Corruption in Canada

Corruption represents an increasing issue across Canada. On Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index, Canada scored 74 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("highly clean"). This score continues a slow decline from Canada's 2012 score of 84. For comparison, the global average score in 2021 was 43. When ranked by score, Canada ranked number 13 among the 180 countries in the 2021 Index, where the country ranked number 1 is perceived to have the most honest public sector. Conflicts of interest within government, tax evasion, and the ease in which you can launder money are among some of the leading factors of corruption in Canada.

Canada ranks at the bottom of the bribery-fighting rankings with "little or no enforcement of anti-bribery measures". The 2014 Ernst & Young global fraud survey found that "twenty percent of Canadian executives believe bribery and corruption are widespread in this country".

Low enforcement of anti-corruption laws is evident as seen in the recent case against SNC-Lavalin; a Canadian construction company which allegedly paid US$48 million in bribes to Libyan officials and has resulted in the resignation of several members within Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet.

Corruption by region

Ontario

Corruption in Ontario has become a major issue across multiple sectors.

Dalton McGuinty's Ontario Liberal government faced multiple high-profile corruption cases that include the eHealth Scandal, the Ontario power plant scandal, and the Ornge scandal.

McGuinty's successor, Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal government were also involved corruption cases that included bribery during elections. Prominent Liberal Party fundraiser Gerry Lougheed Jr. was charged by the Ontario Provincial Police. and was later acquitted.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has alleged that Ontario Provincial Police leaders committed fraud and are guilty of money laundering and corruption, including President James (Jim) Christie, Vice-president Martin Bain and chief administrative officer Karl Walsh. The charges include "unusual investment of union money in condos in the Bahamas", "formation of a company to provide exclusive travel services for both union business and personal travel by members", "formation of a consulting company" that billed the union $5000 per month, and for "questionable vacation and travel expenses billed to the union".

Quebec

The Charbonneau Commission was established in 2011 to investigate corruption in Quebec. It has uncovered long running, widespread corruption including "price-fixing schemes among construction companies bidding on municipal governments", "illegal donations to the province's major political parties from some of its biggest engineering firms" and links between the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, the Quebec Federation of Labour (FTQ), the province's biggest federation of unions, and organized crime.

In 2015, employees of EBR Information Technology firm, IBM Canada and Revenu Québec were arrested for fraud, conspiracy and breach of trust in relation to computer equipment and services contracts to the provincial government. There are widespread "financial and management irregularities with the Quebec government's computer networks."

On January 26, 2017, former mayor of Montreal Michael Applebaum was found guilty of 8 corruption-related charges. Applebaum was found guilty in relation to cash kickbacks related to real estate development projects and a municipal contract for the management and maintenance of the NDG Sports Centre.

In March 2017, Andrew Potter, academic and former director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, wrote an article critical of Quebec civil society in Canada and that many citizens regularly avoid paying taxes by illegal but widely common practices. A firestorm of criticism against Potter soon ensued, mostly focusing on the fact that he was a publicly paid academic at a provincial university and thus it was improper for him to have said these things, but the facts remained undisputed.

Corruption by sector

Health

Dr. Shiv Chopra, a former employee of Health Canada and a whistle-blower, has criticized Health Canada for circumventing safety and efficacy regulations to please product manufacturers, for systematic collusion with corporations in "extra-parliamentary decisions involving the imposition of new risks on society" and for overlooking the responsibility to protect health and humans, in pursuit of capital-making profits". Dr. Michele Brill-Edwards previously issued similar warnings and expressed the same concerns earlier.

Some doctors and clinics have been found to overbill and/or double bill the Canadian Health System. Some walk-in clinics intake regular patients at a higher cost to the system without informing the patients about the cost or other options that might be available. In Canada, doctors do not disclose the costs of visits or procedures to the patients. That information can only be obtained through a freedom of information request. This lack of transparency contributes to the proliferation of this form of corruption.

Some dentists overcharge insured patients by altering procedure codes, waive co-payment so that the patient pays nothing, or treat patients other than the insurance holder.

In Alberta, a medical inquiry established the existence of queue-jumping and illegal fast-tracking of private clinic referrals. Alberta's former head of Health Services, Stephen Duckett, noted that "preferential access to care was a common practice when he took over and politicians had fixers who could get valued constituents faster treatment."

Education

Some private high schools have been found to illegally and unethically help students earn inflated grades, credits and credentials. Thus, those with financial means are able to access top university programs and scholarships at the expense of merit students. These schools are referred to as "credit mills" or "credit shops". Lax governmental oversight is a major cause of this corruption.

A report in 2007 said that the majority of students at Canadian universities are engaged in cheating. Among the cheaters, a disproportionately high number are international students. "Students who cheat are unlikely to be caught and face few penalties when they are."

Research and Scholarly Publishing

Two of Canada's leading medical journal publishers Andrew John Publishing and Pulsus Group have been purchased by OMICS Publishing Group, which is considered a predatory and junk science publisher. OMICS is being sued by FTC. FTC has alleged that OMICS "misrepresented the legitimacy of its publications, deceived researchers, and obfuscated sizeable publication fee." Pulsus Group has been on Jeffrey Beall's list of "Potential, possible, or probable" predatory open-access publishers.

Tax

Canada has a very high rate of tax evasion. Individuals and companies with high net worths use offshore tax havens to illegally avoid paying tax. Canadians have $170 billion sitting in the world's top ten tax-haven countries. Canadian federal and provincial governments lose an estimated $8 billion a year to tax havens alone. Black market or under-the-table commercial activity also contributes to tax avoidance losses. The full cost of tax evasion is an estimated $80 billion per year. Tax evasion and corruption are facilitated by lawyers, administrative corruption and inefficiency in the Canada Revenue Agency, Canadian and foreign banks.

Canada's lax regulations make it one of the top countries for anonymous shell companies, which are often used for tax evasion, money laundering, terrorist financing and organized crime. Canadians for Tax Fairness calculate that legal tax avoidance by corporations alone costs the Canadian treasury almost $8 billion Canadian a year. When they calculated the 2015 numbers, they found that corporations and individuals combined sent CAN$40 billion of declared assets to tax havens, and the ten most popular alone now held $270 billion Canadian in assets.

Highly reputed multinational accounting firm KPMG has been accused by the Canada Revenue Agency of offering tax evasion schemes as products to its clients. It alleged that the KPMG tax structures were in reality a "sham" intended to deceive the tax authorities. KPMG offered a "no tax" scheme in return for a fee of 15% and in one case before the courts, it earned $300,000 in fees.

Law Enforcement

The RCMP's own study found 330 internal corruption cases between 1995 and 2005. "Improperly giving out police information was the most common type of corrupt behaviour, followed by fraud, misuse of police officer status, theft and interference with the judicial process." These numbers are likely an understatement of true levels as the RCMP has admitted not tracking "hundreds of cases of serious misconduct committed by Mounties across the country for years". Also, in 2013 nearly 300 current and former female Mounties joined a class-action lawsuit alleging harassment.

CBSA which was formed out of the merger of the 3 legacy border protection agencies, in 2004, including, Immigration Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and Canada Customs and currently has no oversight body.It is widely believed there is a considerable amount of questionable activity has gone largely unnoticed, unreported or suppressed according to complaints from former and current Border Service Officers, (BSO's). Most of the few cases, have been in the media only briefly, and had little to no follow up. The CBSA, normally distances itself from liability by blaming "rogue employees", other departments and outside contractors. The complaint process is nearly impossible to navigate for both the public and employees. Many of those employees who have spoken out, have stated they were in fear of reprisals. Despite legislation known as ATIP, or Access to Information Policy, acquiring statistics, or reports is also a complex process, that can take months despite the standard 60-day law to comply and appeals to the Public Service Integrity Commission are often "Well Founded." Early retirements are a common remedy for offences involving management.

As noted above, Ontario Provincial Police Association leadership has allegedly committed fraud, money laundering and corruption. The matter was brought before a jury in the Ontario Superior Court where all parties were acquitted of the allegations. (thestar.com) ref provided

In 2016, Toronto Police Service faced several high-profile cases of corruption and disproportionate use of force. Constable James Forcillo was found guilty of attempt of murder in the death of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim. Four police officers were arrested and charged with "nine counts of obstructing justice and eight counts of perjury".

Non-profit sector

In Canada, donations to recognized charities receive tax refunds. This system has been abused extensively. "Typically, tax-shelter firms hook up with a little-known charity that becomes a sort of tax receipt mill, suddenly writing millions of dollars in bogus receipts and making grandiose claims of saving the world. Some $3.2 billion in receipts given in the last few years to 100,000 Canadians have either been disallowed or soon will be".

Many charities have been found to be shell organizations for profit-based schemes. A Toronto Star investigation revealed that "self-reported information is so riddled with inaccuracies as to be absolutely useless to a donor" and that the federal government does not verify the claims of charities' "good works". Furthermore, "The Star found the primary regulator, the federal Charities Directorate, is virtually powerless to deal with problem charities."

Several Canadian charities have been found to be front organizations for terrorist organizations or organized crime.

Insurance

Auto insurance fraud involving scammers, auto repair shops, paralegals and medical clinics is widespread in Ontario. It is estimated that the auto insurance fraud costs Ontario drivers $1.3 billion per year. Other forms of insurance fraud are also relatively common, including that related to homes and property, and disability and workers' compensation which anecdotal evidence, at least, suggests is rife with abuse and fraud.

Investigation into insurance scams in Peel Region revealed that police officers colluded with the tow truck drivers and fraudsters in staging accidents. "Fraudulent accident reports" were provided by a veteran officer. Other officers were involved in tipping off the tow trucks of the accident locations.

Drivers licensing

Canadian provinces mandate written and road tests (graduated licensing) to obtain licence to drive automobiles. Truck drivers must undergo specialized training and obtain a commercial licence. Some provinces, such as Ontario, have privatized drivers licensing, while others offer it as a public service. There exists corruption at various levels of drivers licensing.

A dangerous corruption is when non-qualified people obtain fake drivers licences by bribing licensing officers, which are then used for various illegal purposes such as to obtain credit, make insurance claims etc. Issuing of fake in-class driving lesson certificates is another scam related to obtaining licensing. In-class driver lesson certificates are used to get discount rates from insurance companies.

A Toronto Star investigation found that "the truck-driver testing centre is letting learners earn their licences without being required to drive on a major expressway". Furthermore, many driving schools offer in-vehicle "lessons even though they are not authorized by the province to do so".

Real estate

Fraud and corruption is committed by all parties at all levels in the real estate sector. Buyers, sellers, realtors, developers, lawyers, mortgage brokers and banks have been implicated in various fraud and corruption cases. Money laundering, lying about income and occupation, fake bids, value falsification, title fraud and falsely claiming as owner-occupied are common real estate frauds in Canada.

Money laundering is likely in the real estate sector of major Canadian cities. Chinese buyers are suspected of laundering money through the Vancouver real estate market in large numbers, with the help of major Canadian banks. According to a ''The Globe and Mail'' investigation, "some Canadian banks allow wealthy Asian investors to skirt Chinese law by helping them bring in large amounts of money, which is then often used to buy real estate in Vancouver." A report by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada indicates "dramatic under-reporting of large cash transactions and suspicious transactions" in the Vancouver real estate sector.

In 2012, Equifax uncovered $400 million of mortgage fraud in Canada, which experts suspect represents only a fraction of the cheating taking place in the country's real estate market.

The Panama Papers leak of documents from the law offices of Mossack Fonseca

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