The leak of millions of financial records that show how the world’s rich and powerful shelter their money in offshore accounts is just an added motivation for Ottawa to go after Canadian tax evaders, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.

Speaking to reporters in Montreal about the massive Panama Papers leak, Trudeau said that tax avoidance has been a long-standing issue in Canada, and that’s why his government set aside $440 million in the recent federal budget for the Canada Revenue Agency to crack down on the practice.

“The vast majority of Canadians feel that it’s important that everyone pays their fair share of taxes,” Trudeau said Wednesday. 

“What we’ve seen with the release of the Panama Papers is that there are certain, very wealthy individuals who’ve managed to find workarounds and avoid having to pay their fair share of taxes, not just in Canada, but indeed, all around the world.”

That’s why the government is giving the CRA “extra tools and extra abilities to make sure that we are collecting taxes from everyone,” Trudeau added.

According to the federal budget tabled in March, the government will give the CRA $444.4 million over five years to combat tax avoidance by hiring more auditors, improving the quality of the investigative work involved and developing a “robust business intelligence infrastructure.”

More than eleven million records were leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, and shared with various media outlets around the world. The leak has already led to the resignation of Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson, who reportedly did not declare that he owned an offshore company with his wife.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the CRA said it is “actively pursuing the co-operation of its tax treaty partners and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists to obtain all of the leaked records that pertain to Canadian residents.”

“The Minister of National Revenue has instructed CRA officials to obtain the data leaked through the Panama Papers in order to cross-reference this information with the data already obtained through the Agency's existing investigation tools,” the statement said.

Trudeau said Wednesday that countries around the world must work together to fight tax evasion and encourage more transparency when it comes to international financial transactions.