Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to answer my colleague's question.
It is true that, recently, we have heard a lot of talk about KPMG, the Panama Papers, and now the Bahamas. These matters all have to do with international tax evasion or avoidance.
My colleague spoke about various treaties that seek to prevent double taxation. To give him a specific answer, I want to tell him about what the Canada Revenue Agency is doing to combat aggressive international tax avoidance and tax evasion. My colleague spoke about the unprecedented investment of $444 million. The CRA is using that funding to acquire the tools it needs to crack down on tax fraud.
The government is also working with international partners by participating in joint efforts and sharing intelligence so that it can go after tax cheats. In addition, the agency is using that additional funding to escalate and better target its activities to ensure compliance with tax laws, and it will report to Canadians on its progress frequently and transparently. These actions will benefit the middle class and ensure that Canada has a fair tax system.
This new funding, which we announced last spring, will enable the CRA to hire additional tax experts for a five-year period to scrutinize multinational corporations that use tax avoidance structures and to conduct audits of wealthy, high-risk individuals. The new staff will include not only auditors, but also economists, lawyers, and other experts. The CRA will therefore have highly qualified individuals with the diverse range of skills needed to go after complicated schemes designed to escape detection.
The CRA will also tackle more files by using sophisticated business information, as well as the expertise of experts from various disciplines.
In addition, the CRA recently created three other audit teams to focus on large corporations, and it will create additional teams next year. The minister recently signed the multilateral agreement concluded by the appropriate authorities on country-by-country reporting, which compels multinational corporations to report their global banking activities. This international effort allows tax authorities to follow financial transactions all around the globe.
In closing, the CRA is currently conducting 750 audits and 20 criminal investigations focused on individuals who own property abroad. Those are just some of the actions the Canada Revenue Agency is taking to combat tax evasion and international tax avoidance.