Immigrants are being blamed for the housing crisis? Hmm... Depends on which ones?
I present to you the Vancouver model of money laundering through business immigration.
Are you still saving up for a house? In fact, you are competing with the heads of criminal groups.
Today in Canada, we hear more and more breaking news: visas are being cut, work statuses are being restricted, permanent residence is becoming almost unattainable. It seems that immigration is about to shut down. But the paradox is that, amid all these restrictions for ordinary people, the country is still open to investors and entrepreneurs with suitcases of cash. Where is the logic? The answer is simple and harsh: follow the money.
According to Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, 45 to 113 billion dollars are laundered through the country every year. Think about it: from 123 to 310 million per day. Every single day. And the state is in no hurry to stop the flow, because once in the system, these “dirty” billions start working as clean ones: they feed banks, construction corporations, trade, provincial budgets and federal statistics itself.
The so-called “Vancouver model” has become a global symbol of this practice. Imagine: casino chips worth tens of thousands of dollars are imported into the country. They can be easily carried through the airport: no taxation, no restrictions. In Vancouver or Richmond, “VIP gamblers” enter the casinos
with bags of twenty-dollar cash — the favorite currency of drug dealers. The cash is exchanged for chips, some is played “to pretend”, and then back into a check or “clean” cash. That’s it. The money is officially washed and ready for investment in real estate.
In 2014, Vancouver casinos alone processed $1.2 billion in cash transactions of $10,000 and up. On average, that's $3.3 million in dirty money per day. And this isn't guesswork, it’s the data from the Cullen Commission, which confirmed that from 2008 to 2018, hundreds of millions from criminal sources were freely roaming around British Columbia casinos and simultaneously pumping up the housing market.
And now pay attention: Canada remains one of the few countries where you can still buy real estate in cash without disclosing the ultimate beneficiary. So exactly what does it mean? The beneficiary is the real owner of the asset, the one who actually controls the property, even if the owner is listed on paper as a company or a front man. For example, a house can be registered to "1234567 Ontario Inc.", but in fact belongs to a member of a criminal syndicate. And the state is not formally obliged to know who this person is.
That's why Vancouver and Toronto have become a magnet for “dirty money”: from Chinese triads to Iranian clans and Latin American cartels. For locals, the result is the same: housing prices soar, the market becomes inaccessible, and competition is obviously unfair. But for the authorities, this is an "investment in the economy."
Most of the participants in these schemes enter Canada quite easy: as entrepreneurs or investors. This is their trick: the suitcases of money brought in the form of casino chips are absolutely legal at the border. They can be brought into the country and cashed in the same way inside the casino. And then the easiest part begins. When buying real estate in Canada, no one requires you to prove or indicate the origin of the funds. The law does not oblige you to do so. In the end, it turns out like this: where exactly you got your suitcase of cash is not important, the main thing is that you have it. And here, cash that has passed through the gaming tables of Vancouver is easily converted into a "clean" house or condominium in the city center.
And here’s what’s happening: in words, the government is fighting to reduce temporary visas and tighten immigration. In fact, billions of “dirty money” quietly enter the country under the guise of investments. These are the same cocktail’s ingredients: immigration, money and politics, intertwined into one system. The government pretends to fight the consequences, but does not touch the cause-the lack of real transparency of financial flows and the law on beneficiaries.
Is it possible to block the "Vancouver model"? In theory, yes. It is enough to introduce mandatory disclosure of the ultimate owners, create a single structure for investigating financial crimes, bring cases to court and really confiscate assets. But let's be honest: too many people depend on this money: banks, developers, realtors, and along with them tax authorities and provincial budgets.
So the main question remains open. What is more important for the state: an honest system or billions that feed the economy every day?
nd now it's up to you, readers. 💬 Share in the comments: perhaps some of you have seen this system from the inside or have facts that are worth bringing to light. After all, as long as society remains silent, the tangle called the "Vancouver model" will remain unshakable.
Oleksandra Melnykova, Canadian Immigration and Refugee Consultant.
Copyright 2025 «SKI Immigration Inc. »
All rights reserved.
