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
Standard 006
Specifications for MICR-Encoded Payment Items
Retail batch payment system
Rule A3
Endorsement and Identification of Paper Items
Retail batch payment system
Rule B5
Intermember Cheque Exchanges
Retail batch payment system
Rule K1
Bulk Exchange and Settlement of U.S. Dollar Items​
Retail batch payment system
Rule K5
U.S. Bulk Exchange System - Manual Balancing and Settlement
Retail batch payment system
Rule B9
Manual Balancing and Settlement
Retail batch payment system
Rule D4
Institution Numbers and Clearing Agency/Representative Arrangements
Retail batch payment system
Rule E3
Rules Applicable to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Transactions
Retail batch payment system
Rule A1
General Rules Pertaining to Items Acceptable for Clearing
Retail batch payment system
Rule A10
Image Rule
Retail batch payment system
Rule H6
Rules Pertaining to the Inter Financial Institution Exchange of Bill Payment Remittances for the Purpose of Clearing and Settlement
Retail batch payment system
Rule L3
Collateral​
Retail batch payment system