Licensed precursor dealers get new employee-diversion duty, mandatory suspicious-transaction reporting, and a new controlled substance added

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

Several overlapping changes have been consolidated into the live text of Canada's Precursor Control Regulations. First, anyone applying for or renewing a precursor dealer licence must now declare in their application that they have taken all reasonable measures to ensure their employees do not contribute to the diversion of precursors to illicit markets. Second, the older voluntary suspicious-transaction reporting section has been retired and replaced by a mandatory regime: licensed and registered dealers that have reasonable grounds to suspect a transaction may be linked to diversion must file a written report to the Minister within 72 hours, including details of the parties, the precursor, and the reasons for suspicion. Third, licensed dealers must keep on-site all documents showing the measures they took under the new employee-diversion duty, for at least two years. Fourth, records of suspicious-transaction reports must be kept for at least two years after the report is made to the Minister. Finally, a new substance—R 29676 (5-chloro-1-(piperidin-4-yl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-one) and its salts—has been added to the controlled precursors schedule with a maximum quantity of zero, meaning it cannot be dealt in without specific authorization.

Who this affects: licensed precursor dealers · registered precursor dealers · licence applicants and renewal applicants · employees of precursor dealers · importers and exporters of controlled precursors