FINTRAC

Here is a bit of interesting news about changes to the Real Estate Contract that all realtors and their clients are required fill out when buying or selling real estate in Canada

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has been working with both the Finance
Department and FINTRAC since 2005 to ensure it would be possible for REALTORS® to comply with the new Canadian law, and that the new regulations would not put REALTORS® at a business disadvantage in the buying and selling of real property.

This process included a number of meetings with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and his staff,
officials of the Finance Department, and officials from FINTRAC. Because of significant concerns raised by CREA, and an impasse in discussions with government, in the Fall of 2007 the national Association initiated a REALTOR® “call-to-action” to raise awareness of the issues among members of Parliament. This resulted in a meeting with the Finance Minister, and redress on some significant concerns. PAC Reps were also asked to raise some of the Association’s objections during the annual visitation to MP offices on parliament hill in April.

The government is well aware that some of these new regulations represent major changes to
the process of buying and selling real estate in Canada. CREA received an interim response letter from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty dated May 15th, 2008, indicating the government would propose regulatory revisions addressing some of the Association’s concerns, especially those dealing with unrepresented parties in a transaction. In other words, changes would be made to the regulations after they came into effect. Please note the intent of those revisions has already been incorporated into this publication.

The specific regulations for the real estate sector for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist
financing take effect on June 23rd, 2008. Criminal penalties for wilful non-compliance also take
effect in June, followed by the civil penalties, including administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) that take effect on December 31st, 2008. FINTRAC has assured CREA that enforcement of the new regulations will be gradually phased-in, and that considerable efforts will be made by the federal government to promote a better understanding of both money laundering risks and the new measures developed to combat them - as they did when the initial requirements became law in 2001. FINTRAC has also advised that criminal charges will only be imposed for repeated and deliberate or wilful non-compliance during this unofficial “phase-in” period.


Best Regards

The Debbie Simmonds Lifestyles Real Estate Team