Canada Introduces Bill S-8 to Combat Financial Crimes and Drug Trafficking
On November 3, 2026, the Government of Canada introduced Bill S-8, the Combatting Financial Crimes and Drug Trafficking Act. The legislation targets criminal abuse of money services businesses, bans unlicensed crypto ATMs, restricts large cash transactions, clarifies law enforcement mail search powers, and enables public-private information sharing for anti-money laundering efforts.
On November 3, 2026, the Government of Canada introduced Bill S-8, the Combatting Financial Crimes and Drug Trafficking Act. The legislation aims to protect Canadians from financial crimes by addressing criminal abuse of money services businesses (MSBs), banning unlawful crypto ATMs, restricting large cash transactions, enabling law enforcement to search and seize mail under specific legal authorities, and clarifying public-private information sharing for anti-money laundering purposes.
Bill S-8 proposes amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. To address the criminal abuse of MSBs, the bill introduces new Ministerial powers and strengthens registration requirements. It also lowers the threshold for criminal record checks for owners or investors in an MSB from 20 per cent ownership to five per cent.
The bill makes it a criminal offence to operate a crypto ATM that is not licensed as a money service business in a province or territory. Studies indicate that between 85 and 98 per cent of crypto ATM transactions are linked to illicit activity. According to estimates from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Canadians lost between $142 million and $284 million due to fraud facilitated by crypto ATMs in 2024. The ban on unlicensed crypto ATMs would come into force 18 months following Royal Assent, while other regulatory amendments related to crypto ATMs would take effect 90 to 180 days after Royal Assent.
To combat money laundering, Bill S-8 restricts large cash transactions of $10,000 or more and prohibits third-party cash deposits. Deposit-taking institutions such as banks and credit unions are exempted from the restriction on large cash transactions. In 2025, cash represented only one per cent of payment transaction value in Canada, with an average transaction value of $24.
The legislation amends the Canada Post Corporation Act to allow law enforcement to search and seize mail if they have lawful authority under the Criminal Code, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, or the Cannabis Act. Unlike Bill C-2, the amendments in Bill S-8 do not allow postal inspectors to open letters.
Bill S-8 also clarifies public-to-private information sharing by allowing regulated businesses to receive and use information disclosed by law enforcement for anti-money laundering purposes. This builds on existing efforts such as the Integrated Money Laundering Intelligence Partnership (IMLIP) between law enforcement and Canada's big banks, which was launched in February 2025.
The introduction of Bill S-8 follows other recent government measures to address financial crime. On April 27, 2026, the government introduced Bill C-29 to establish the Financial Crimes Agency. Additionally, Budget 2025 provided $1.7 billion over four years for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to strengthen its response to transnational organized crime and financial crimes.