Depositing Cheques and Cash in Canada: Mobile Deposit Limits by Bank and Cheque Holds

You can deposit a cheque by taking a picture of it in your bank’s app, and each bank words its own limit for doing so. Some banks publish a dollar figure, while others say in their agreements that they may set limits on the amount, which one bank says can be found through its digital banking. The table gives each bank’s words and page. How long the money can then be held is capped for banks by the Bank Act, set out below.

What are the mobile cheque deposit limits at each bank?

Both columns are each bank’s own words for cheques deposited in its app; where a figure has no period, or also covers deposits at the bank’s ATMs, the cell gives it as the bank states it.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that bank.

Checked against each bank's page on October 18, 2026.

A cheque can also go in at an ATM or with a teller at your financial institution, as FCAC notes, and some rows name a branch as the route for a larger cheque.

How do you deposit a cheque in a banking app?

FCAC lists these common steps:

1. Log in to the bank’s app.
2. Pick cheque deposit from the app’s menu.
3. Take a picture of the front and the back of the cheque.
4. Confirm the details of the deposit.
5. Hold on to the paper cheque until the deposit has cleared.

FCAC says to check with the financial institution or the account agreement for which cheques can be deposited this way. Eligible cheques can include ones made out to you, to someone you share a joint account with, or issued by any level of government in Canada, and FCAC says to use the original cheque, not a photocopy, PDF or printout, and one that hasn’t already been deposited. Money orders, bank drafts and certified cheques may also be eligible, FCAC says; those are explained on bank drafts and certified cheques. Depending on the account, a fee may apply to depositing a cheque electronically.

A cheque made out to someone else can be cashed by another person if it is counter-signed, but FCAC notes that not all financial institutions accept counter-signed cheques.

The federal hold limits apply to these cheques: They apply only to paper-based cheques or other instruments deposited in Canada that are encoded with magnetic ink, are not damaged or mutilated so they cannot be read by cheque-clearing systems, are drawn on an institution's branch in Canada and are in Canadian dollars. A cheque outside that list is outside the maximums in the rule below.

What happens to the paper cheque after a mobile deposit?

FCAC suggests marking the front of the cheque once it is deposited, so you know it has been, and each bank sets how long to keep it and when to destroy it.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that bank.

Checked against each bank's page on October 18, 2026.

How long can a bank hold a deposited cheque?

A hold is the time you may have to wait before you can use money deposited by cheque. FCAC says a bank may hold it to check that the cheque’s writer has enough money to cover it and hasn’t put a stop payment on it, that the cheque hasn’t been altered, and that the account it was written on is still open.

For banks, the Bank Act sets the longest holds and how much must be available sooner, as follows.

What the rule covers.

• The maximum hold periods and the first $100 rule apply to funds deposited by cheque or other instrument to a retail deposit account (the maximum hold periods also to an eligible enterprise's deposit account).
• They apply only to paper-based cheques or other instruments deposited in Canada that are encoded with magnetic ink, are not damaged or mutilated so they cannot be read by cheque-clearing systems, are drawn on an institution's branch in Canada and are in Canadian dollars.
• FCAC says the limits apply to paper-based cheques, which includes cheques deposited using a mobile device.
• A business day does not include a Saturday or a holiday.
• An eligible enterprise is a business with authorized credit of less than $1,000,000, fewer than 500 employees and annual revenues of less than $50,000,000.

The longest holds.

• The prescribed amount that separates the shorter and longer maximums is $1,500.
• A cheque of $1,500 or less deposited in person with an employee at a branch or point of service can be held no more than four business days after the day of the deposit.
• A cheque of $1,500 or less deposited any other way can be held no more than five business days after the day of the deposit.
• A cheque greater than $1,500 deposited in person with an employee at a branch or point of service can be held no more than seven business days after the day of the deposit.
• A cheque greater than $1,500 deposited any other way can be held no more than eight business days after the day of the deposit.

Money available sooner.

• The first $100 of all funds deposited by cheque to a retail deposit account must be available for withdrawal immediately if the deposit is made in person with an employee at a branch or point of service.
• If the deposit is made any other way, the first $100 must be available on the business day following the day of the deposit.
• If the cheque is for $100 or less, FCAC says the financial institution must make the entire amount available.
• FCAC says access to the first $100 does not apply to cheques deposited by eligible enterprises such as small and medium-sized businesses.

Exceptions.

• The hold limits and the first $100 rule do not apply if the institution has reasonable grounds to believe the deposit is being made for illegal or fraudulent purposes in relation to the depositor's account.
• They do not apply if the account has been open for fewer than 90 days.
• They do not apply if the cheque or other instrument has been endorsed more than once.
• They do not apply if the cheque or other instrument is deposited at least six months after the date of the cheque or other instrument.
• For an eligible enterprise, the maximum hold periods also do not apply if the institution has reasonable grounds to believe there is a material increased credit risk (an escalating overdraft balance, a negative change in credit score, an unexplained change in cheque deposit history, a high number of dishonoured cheques, or notice of bankruptcy or creditor action).
• An institution that relies on one of the listed exceptions (fraud, a new account, a double endorsement, a stale-dated cheque) must give the depositor a written statement that it will not be making the funds available.
• The statement is due immediately if the deposit is made in person with an employee at a branch or point of service, and on the depositor's request if it is made any other way.
• With that statement the institution must also give the depositor its complaints procedures, the name of its external complaints body and how to contact it, and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's mailing address, website address and telephone number.

Disclosure and notice.

• An institution must disclose to anyone who opens a retail deposit account the maximum hold periods and its policy for situations where the maximums do not apply.
• An institution must also disclose the maximum hold periods, and its policies for situations where the maximums do not apply, to its customers and to the public.
• A change to the hold periods or the policy must be disclosed to customers and the public for at least 60 days ending on the effective date of the change, and to customers who get statements at least 30 days before the effective date. If the change shortens a hold period, the institution may give this notice after the effective date.
• Releasing funds after a hold does not mean the cheque cannot still be returned; if it is, the depositor may have to pay back the amount.
• For an account at a provincially or territorially regulated institution, such as a credit union or caisse populaire, FCAC points to that institution's own policy on holding funds deposited by cheque.
• FCAC says financial institutions often hold foreign cheques for 30 days.

The column “When the money is available” in the table above is each bank’s own policy wording, while the Act’s periods are the latest the money can be made available (“no later than”). Money released after a hold isn’t proof the cheque has cleared: the ombudsman for banking (OBSI) says it could still be rejected later. A cheque returned for non-sufficient funds is covered on what happens when a cheque bounces.

Business days are explained on bank holidays and business days. How long a cheque stays valid before it is stale-dated is on cheques. FCAC suggests having money deposited electronically instead, which may let you use it right away; see direct deposit. FCAC’s February 2026 briefing to the Senate banking committee describes a proposed amendment that would raise the first amount of immediately available cheque funds from $100 to $150.

How do you deposit cash, including at an online bank?

One bank with branches says, for example, that its ATMs at or near a branch take deposits of cash or cheques from its personal banking customers (the bank’s page). The table below gives what each online bank or app in it says about cash and ATM deposits.

A dash means this table shows no figure for that bank.

Checked against each bank's page on October 18, 2026.

Other features are compared on online banks compared.

FINTRAC’s reporting entities must send it a Large Cash Transaction Report when they receive $10,000 or more in cash in a single transaction. The same report is due under its 24-hour rule, when they receive 2 or more amounts in cash that total $10,000 or more within a consecutive 24-hour window, when conducted by or on behalf of the same person or entity, or for the same beneficiary.

What happens if you deposit the same cheque twice?

FCAC calls it double presentment, when the same cheque is deposited twice, and lists it as one of the two fraud risks of depositing a cheque electronically. FCAC says to contact your financial institution immediately after depositing a cheque more than once by mistake, and that doing it on purpose is considered fraud, a serious criminal offence punishable by a prison sentence.

One online bank’s agreement forbids depositing or cashing a cheque anywhere else after depositing it in the app, and makes the client liable for any returned cheque charges if a cheque is returned because of a breach, “whether intentionally or inadvertently” (the agreement). Another bank’s agreement has the client promise not to re-deposit or re-present the original (the agreement). One bank’s help page explains that an app error about a duplicate means the cheque may already have been deposited (the help page). OBSI lists duplicate deposits, accidental or intentional, among the common problems it sees with cheques.

Fake cheques and overpayment scams

Releasing funds after a hold does not mean the cheque cannot still be returned; if it is, the depositor may have to pay back the amount. OBSI says some cheque frauds use the delay between deposit and clearing: a fraudster sends a cheque for too much and tricks the victim into sending back the overpayment. Scams are covered on bank fraud and scams.

Related pages

• Cheques: writing, dating and stopping one
• Bank drafts and certified cheques
• What happens when a cheque bounces
• Bank holidays and business days
• Direct deposit
• Online banks compared
• ATM and debit limits by bank
• Ways to move money