All businesses subject to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (the Act) must verify their clients’ identity.

Verifying the identity of a person or an entity removes the anonymity from financial transactions and is one of the most important ways to protect Canada’s financial system from money laundering, terrorist activity financing and sanctions evasion.

As new regulations in relation to client identification come into force on October 1, 2025, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) updated its guidance on the use of an agent or mandatary and its guidance on unrepresented parties in real estate transactions.

All sectors – Use of an agent or mandatary

Starting October 1, 2025, businesses subject to the Act can use an agent or a mandatary to verify the identity of a corporation or an entity on their behalf. Prior to October 1, 2025, using an agent or a mandatary could only be relied on when verifying the identity of a person.

For more information, refer to FINTRAC’s guidance: Methods to verify the identity of persons and entities.

A video series on prescribed methods that can be used to verify the identity of a person or an entity is available on FINTRAC’s website at: Videos: learning resources.

FINTRAC is an independent federal government agency, operating at arm’s length from police, law enforcement and national security agencies. Its mandate is to receive, analyze, assess and, where appropriate, disclose information to assist in the detection, prevention and deterrence of money laundering, terrorist activity financing, sanctions evasion and threats to the security of Canada.

Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
24th floor, 234 Laurier Avenue West,

Ottawa, Canada K1P 1H7
Government of Canada

Telephone 1-866-346-8722 (toll-free)

Email at [email protected]