Update on Inquiry into BC Money Laundering

The Cullen Commission began hearing from stakeholders including the BC Real Estate Association, the federal government, and more than a dozen others as it begins to assess impacts of money laundering in the province. After the initial hearings the Commission will report on its finding in May, then begin a full set of hearings in the fall.

Two reports concluding that $7.4 billion had been laundered in the BC economy with $5 billion connected to real estate prompted the BC government to announce in May 2019 that there would be a public inquiry.

“Criminal activity has had a material impact on people: Whether it be the rise of opioid addictions, the rise of opioid deaths as a result of overdoses, whether it was the extraordinary increase in housing costs, people were being affected by criminal activity in British Columbia,” the Premier reported to The Canadian Press.

Reference: https://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/market-update/bc-inquiry-into-money-laundering-in-real-estate-gets-underway-326601.aspx