and Public Safety to introduce legislation establishing this new agency by spring 2026.
Since 2019, the government has invested close to $379 million in combating financial crimes.
These investments have strengthened supervision and financial intelligence functions at FINTRAC, increased resources and tools to support financial crime investigations, and enhanced Canada’s ability to combat trade-based financial crime.
Bill C-12 Connection: Tougher Penalties Coming
The anti-extortion measures announced today complement reforms proposed in Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act.
While primarily an immigration bill, C-12 includes comprehensive reforms to strengthen anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing (AML/ATF) supervision, compliance, and enforcement.
Notably, Bill C-12 proposes increasing AML/ATF civil penalties by forty times and criminal fines by ten times their current amounts.
These dramatically higher penalties aim to create meaningful deterrence for financial institutions that fail to maintain adequate compliance programs and for individuals who facilitate money laundering through the financial system.
The connection between immigration policy and financial crime enforcement reflects the reality that criminal networks often operate across borders, using immigration pathways and international money transfers as part of their operations.
Strengthening both immigration enforcement and financial crime detection creates multiple points of intervention against organized criminal activity.
Impact on Immigrant Communities
While extortion affects Canadians of all backgrounds, immigrant business communities have been disproportionately targeted by criminal networks.
Business owners in the trucking industry, restaurants, and retail sectors have reported systematic extortion attempts, sometimes linked to networks operating from overseas.
Several factors make newcomer communities vulnerable to these crimes. Language barriers can make it harder to report crimes or navigate the justice system.
Some victims may have family members in their countries of origin who can be threatened.
Cultural factors may create reluctance to involve police. And in some cases, victims fear that reporting crimes could somehow affect their immigration status, even though this is not the case.
The government’s focus on the most affected areas, specifically Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta, acknowledges where these crimes have concentrated.
By assigning FINTRAC liaison officers to local police in these provinces, investigators will have better tools to trace criminal networks and build cases that can lead to prosecution and asset recovery.
Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State for Small Business and Tourism Rechie Valdez emphasized the importance of protecting entrepreneurs.
“Small businesses are the backbone of Peel Region’s economy. When organized crime targets businesses in our neighbourhoods, it puts entrepreneurs, employees, and entire communities at risk,” she said.
What Extortion Victims Should Know
If you are being extorted or have been threatened, Canadian law enforcement wants to hear from you regardless of your immigration status.
Reporting extortion to police does not affect immigration applications or status.
Local police, the RCMP, and CBSA are focused on catching criminals, not on immigration enforcement against victims.
The enhanced coordination announced today means that when you report extortion, your information can be connected to broader intelligence about criminal networks.
Even if police cannot immediately arrest those threatening you, your report contributes to building cases against organized crime groups.
Financial intelligence from FINTRAC can help trace where extortion payments go and identify the people controlling criminal operations.
Keep records of any threats received, including screenshots of messages, phone numbers used by callers, and details of any payments demanded or made.
This information helps investigators and can be crucial evidence in prosecutions.
If you have already made payments, your bank may be able to provide transaction records that help trace where the money went.
What Happens Next
The five measures announced today will be implemented over the coming months as FINTRAC reallocates resources, assigns liaison officers, develops the Targeted Indicator Profile, and prepares strategic intelligence publications.
The Countering Extortion Partnership will require coordination among multiple stakeholders but builds on existing relationships between financial institutions and regulators.
Looking further ahead, the new Canada Financial Crimes Agency is expected to be established by spring 2026, creating a dedicated enforcement body with the expertise and resources to tackle complex financial crimes including extortion.
This agency will consolidate capabilities currently spread across multiple federal bodies and provide a single point of focus for major financial crime investigations.
The $1.7 billion in Budget 2025 funding for RCMP capacity will support hiring of the promised 1,000 new personnel over the coming years, with 150 focused specifically on financial crimes.
As these resources come online, communities should see increased investigative capacity and, ideally, more prosecutions of those running extortion networks.
For affected communities, the most immediate change will likely be the assignment of FINTRAC liaison officers to local police forces.
This should improve the speed and quality of financial intelligence available to investigators working extortion cases, potentially leading to faster identification of criminal networks and their financial infrastructure.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is FINTRAC and what does it do?
FINTRAC is the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, the country’s financial intelligence unit. It receives transaction reports from banks, credit unions, casinos, money service businesses, and other reporting entities, then analyzes this data to detect patterns associated with money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. When it identifies suspicious activity, it shares intelligence with law enforcement and other partners.
Will reporting extortion affect my immigration status?
No, reporting that you are a victim of extortion will not negatively affect your immigration status, visa, or application. Law enforcement agencies are focused on catching criminals, not on immigration enforcement against crime victims. You are encouraged to report extortion regardless of your current status in Canada.
What is the Targeted Indicator Profile (TIP)?
A TIP is a guidance document that FINTRAC issues to financial institutions describing specific patterns and behaviours associated with particular types of financial crime. The extortion TIP will help banks, credit unions, and other financial service providers recognize when transactions may be related to extortion, leading to faster and more accurate suspicious transaction reports.
When will the Canada Financial Crimes Agency be established?
The government has committed to introducing legislation to establish the new Canada Financial Crimes Agency by spring 2026. This agency will serve as Canada’s lead enforcement body for financial crimes, bringing together police and civilian expertise to investigate complex cases of money laundering, organized crime, and online financial scams.
How does this connect to Bill C-12?
Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, includes provisions to dramatically increase penalties for anti-money laundering violations. Civil penalties would increase by forty times and criminal fines by ten times current amounts. These tougher penalties complement the operational measures announced today by creating stronger deterrence against financial crimes.
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