This is an important case for people who fail to report having $10,000 or more of cash when crossing Canada’s borders.
Under the federal Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, the Canada Border Services Agency can seize your cash or negotiable instruments if you don’t report having them when you cross the border. (See my article on the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.)
Until this case, the Federal Court of Canada had said that CBSA could (and must) keep all the seized money, even if you could show that some of it was from legal sources. In this decision, Justice Simpson refused to follow the earlier cases. With 6 strong points she gave her convincing reasons for saying that CBSA should return the part of the seized money you can show came from legal sources. (Para. 28.)
Read Da Huang (2013 FCC, Simpson). The FCA upheld this decision. See Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) v. Huang, 2014 FCA 228