On-shore VASP in Canada

VASP: a crypto platform serving Canadians registers with FINTRAC as a money services business (or foreign MSB) for dealing in virtual currency and, for crypto contracts, with the securities regulators, which since 6 August 2024 expect investment dealer registration and CIRO membership rather than restricted dealer status; Binance, whose principal regulator was the Alberta Securities Commission, announced on 12 May 2023 that it would withdraw from Canada.

EXCHANGE: A crypto exchange serving Canadians registers with FINTRAC as a money services business (or foreign MSB) for dealing in virtual currency and, where it trades crypto contracts, with the securities regulators; since 6 August 2024 the CSA expects such platforms to register as investment dealers and join CIRO, and no longer grants time-limited restricted dealer registration or accepts new pre-registration undertakings.

CUSTODY: Under the standard pre-registration undertaking in CSA Staff Notice 21-332 (22 February 2023), a crypto trading platform holds client crypto assets in trust for clients, separate from its own assets, with an Acceptable Third-party Custodian (such as a Canadian custodian or Canadian financial institution, or another custodian meeting the notice's criteria or consented to by the regulator), and keeps at least 80% of the value of client crypto assets with third-party custodians.

FINTRAC — AML/CFT, MSB registration, transaction reporting

CSA — coordinates provincial and territorial securities regulation of crypto trading platforms through CSA Staff Notice 21-327 (16 January 2020) on when securities law applies, Joint CSA/IIROC Staff Notice 21-329 (29 March 2021) on compliance, and the 6 August 2024 expectation that platforms register as investment dealers and become CIRO members.

Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (2000) — AML/CFT, MSB registration

CSA Staff Notice 21-327 (16 January 2020) sets out when securities legislation applies to crypto trading platforms; the compliance and registration framework followed in Joint CSA/IIROC Staff Notice 21-329 (29 March 2021), the day the OSC told platforms to start registration or face enforcement action, and the OSC began proceedings against a non-compliant offshore platform on 25 May 2021.

CSA Staff Notice 21-327, Guidance on the Application of Securities Legislation to Entities Facilitating the Trading of Crypto Assets (16 January 2020), states that a platform is generally not subject to securities legislation only if the underlying crypto asset is not a security or derivative and each contract results in, and is settled by, immediate delivery of the crypto asset to the user.

NI 31-103 s. 12.1 requires a registered firm's excess working capital (Form 31-103F1) not to fall below zero for 2 consecutive days, with minimum capital of $25,000 for an adviser, $50,000 for a dealer and $100,000 for an investment fund manager; dealers must also maintain bonding or insurance (s. 12.3). Investment dealers that are CIRO (formerly IIROC) members are exempt from ss. 12.1 and 12.3 under s. 9.3(1) unless also registered as investment fund managers.

Under NI 31-103 s. 11.3(1) every registered firm must designate an individual registered in the category of chief compliance officer; the Exempt Market Products Exam is a proficiency option only for an exempt market dealer's CCO (s. 3.10), alongside the PDO or Chief Compliance Officers Qualifying Exam and 12 months of relevant experience.

NI 31-103 sets CCO experience by registration category rather than a general 3-5 year expectation: an exempt market dealer's CCO needs 12 months of relevant securities industry experience in the prior 36 months plus specified exams (s. 3.10), and every registered firm must let its CCO directly access its board of directors (s. 11.4).

OSC registration assessment rests on three principles: proficiency under Part 3 of NI 31-103, integrity, and solvency through capital and insurance requirements; firms file Form 33-109F6 with audited financial statements and insurance declarations, and OSC staff may request other information to assess fitness for registration.

Registration framework is established through National Instrument 31-103 (NI 31-103) — Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations

Registration forms and filing requirements are governed by National Instrument 33-109 Registration Information; firms apply on Form 33-109F6 Firm Registration and individuals on Form 33-109F4 Registration of Individuals and Review of Permitted Individuals.

CSA members coordinate registration through the passport system (Multilateral Instrument 11-102) and, with Ontario, the interface system: a firm registering in several provinces or territories files through the passport and interface system, except restricted dealers, which apply separately to each regulator.

Registration authority rests with each provincial or territorial securities regulator; restricted-dealer applicants apply separately to each regulator, and the OSC registers crypto trading platforms for Ontario through its own decisions, with Cybrid Canada registered for Ontario only as of 25 September 2026.

Anyone in the business of trading securities or advising clients on securities must be registered with the securities regulator in each province or territory where they do business, unless an exemption applies

Obligations: Registered VASPs are subject to a range of compliance obligations, including:

Registration: Registering with FINTRAC.

Record Keeping: Maintaining records of transactions, client identification, and compliance reports.

Client Identification: Verifying the identity of clients.

MSBs dealing in virtual currency report suspicious transactions, large cash transactions of $10,000 or more, international electronic funds transfers of $10,000 or more, and Large Virtual Currency Transaction Reports when they receive virtual currency worth $10,000 or more in one transaction, filed within 5 working days.

Under the PCMLTFA, MSBs dealing in virtual currency must run a compliance program: appoint a compliance officer, keep written policies and procedures, assess money laundering and terrorist financing risk, keep a written training program and plan, and review the program's effectiveness at least every two years.

Canada's travel rule for virtual currency transfers, based on FATF Recommendation 16, took effect on 1 June 2021 through amendments to the PCMLTF Regulations (SOR/2019-240), which added s. 124.1.

Canada's travel rule requires financial entities, MSBs and foreign MSBs to send originator and beneficiary information with every virtual currency transfer they must record, which for MSBs means transfers equivalent to $1,000 or more, and to take reasonable measures to ensure incoming transfers carry it.

Obtain Information: Collect names, addresses, and account numbers (or unique transaction identifiers) for both the sender (originator) and receiver (beneficiary).

Send Information: Transmit this information to the beneficiary institution.

Receive Information: Receive this information from the originator institution.

Canada's travel rule has applied since 1 June 2021 to virtual currency transfers that must be recorded, which for MSBs means transfers worth $1,000 or more; CAD 10,000 is the separate Large Virtual Currency Transaction Report threshold.

Sending VASPs must include required PII (originator/beneficiary name, address, account/reference number) with transfers.

Receiving VASPs must take reasonable measures to obtain missing information, with risk-based policies for allowing, suspending, rejecting transactions, or follow-up actions.

Canada's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework is not yet in force: Budget 2025 deferred it to 1 January 2027, and Bill C-31, which would implement it for the 2027 and later calendar years, had not reached third reading as of 14 October 2026.

VASPs must also meet broader record-keeping and reporting under PCMLTFA.

PCMLTFR s. 124.1(1)(a) requires a financial entity, MSB or foreign MSB that must keep a record of a virtual currency transfer to include with it the name, address and any account or reference number of both the originator and the beneficiary.

Persons dealing in virtual currencies (exchange or transfer services) are money services businesses under PCMLTFA s. 5(h)(iv), or foreign MSBs under s. 5(h.1)(iv) if they have no place of business in Canada but direct services at Canada, and must register with FINTRAC under s. 11.1 before operating.

Current Status: As of April 2026, the Travel Rule is fully in force, and FINTRAC expects compliance. While practical interoperability solutions among VASPs for seamless data exchange continue to evolve globally, Canadian VASPs are required to implement reasonable measures to comply with the information collection and transmission requirements.

The PCMLTF Regulations were amended for virtual currency by SOR/2019-240 (Canada Gazette Part II, 10 July 2019) and SOR/2020-112: virtual currency dealers had to register as MSBs from 1 June 2020, and the remaining obligations, including the travel rule, took effect on 1 June 2021.

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Canada has not yet enacted Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework reporting by crypto platforms: Budget 2025 deferred CARF to 1 January 2027, and Bill C-31, which implements it for the 2027 and later calendar years, had not reached third reading as of 14 October 2026.

Ongoing Focus on Unregistered Platforms: Securities regulators continue to target platforms operating in Canada without registration. This often results in cease trading orders, financial penalties, and requirements for platforms to either register or exit the Canadian market.

Under CSA Staff Notice 21-332 (22 Feb 2023) unregistered crypto asset trading platforms could give a pre-registration undertaking (PRU) to their principal regulator while applying for registration. On 6 Aug 2024 the CSA ended that interim approach for time-limited restricted dealer registration, including new PRUs; new platforms apply directly to the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO). PRUs of ByteX, CatalX and Uphold expired or were withdrawn in 2023.

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On 22 Jun 2022 a panel of the Capital Markets Tribunal approved a settlement between the Ontario Securities Commission and Bybit Fintech Limited (British Virgin Islands) for operating an unregistered crypto asset trading platform; Bybit disgorged USD 2,468,910, paid CAD 10,000 toward investigation costs, and gave an undertaking not to open new Ontario accounts or offer new products while registration discussions continue, and to wind up its Ontario operations if they fail.

On 22 Jun 2022 a panel of the Capital Markets Tribunal permanently banned Mek Global Limited (Seychelles) and PhoenixFin Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), together KuCoin, from participating in Ontario's capital markets and ordered an administrative penalty of CAD 2,000,000 plus $96,550.35 in OSC investigation costs for operating an unregistered crypto asset trading platform. Separately, FINTRAC imposed an administrative monetary penalty of $19,552,000 on Peken Global Limited (operating as KuCoin) on 28 Jul 2025 for 3 violations, which Peken has appealed.

On 17 Mar 2022 the Ontario Securities Commission published an undertaking by Binance Holdings Limited and Binance Canada Capital Markets Inc. confirming that activities involving Ontario residents had ceased, after Binance falsely told investors on 29 Dec 2021 that it could keep operating in Ontario. Binance told the Alberta Securities Commission (principal regulator for the CSA) on 2 May 2023 that it would withdraw from Canada and announced the exit publicly on 12 May 2023. FINTRAC imposed an administrative monetary penalty of $6,002,000 on Binance Holdings Limited, as a foreign money services business, on 7 May 2024 for 2 violations; Binance appealed to the Federal Court.