Bill S-8: Unlicensed Crypto ATM Ban, a $10,000 Cash Limit and New Powers Over MSB Registration

On November 3, 2026, the Government of Canada introduced Bill S-8, the Combatting Financial Crimes and Drug Trafficking Act, in the Senate. Finance Canada says the bill "proposes to fight financial crimes through five different measures." Four of them amend the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) you report under. Here is what the bill text says about each, and when each would take effect.

S-8 is a Senate Government Bill sponsored by Senator Pierre Moreau. As of November 4, LEGISinfo lists it at second reading in the Senate, with every House of Commons stage not yet reached. Its provisions are proposals until the bill passes and receives royal assent.

The Five Measures at a Glance

Crypto ATMs: A Provincial Licence or a Criminal Offence

Finance Canada says Canadians are estimated to have lost between $142 million and $284 million to fraud facilitated by crypto ATMs in 2024, based on the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre's estimate that 5 to 10 per cent of fraud is reported. The bill defines a virtual currency automated teller machine as "an automated banking machine that is capable of being used to conduct, in whole or in part, transactions involving virtual currency."

Proposed section 77.31 makes it an offence, knowing that a machine is a crypto ATM, to operate it, to provide the space in which it is available, or to load it with cash or collect cash from it. Selling or making available software knowing it will facilitate crypto ATM transactions in Canada is also an offence. The offences do not apply where the machine is operated under a licence issued under an Act of the province in which it is located, or where the software is supplied to a provincially licensed operator. The penalty on conviction on indictment is a fine of up to $5,000,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

For operators, the bill adds these requirements to the PCMLTFA:

• Records and identity. Keep a record of every transaction conducted using the machine (proposed section 6.01) and verify the identity of each person or entity that conducts one (proposed section 6.11), except in prescribed circumstances.
• A report for every transaction. Report each transaction to FINTRAC "no later than 15 days after the day on which the transaction is conducted," including the terminal identification number, the date and time, the digital wallet addresses, the name and address of the person or entity (and a person's date of birth), and the type and amount of each virtual currency (proposed subsection 9(1.1)).
• A $1,000 limit. Ensure that the value of all transactions a person or entity conducts within 24 consecutive hours using the machine "does not exceed $1,000" (proposed section 9.12).
• Machine information. Give FINTRAC up-to-date information on each machine, including its brand, model and serial number, its location, the source of the cash loaded into it, how cash is transported, and the wallet address used to operate it (proposed section 9.94).

Clause 28 adds the $1,000 limit to section 75(1) of the PCMLTFA, which carries a fine of up to $20,000,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both, on conviction on indictment. Clause 29 adds the transaction reports to section 77(1), with a fine of up to $10,000,000 on summary conviction. For administrative monetary penalties, clauses 43, 44, 45 and 47 classify records and identity verification as minor violations, transaction reports and machine information as serious, and the $1,000 limit as very serious.

If you are a bank or authorized foreign bank, a credit union or caisse populaire, a federal trust and loan company, a provincial trust company, a securities dealer, an MSB or a foreign MSB, amended subsection 9.31(1) would bar you from opening or maintaining an account for, or having a correspondent banking relationship with, anyone who operates a crypto ATM located in Canada unless they are registered with FINTRAC. The same amendment extends the existing bar on dealing with unregistered foreign MSBs to securities dealers, MSBs and foreign MSBs. Proposed section 11.421 lets the Minister of Finance, by written directive, limit or prohibit transactions involving a crypto ATM for any reporting entity. Our crypto companies page covers the virtual currency reports you file today.

Cash Payments of $10,000 or More

Proposed subsection 77.5(1) reads: "Every person or entity that is engaged in a business, a profession or the solicitation of financial donations from the public commits an offence if the person or entity accepts a cash payment, donation or deposit of $10,000 or more in a single transaction or in a prescribed series of related transactions that total $10,000 or more."

Foreign currency converts at the Bank of Canada rate for the date the cash is accepted or, if the Bank of Canada publishes no rate for that currency, at the rate the business would use in the ordinary course of business. The offence does not apply to banks and authorized foreign banks, credit unions and caisses populaires, federal and provincial trust and loan companies, Crown departments and agents under paragraph 5(l) (those that accept deposits, issue, sell or redeem money orders, or sell prescribed precious metals, while carrying out a prescribed activity), prescribed persons or entities, or prescribed classes of payment. The exceptions do not include MSBs, securities dealers or life insurance companies unless they are prescribed. On conviction on indictment, the fine can reach three times the amount accepted. Finance Canada says Canada is "the only G7 country, other than Japan, without a framework to restrict or regulate large cash transactions across the economy."

Proposed section 9.21 adds a second restriction for those same deposit-taking entities: except in prescribed circumstances, they are "prohibited from accepting cash deposits into an account from a depositor who is not the holder of the account or authorized to give instructions on that account." Clause 46 classifies a breach of section 9.21 as a very serious violation for administrative monetary penalties.

Today, under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations, reporting entities report cash receipts of $10,000 or more to FINTRAC in a Large Cash Transaction Report.

MSB Registration: New Grounds to Deny or Revoke

Section 11.11 of the PCMLTFA lists who is not eligible for registration with FINTRAC. The bill adds five grounds:

• a person or entity specified in a ministerial directive of ineligibility under section 11.206 that, if reviewed, has been confirmed by the Minister;
• a payment service provider not registered under the Retail Payment Activities Act because of a directive under that Act;
• a person or entity "that is subject to a compliance order under subsection 73.17(1) and is not making substantial progress in meeting the terms of the order";
• a person or entity that had an application denied or a registration revoked "and that has not remedied the reason for the denial or revocation";
• a person or entity acting on behalf of or in concert with one in the previous item.

Under existing subsection 11.11(2), a registered person or entity that becomes ineligible has its registration revoked as of that day. Under amended subsection 11.3(1), a denial or revocation based on a ministerial directive or the Retail Payment Activities Act ground could not be reviewed by FINTRAC's Director; one based on a ministerial directive could instead be reviewed by the Minister on application within 30 days (proposed section 11.31).

Where FINTRAC has reasonable grounds to believe an applicant or registrant provided false or misleading information, "including by omission," the bill says FINTRAC "shall deny" the application or "shall revoke" the registration (proposed sections 11.161, 11.172 and 11.2001).

New duties after registration, under proposed sections 11.191 to 11.193:

• Within 90 days of registering, confirm whether you have started the activities you registered for, and give FINTRAC the name, address, account number and branch or transit number of every financial entity, and every entity outside Canada providing financial services, where you hold an account used for MSB services. If by the deadline you have not started any registered activity, or have not provided the account details, you are "deemed to have ceased all of the activities for which they are registered." FINTRAC may extend the deadline if it is satisfied you are making substantial progress towards starting.
• Within the same 90 days, provide a list of the registered activities you are carrying out.
• At least 30 days before starting an activity that requires registration and that you are not registered for, notify FINTRAC.

Clause 48 classifies a breach of the 90-day confirmation as a serious violation for administrative monetary penalties, and the activity list and the 30-day notice as minor violations.

Clause 35 replaces "20%" with "5%" in three provisions of the Act: the criminal record documents an MSB's registration application must include for each person who owns or controls, directly or indirectly, the stated share of the entity (paragraph 11.12(1)(c)); the criminal record documents an MSB must obtain for the owners of an agent or mandatary that is an entity (paragraph 9.93(2)(b)); and the ineligibility ground for a corporation whose director, chief executive officer, president or owner at that threshold has been convicted on indictment of an offence under the Act (paragraph 11.11(1)(e)). Clause 42 makes the same change in the Registration Regulations, and clause 41 adds any licence, registration or authorization number issued by a federal or provincial regulator to the registration application.

The bill also gives the Minister of Finance new powers. The Minister may review an application or registration (proposed section 11.202) and require undertakings, impose conditions or order measures (11.207 to 11.209), each where the Minister considers it necessary "for reasons related to national security or to safeguarding the integrity of Canada's financial system." The Minister may direct FINTRAC that a person or entity is not eligible (11.206) for those reasons, or because it failed to provide requested information, did not comply with an undertaking, condition or order, or gave the Minister false or misleading information. For the same national security or integrity reasons, the Minister may direct FINTRAC to suspend, for a specified period, consideration of all applications for registration or renewal, or those of a specified class (11.22). Applicants and registrants must give the Minister any additional information requested (11.205), and proposed Part 5.1 lets persons designated by the Minister request information, examine records and enter places to verify compliance with undertakings, conditions and orders, with a warrant needed to enter a dwelling-house. A new section 7 of the Registration Regulations sets the review period at 180 days from the day after the Minister decides to review, which the Minister may extend for one or more further periods of the same length (11.203). Finance Canada says the bill would also enable directives requiring enhanced due diligence for, and regulations to temporarily limit or prohibit, certain domestic transactions in prescribed circumstances, and notes that "these measures can already be applied to transactions going to or coming from a foreign country."

Information Shared by Law Enforcement

The bill's summary says it would permit a reporting entity "to collect and use an individual's personal information without that individual's knowledge or consent" if the information is disclosed by a government department, institution or agency or a law enforcement agency, and the collection and use are for detecting or deterring money laundering, terrorist activity financing or sanctions evasion, or a consistent purpose. Under proposed section 11.71, the disclosure must come from the RCMP or a prescribed government department, institution or agency or prescribed law enforcement agency, which must affirm in writing that the disclosure is for detecting or deterring money laundering, terrorist activity financing or sanctions evasion, that it is made without the individual's knowledge or consent, and that seeking consent would compromise that purpose. Section 11.72 limits how you may use the information, and section 11.73 says no criminal or civil proceedings lie for collecting or using it in good faith. Related amendments go to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Finance Canada says the amendments support the Integrated Money Laundering Intelligence Partnership (IMLIP), which Canada launched in February 2025 between law enforcement and Canada's big banks.

Mail in the Course of Post

Part 2 amends the Canada Post Corporation Act to permit the demand, seizure, detention or retention of anything in the course of post under the Criminal Code, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act or the Cannabis Act. Finance Canada says postal inspection authorities would remain unchanged and that, "unlike Bill C-2, these amendments would not allow postal inspectors to open letters."

When Each Measure Would Take Effect

Section 51 of the bill sets these dates:

Finance Canada says the 18 months are "to allow provinces and territories without a licensing regime to implement one." Section 51 does not list the other clauses, including the account ban in subsection 9.31(1), the new grounds of ineligibility in subsection 11.11(1), denial and revocation for false information in an application (sections 11.161 and 11.172), the Minister's new powers, section 11.421 and the information-sharing provisions. Under subsection 5(2) of the Interpretation Act, "if no date of commencement is provided for in an Act, the date of commencement of that Act is the date of assent to the Act."

Eight Questions to Check Against Your Business

1. Do you accept cash payments, donations or deposits of $10,000 or more, alone or in related transactions? Proposed subsection 77.5(1).
2. If you are a deposit-taking entity, do you accept cash deposits from people who are not the account holder or authorized on the account? Proposed section 9.21.
3. Do you operate, host, load or service a crypto ATM, and does the operator hold a licence in the province where the machine sits? Proposed section 77.31.
4. If you operate crypto ATMs, can each machine cap every person or entity at $1,000 within 24 consecutive hours? Proposed section 9.12.
5. Do you hold an account for a crypto ATM operator, and is it registered with FINTRAC? Amended subsection 9.31(1).
6. If you are an MSB, do you hold criminal record documents for everyone who owns or controls 5% or more of your business, and of each agent or mandatary that is an entity? Clause 35, paragraphs 11.12(1)(c) and 9.93(2)(b).
7. If you are newly registered, can you give FINTRAC your activities and every account used for MSB services within 90 days? Proposed sections 11.191 and 11.192.
8. If you are under a compliance order, can you show substantial progress in meeting its terms? Proposed paragraph 11.11(1)(d.3).

Bottom Line

Bill S-8 would ban crypto ATMs that lack a provincial licence, make it an offence for anyone engaged in a business, a profession or soliciting donations from the public to accept $10,000 or more in cash, with exceptions for deposit-taking entities and anything prescribed, and widen the grounds on which FINTRAC must deny or revoke MSB registrations. It is at second reading in the Senate.

In Finance Canada's words: "Canadians would still be able to benefit from the full services provided by MSBs."