Bill C-29 An Act to Establish the Financial Crimes Agency and Make Consequential Amendments to Certain Acts and Regulations
C-29 An Act to Establish the Financial Crimes Agency and Make Consequential Amendments to Certain Acts and Regulations
Short Title: Financial Crimes Agency Act
Bill Type: House Government Bill
Bill Sponsor: Minister of Finance and National Revenue
Status: Introduced — 1st Reading, April 27, 2026. This bill has not passed yet. How would you vote?
WHO GAINS POWER
- A brand new federal law enforcement agency — the Financial Crimes Agency — is created, with its own Commissioner, police officers and investigation powers
- The Commissioner has full control over hiring, firing, pay, classification and staffing — operating outside the normal public service rules
- The Attorney General of Canada can issue a fiat to take exclusive control of prosecutions away from provincial Attorneys General in financial crime cases
- The Commissioner can designate employees as police officers with full peace officer powers anywhere in Canada
- The Agency can share information with CSIS, the RCMP, foreign law enforcement and a wide range of federal departments and regulators
- The Minister of Finance can direct the Commissioner on public policy and strategic direction
WHO LOSES POWER
- Provincial Attorneys General — the federal Attorney General can override their prosecutorial authority in financial crime cases with a fiat
- The Treasury Board — normal public service staffing and HR rules do not apply to the Agency
- Provinces — the Agency operates nationally with peace officer powers that override provincial jurisdiction
WHO GAINS MONEY
- The Agency itself — it receives public funding as a new federal institution and can acquire real property for investigations outside normal federal real property rules
- Employees designated as police officers — subject to separate pay and classification outside standard public service scales
WHO LOSES MONEY
- Canadian taxpayers — funding an entirely new federal law enforcement agency with its own Commissioner, staff, offices and operational budget
- Those convicted of financial crimes — the Agency's mandate includes recovery of proceeds of crime
THE CATCH
- ⚠️ The Minister of Finance can direct the Commissioner — directions on "public policy or strategic direction" are not statutory instruments, meaning they are not subject to the same parliamentary scrutiny as regulations, though they must be made public
- ⚠️ The complaints review body for Agency police officers is created by regulation — not written into the Bill itself, meaning Cabinet controls how misconduct oversight is structured and can change it without Parliament
- ⚠️ The Attorney General of Canada can strip provinces of prosecutorial authority by issuing a fiat — with broad criteria including simply that "the national interest is involved"
- ⚠️ The Agency operates outside standard public service HR rules — the Commissioner sets their own pay, classification and staffing standards with minimal external oversight
- The Agency can access biometric data collected under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for its investigations