A corporate transparency advocate says B.C. is among the leaders in beneficial ownership effectiveness but needs a public registry to keep momentum against money laundering.
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A lobbyist and campaign director for the non-governmental organization IMPACT says B.C.’s incoming Conservative government should maintain progress on a planned public registry of corporate beneficial ownership, after delays under the B.C. NDP government.
Sasha Caldera said a public registry is a key anti-corruption tool and compared the stalled timeline to a play that has reached the goal line but still needs to be completed.
Caldera said Canada has implemented a registry for federally incorporated companies only recently, while Quebec is the only province with a provincial public registry, leaving a gap for corporations registered at the provincial level.
He said a report from the Financial Action Task Force, a Paris-based anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing organization, moved Canada’s beneficial ownership effectiveness from “low” to “moderate” in its September 2026, 10-year evaluation, while also identifying persistent national gaps.
Caldera said B.C. has chosen a 25 per cent threshold for beneficial ownership, according to the province’s last update on the registry. He said the registry would require corporations to identify owners at that threshold.
He also pointed to the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in B.C., which recommended a beneficial ownership registry in 2022.
The B.C. Ministry of Finance told BIV by email it is “setting up a foundation to support the establishment of a multi-jurisdictional beneficial ownership framework that can act as a single hub for corporate beneficial information,” and provided no timeline for completion.
Caldera said the B.C. Conservative election platform does not mention a beneficial ownership registry, but says the government will increase law enforcement officials “to enforce the law strictly from street crime to organized gangs and money laundering.”
He said businesses and corporations still have to report ownership to an internal government registry, so he argued a public registry would not add new burdens at this stage.
Transparency International Canada also supports a registry as part of its End Snow-Washing Coalition. Executive director Salvator Cusimano said beneficial ownership transparency is most powerful when it has high standards across the country.
Cusimano said the task force’s report specifically recommends a pan-Canadian framework agreement to prevent criminals from exploiting differences between provinces, and to maximize value for law enforcement, businesses and citizens.
The coalition called for ID verification for the federal beneficial ownership registry and for foreign companies carrying on business in Canada to disclose ownership, and said any provincial and pan-Canadian registry must be publicly accessible, searchable, free, and include discrepancy reporting.
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