According to figures from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), 2010 has been a record year for the Voluntary Disclosure Program. In the 2009-2010 fiscal year, there were 12,128 voluntary disclosure applications. These applications disclosed approximately $1.8 billion in unreported income and approximately $550 million in back taxes.
According to the CRA, the increase in voluntary disclosures is due to the mounting pressure that Canada, and other western countries, is placing on tax havens. This increasing pressure has caused some jurisdictions to consider relaxing their bank secrecy laws and release information on foreigners with accounts in their financial institutions. Also, there have been a number of whistle-blowers within these financial institutions that have taken records from their employer and provided them to the tax authorities of western countries.