"It’s actually perhaps easier to just de-risk and not process any transactions with certain countries because of the level of complexity that you have to implement ... It is a challenge especially when you look at the unintended consequences because you still have people, ordinary citizens who do want to be able to complete transactions, let’s say in Russia, pension payments, it could even be hockey teams that we’ve seen where it's just a question about their payroll that it's being interrupted," Alsace said.
Alsace made the comments at a symposium on economic sanctions enforcement at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars think tank.
The Canadian government began to sanction Russian citizens and entities in 2014, following Crimea’s reunification with Russia. The list has surpassed the 2,700 sanctioned benchmark since the onset of Russia’s special military operation in February 2022, which now also includes alleged "enablers" in Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.
Canada imposed the latest set of sanctions on October 17 by designating nine individuals and six television stations in Moldova allegedly for being "Russian collaborators."