Letter from the Minister of Finance and National Revenue to the Director and Chief Executive Officer of FINTRAC
Backgrounder
February 12, 2026
Ms. Sarah Paquet
Director and Chief Executive Officer
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
24th floor, 234 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1P 1H7
Dear Ms. Paquet:
Extortion is a serious threat to Canada’s economic integrity, and the safety and well-being of Canadians. Rising extortion, which can turn violent, supports and perpetuates organized criminal activities, leaving a deep impact on Canadian families. The proceeds of extortion and associated organized criminal activity are laundered through the Canadian financial system. FINTRAC is an important partner in combatting this threat to Canadians through the development of timely and high-quality financial intelligence necessary for law enforcement to take effective and prompt action.
Against this backdrop, I am directing you to mobilize resources in a way that responds to the seriousness of this threat. You must ensure that the Centre takes immediate action to support our financial sector stakeholders and law enforcement partners in detecting, deterring, and disrupting the illicit financing that perpetuates extortion. It is through this work that police of jurisdiction can then leverage FINTRAC’s financial intelligence to seek production orders for those financial entities and build the evidence base for their investigations, charges, and asset forfeiture actions. In this regard, I expect FINTRAC to carry out its efforts in lockstep with municipal, provincial-territorial, federal and international partners.
FINTRAC must focus on the production and dissemination of tailored indicators related to extortion, including by working with Canada’s financial institutions to promote information sharing, to better detect and report on suspected extortion. FINTRAC should also work to ensure that financial intelligence is shared quickly, and in an actionable form, with relevant law enforcement bodies so they can identify and effectively pursue those individuals and groups conducting extortion and extortion-related activities in Canada. FINTRAC should expeditiously deploy liaison officers to work with local law enforcement in targeted areas to operationalize extortion-related financial intelligence.
FINTRAC’s intelligence can be critical to the timely and effective actions of police of jurisdiction across Canada and I expect the Centre to play an active and central role in combatting these urgent threats. I would welcome an update on your progress on these objectives by March 31, 2026.
Sincerely,
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne
Minister of Finance and National Revenue