Identification Paperwork in Real Estate

You may hear real estate agents or their staff use the term FINTRAC when talking about identification requirements. FINTRAC forms have become a standard part of  Real Estate paperwork and are required by federal law.

FINTRAC stands for Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. The completion and storage of these documents by real estate agents and the brokerages they work for is a federal requirement.

According to the government's FINTRAC website: The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) is Canada's financial intelligence unit. Its mandate is to facilitate the detection, prevention and deterrence of money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities, while ensuring the protection of personal information under its control.

Not only is filling out the documents required for every transaction, the documents need to be completed by a professional, such as a licensed real estate agent or a notary/lawyer, bank manager, etc. If you can't meet with your real estate agent in person to complete these forms, a real estate agent in a cooperating office generally will not charge for this service (so if you are a Royal LePage client and can't come in to the office where your listing is you should be able go to any RLP office to fill out the paperwork after your real estate agent arranges it) but a notary/lawyer generally will. If a third party is completing the identification paperwork then an agreement needs to be formally signed between your real estate agent and that third party.

The information collected is kept locked away and confidential.

For more information on this, please visit the website: https://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/intro-eng

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