Finance committee  I think we're doing very well in that area. Working with our partners over the last year, in particular in reviewing the regime and the act, we've been looking at what we could be doing better. It's been a strong focus of our training right across the board, not just within law e

Finance committee  Certainly with regard to FINTRAC, we do receive a significant amount of information from them, and we have no issues with the type of information we're receiving. If we ever need clarification, we have a very good partnership with FINTRAC.

Finance committee  Mr. Chair, if I may, it's certainly possible that there would be cases in which we would receive information and charges would not be laid. That's correct.

Finance committee  Money laundering is certainly a significant issue. It's a risk to our economy. It's a risk internally across Canada for investors, as well as externally. When we look at foreign partners and foreign investment in Canada, money laundering is certainly a risk, in that it's taking a

Finance committee  It is not as much hindrances to convictions, but hindrances to the investigations themselves. They're very complex and multi-layered, and as I mentioned, there is a list of different items that hinder our investigations, such as a lack of beneficial ownership. I can certainly go

Finance committee  I wouldn't have an answer for that overall. Obviously it would change from year to year. Currently we have 53 investigations outstanding, either in the court system or in the process of being investigated, but I wouldn't be able to say how many are concluded each year.

Finance committee  It would be. Recognizing that an investigation may take many years, it might start in one year, but it wouldn't conclude until two or three years later. That's possible, or it could also conclude the same year.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's my pleasure to appear before the committee as part of its review of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. As part of our mandate to protect Canada's economic integrity, financial crime has long been a federal policing p

Justice committee  In the 455 cases, human trafficking-specific charges were laid. Of those, 433 were domestic; 22 were international; and 118 have successfully resulted in human trafficking-specific or related convictions. Again, of that, 296 are still before the courts.

Justice committee  In policing we partner with victims' service, various social services, including housing, and various departments, even through the identification of sex trade workers who are at risk as well—the project that I referred to. We work with partners during that project to make sure t

Justice committee  Yes and no, I guess. In terms of organized crime, there's certainly a significant involvement in human trafficking. Within Canada, most of our international persons trafficked are with regard to forced labour. The rest are for sexual trade across Canada. With regard to organized

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm sorry, but which number did you refer to?

Justice committee  It was human trafficking-specific or -related convictions, so any number of Criminal Code sections would apply.

Justice committee  That's correct, out of—sorry—455.

Justice committee  Not all of those cases have gone through the court system yet, so the rest are still in the court system. If we go through the numbers, you would see that some are no longer moving forward, but the rest are in the court system still.