FINTRAC's New Sectors Reach Full AML Obligations April 1
As of April 1, 2026, factoring, financing and leasing, and cheque-cashing businesses in Canada are past their transition period and fully bound by PCMLTFA AML obligations.
What Changed
As of April 1, 2026, the one-year transition period ended for the newest sectors brought under Canada's Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA), supervised by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). Factoring companies, financing and leasing entities, and cheque-cashing businesses had to have compliance programs and risk assessments in place by April 1, 2025, and are now subject to the full slate of obligations: client identification, record-keeping, ongoing monitoring, and suspicious and threshold transaction reporting. The expansion sits alongside earlier additions of mortgage lenders, brokers and administrators, title insurers, and private ATM acquirer services.
Who It Affects
Canadian factoring firms, equipment and vehicle financing and leasing companies, and cheque-cashing operators that many previously treated as outside the AML perimeter. Their lenders, funders, and downstream partners inherit exposure to any gaps. With the transition grace period over, FINTRAC's posture shifts from outreach and guidance to examination, so these operators now face the same enforcement reality as banks and money services businesses.
What to Do
Confirm your compliance program is not merely documented but operating: client identification at the required triggers, five-year record retention, and functioning suspicious and large-transaction reporting channels to FINTRAC. Name a compliance officer and schedule the mandatory effectiveness review. Newly regulated lessors and factors should prioritize identity verification at onboarding, since that is where examiners will look first. Multi-method verification with a retained audit trail turns a FINTRAC review from a scramble into a file pull.
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