Service

Sanctions and PEP Screening — Canada

Short answer

Sanctions and PEP screening checks a person or entity against government sanctions regimes and politically-exposed-person data. Sleuthify screens the Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List alongside UN, US OFAC, EU, and UK regimes using name-variant and transliteration matching, then layers adverse media.

Draws on 4 record sources, each named below with the statutory basis we rely on. See the list.

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Exact-string matching fails by design

Sanctioned parties do not spell their names the way your contract does. Transliteration from Arabic, Cyrillic, or Chinese produces multiple valid renderings of the same name, and evasion exploits that. Screening that only matches exact strings produces clean results that are worthless. We generate variant sets and score fuzzy matches, which means occasional false positives — and a false positive you can dismiss in thirty seconds is strictly better than a false negative you never see.

Why this belongs on every counterparty check

The lists are free, the queries are fast, and a hit is transaction-ending. There is no cost argument for skipping it. For reporting entities under the PCMLTFA it is an obligation; for everyone else it is the cheapest material risk check available.

What you receive

In the report

Screening against Canadian, UN, OFAC, EU, and UK HMT lists
Name-variant and transliteration matching with match scores
Politically exposed person and close-associate identification
Adverse media screening, sourced and dated
A clear disposition per hit: confirmed, probable, or dismissed with reasoning

Honest limits

What sanctions screening canada will not tell you

Every item here is a structural limit of the Canadian record, not a paywall. Anyone promising you these is either misrepresenting what they have or describing something unlawful.

Screening identifies list matches, not underlying conduct
Common names generate false positives requiring human adjudication
PEP data is compiled by third parties and is never complete
A clean screen is a point-in-time result; lists change constantly

4 connectors

Sources this search queries

Each source carries the paragraph of the Regulations Specifying Publicly Available Information that permits collecting from it without the subject's consent.

CAConsolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List
Global Affairs Canada
Lawful basisStatutory public registrySOR/2001-7(c)
API · No search fee
INTLInternational sanctions and PEP lists (UN, OFAC, EU, UK HMT)
Multiple
Lawful basisStatutory public registrySOR/2001-7(c)
API · No search fee
INTLWeb search and fetch (Claude server-side tools)
Anthropic
Lawful basisPublished by the individualSOR/2001-7(e)
API · No search fee
CARegistry of Lobbyists
Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada
Lawful basisStatutory public registrySOR/2001-7(c)
Public web form · No search fee

Every source we operate, with fees and coverage

Figures

Numbers worth quoting

Each figure carries its source and the date it was current.
Measure	Value	Source	As of
Sanctions regimes screened per check	5+	Global Affairs Canada, UN, OFAC, EU, UK HMT	2026

Registry fees and coverage change. Figures are stated as of the date shown, not as a standing guarantee.

Questions

sanctions screening canada — common questions

How do I check if someone is on a Canadian sanctions list?

Search the Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List, published free by Global Affairs Canada. Because sanctions evasion routinely relies on alternate spellings, search name variants rather than the exact string you were given, and screen the UN, OFAC, EU, and UK lists at the same time — a party sanctioned elsewhere but not yet in Canada is still a serious risk signal.

What is a politically exposed person and why does it matter?

A politically exposed person holds or held a prominent public function — a senior official, judge, military officer, or state enterprise executive — or is a close family member or associate of one. PEP status is not wrongdoing; it is elevated corruption risk, which triggers enhanced due diligence obligations for reporting entities under the PCMLTFA and is worth knowing for anyone else.

How often should sanctions screening be repeated?

Sanctions lists change frequently, sometimes weekly, so a screen is only valid as of its date. For an ongoing relationship, rescreen periodically rather than once at onboarding. Every Sleuthify screening result is stamped with its retrieval date for exactly this reason.

Next step

See what the public record has — free

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