When you deposit a cheque in Canada, the money isn’t always yours to spend right away. A bank may place a hold while it confirms that the cheque writer has the funds, hasn’t stopped the payment, and that the cheque hasn’t been altered and is drawn on an open account. Federal rules cap how long that hold can last for most cheques and require part of the deposit to be available almost at once.
This page covers those rules for cheques and for paper guaranteed funds deposited like cheques. The other deposit and transfer guides, from direct deposit to e-Transfers, are in the transfers section.
The Rules Behind Cheque Holds
For banks, the hold limits come from the Bank Act and its consumer protection regulations, enforced by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC). Until 2022 the same rules sat in the Access to Funds Regulations, which still apply to federally regulated trust and loan companies. Credit unions and caisses populaires are regulated by their provinces, so the FCAC suggests asking a credit union about its own hold policy.
A federally regulated institution must also give you a written copy of its cheque hold policy when you open an account, and must tell you about changes before applying them: at least 30 days ahead if you get mailed statements.
Access to the first $100
The FCAC says financial institutions “must make the first $100 of all funds you deposit by cheque available to you right away.” If the cheque is for $100 or less, the whole amount must be available. The timing depends on how you deposit:
- Immediately, if you deposit in person with a teller or other employee at a branch or other location where you can open an account.
- On the business day after the deposit, if you deposit any other way, such as at an ATM or with a mobile device.
This first-$100 rule doesn’t apply to cheques deposited by eligible small and medium-sized businesses.
Maximum Hold Periods
The maximum hold depends on the cheque amount and how you deposited it:
| Amount of cheque | Deposited in person with an employee | Deposited another way (ATM, mobile) |
|---|---|---|
| $1,500 or less | 4 business days after the day of deposit | 5 business days after the day of deposit |
| More than $1,500 | 7 business days after the day of deposit | 8 business days after the day of deposit |
Source: FCAC, Cashing a cheque.
These maximums apply when the cheque is in Canadian dollars, drawn on a branch in Canada, on paper (including cheques deposited with a mobile device), encoded with magnetic ink along the bottom and undamaged. Many banks release funds sooner than the maximum.
Certified cheques, bank drafts and money orders don’t have a separate, shorter category in these rules, and banks’ own policies often count them as cheques: CIBC’s hold policy, for example, says “Cheque” also includes certified cheques, bank drafts, money orders and other instruments. A bank may still choose to release them faster. The comparison of certified cheques, drafts and money orders explains how the three differ, and getting a bank draft and the money order guide cover each one.
When the Maximums Don’t Apply
The FCAC lists cases where the maximum hold periods may not apply:
- an account that has been open for less than 90 days
- a cheque that has been endorsed more than once
- a cheque deposited six months or more after the date written on it
- a cheque that isn’t in Canadian dollars
- a cheque drawn on an account at a branch outside Canada
- a deposit the institution has reasonable grounds to suspect is being made for illegal or fraudulent reasons
- a cheque without magnetic ink encoding, or a damaged cheque
Foreign cheques. A cheque drawn outside Canada can take much longer. The FCAC says “financial institutions often hold foreign cheques for 30 days,” and if the cheque doesn’t clear, the money is taken back out of your account.
In these cases, the bank’s own policy sets the hold, so the account agreement or the branch is where to find out how long it will be.
“Available” Isn’t the Same as “Cleared”
If a bank releases money before a cheque has cleared, the FCAC describes that as the bank extending credit to you: if the cheque then doesn’t go through, you may have to pay back the amount, and an account that can’t cover it can go into overdraft. This is why a cheque can look paid and still be reversed days later.
What Else Affects a Deposited Cheque
Post-dated cheques. The FCAC says “a person or a merchant can’t cash a post-dated cheque before a certain date.” Banks don’t always catch it. If your institution cashes one of your post-dated cheques early, the FCAC advises trying to resolve it with them and asking them to put the money back, and “you must make the request before the date on the cheque.” The cheque-writing guide covers dating cheques.
Stale-dated cheques. Financial institutions don’t have to cash a cheque that is too old, and the FCAC says they “usually consider a cheque stale-dated after 6 months,” except certified cheques and Government of Canada cheques.
Dishonoured cheques. A cheque can be refused for non-sufficient funds, a signature that doesn’t match the bank’s sample, or a difference between the amount in words and in numbers. When it’s your cheque that bounces, what happens if you write a bad cheque covers the fees and consequences.
Mobile Cheque Deposits
Most major banks let you deposit a cheque by photographing it in their app, and the FCAC counts these as paper cheques for the hold rules, with the “any other way” timing (the first $100 the next business day, and 5 or 8 business days at most). Each bank’s mobile deposit terms say how long to keep the paper cheque afterward. Depositing the same cheque again at a branch or ATM is a different matter: what to do if you deposited a cheque twice explains how banks handle a duplicate.
Getting Access to Money Faster
- An electronic payment instead of a cheque. The FCAC notes that having deposits made electronically may let you access the funds right away; direct deposit is the usual route for pay and government payments, and an Interac e-Transfer for person-to-person payments.
- Depositing with a teller. The first $100 is available immediately, and the maximum hold is a business day shorter than for ATM or mobile deposits.
- Asking the bank. A bank can release funds before the maximum, and a long-standing account in good standing may get shorter holds.
The Overpayment Scam
A common scam uses the gap between “available” and “cleared”: a stranger, often a buyer on a classified site, sends a cheque for more than the agreed price and asks for the difference back by e-Transfer. The deposit shows in your balance, you send the “refund”, and the cheque is later returned as fake, taking the full amount back out of your account. The banking fraud guide covers this pattern and how to report it.
If You Disagree With a Hold
If an institution won’t honour the maximum hold periods or the first-$100 rule, the FCAC says it must give you a written notice, and you can ask for one if you don’t receive it. A concern about a hold goes first to the institution’s complaint process; the guide to bank complaints covers the steps and the external ombudsman.