Chambers and Ashton both said they would like to see parliamentary committee hearings on the CRA's track record on cracking down on offshore tax evasion.

D.T. Cochrane, an economist with Canadians for Tax Fairness, said CRA employees take the issue of tax avoidance seriously but need more resources.

"We know from people working at the CRA that they take the issue very seriously and they are pursuing this as vigorously as they can, but they lack a lot of the resources that are necessary," he said. "Which is why Canada is lagging a lot of its international compatriots in dealing with the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers, the Pandora Papers."