Rules & documentation

By-laws, rules, standards and procedure documents are integral parts of the legal framework of the national payment systems that Payments Canada is legislated to establish and operate. They lay out the roles, responsibilities and obligations of our member financial institutions on the appropriate handling of payment items exchanged, cleared and settled via our payment systems. This includes requirements for participation in a payment system or scheme, procedures for the processing of payment items, and the requirements and timeframes for returning payment items, where eligible.

Payments Canada’s rules, standards and procedure documents are updated regularly and versions posted online are in force. You can contact Payments Canada for confirmation by e-mail at info@payments.ca.

Item Title Updated System
Rule K4
U.S. Bulk Exchange Automated System
Retail batch payment system
Rule H1
Pre-Authorized Debits
Retail batch payment system
Rule A4
Returned and Redirected Items
Retail batch payment system
Rule B1
Intermember Exchange and Clearing at Regional Exchange Points​​​
Retail batch payment system
Rule G12
Procedures for Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) Direct Deposit Payment Items
Retail batch payment system
Rule J10
Intermember Domestic Interest Claims/Compensation
Retail batch payment system
Quick links - ACSS
Automated clearing settlement system rules, standards and by-laws
Retail batch payment system
Rule G9
Manual Preparation and Use in a Manual Balancing Situation of the Government Items Clearing Logs
Retail batch payment system
Rule B2
Manual Preparation of Clearing Logs
Retail batch payment system
Rule F4
Rules applicable to Automated Funds Transfer (AFT) Transactions using ISO 20022 messages
Retail batch payment system
Rule K8
U.S. Dollar Automated Funds Transfer System
Retail batch payment system
Rule F1
Rules applicable to Automated Funds Transfer (AFT) Transactions
Retail batch payment system