The head of Canada’s anti-money-laundering watchdog is stepping down amid a broad overhaul of the federal government’s approach to fighting financial crime.

Lori Blair, a spokesperson for the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac), said in an email that Sarah Paquet’s term as director and CEO concludes Sunday. Deputy director of intelligence Stéphane Sirard is currently the acting director and CEO and will continue to serve “until further notice,” she said.

Blair did not respond when asked why Paquet was leaving. Fintrac directors can serve for a maximum of 10 years, and Paquet has held the position since November 2020.

Paquet’s tenure has been marked by turmoil. Anti-money-laundering experts criticized the relatively modest $9.2-million penalty Fintrac levied against TD Bank in 2024 for failing to prevent money laundering, which was dwarfed by a US$3-billion fine from American regulators for the same offences. That same year, a cyberattack on the agency took down Canadian small businesses’ system for reporting suspicious transactions for months.

A 2022 inquiry into money laundering in B.C. highlighted what it called Fintrac’s “ineffectiveness,” finding that Canada has “no comprehensive economic crime strategy, no real understanding of the money-laundering threats facing the country, and no meaningful evaluation of the effectiveness of the anti–money-laundering measures put in place by the federal government.”

Canada is awaiting the results of a recent comprehensive international review of its money-laundering controls by the Financial Action Task Force, with potentially devastating economic consequences if it falls short.

Under Prime Minister Mark Carney, the Liberal government has been working to turn around Canada’s reputation for being soft on white-collar crime. In April’s spring economic update, Ottawa outlined the powers and budget for a new specialized police force called the Financial Crimes Agency, with a mandate to investigate everything from money laundering to corruption, both on its own and in partnership with existing law enforcement agencies.

The federal government has also significantly expanded the number and types of businesses that report to Fintrac and beefed up the agency’s powers to collect penalties, which it exercised through an unprecedented enforcement blitz in 2025 that smashed previous annual records for fines levied.