Almost 30 organized crime groups have “influence or access within Canadian public sector agencies or departments primarily at the local or regional levels,” according to a federal report.
Costs to Taxpayers
Infiltration costs taxpayers a lot, the reports say. Local and regional government contracts are susceptible to infiltration. Public resources are thus misallocated, and project costs can increase up to 50 percent.As of the 2022 assessment, Canada had 30 Mafia networks based mainly in Toronto, Hamilton, and Montreal. More than 130 street gangs “continue to be the most violent subset of organized crime groups,” and are based mostly in British Columbia, Toronto, and Montreal.
Drug smuggling groups numbering about 350 are based mainly in British Columbia and Ontario. “For the first time organized crime groups in Atlantic Canada are reported to be involved in fentanyl distribution,” said the report.
Organized criminal groups are also well-connected in the private sector, with 41 percent of the groups assessed having links to a combined 1,682 businesses. The nature of the businesses vary, including food and beverage, retail, transportation and warehousing (which often facilitates drug smuggling), construction, and even insurance.