How Long Does a Cheque Take to Clear in Canada? Bank by Bank

Most cheques you deposit in Canada travel to the bank they’re drawn on overnight, as a scanned image. The days you wait after that are a hold. At a federally regulated bank, the law caps it at 4 to 8 business days, depending on the amount and how you deposit it, and most of the big banks publish holds at or under that limit. Desjardins plays by its own rules, and a cheque can still bounce after your bank releases the money.

Below is how long a cheque takes to clear at RBC, TD, Scotiabank, BMO, CIBC, National Bank, Desjardins and the online banks, taken from each one’s own hold policy, plus what changes when the amount you can use right away goes from $100 to $250.

How long does a cheque take to clear in Canada?

Four or five business days at most of the big banks, counted from the day after you deposit it. The law sets the outer limit at federally regulated banks: 4 business days for a cheque of $1,500 or less deposited with a teller, 5 by app or ATM, and 7 or 8 for larger amounts. Part of every cheque has to be available sooner.

Those limits are in sections 627.21 (opens in a new tab) and 627.22 (opens in a new tab) of the Bank Act, and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (opens in a new tab) (FCAC) sets them out on its consumer page, last updated October 28, 2026. Only business days count, so weekends and statutory holidays don’t. A cheque deposited in an app on a Friday, with a five-day hold, is yours to spend the next Friday.

Which cheques those limits don’t cover

The limits protect an ordinary cheque: in Canadian dollars, drawn on a branch in Canada, with the bank’s coded numbers printed along the bottom, undamaged, endorsed only once and deposited within six months of its date. Even then, they don’t apply when:

• your account has been open for less than 90 days
• the bank suspects fraud
• you bank at a provincially regulated credit union or caisse, which sets its own policy

How long does each bank hold a cheque?

RBC holds any Canadian cheque 4 business days at a branch or 5 by app or ATM, whatever the amount, and TD caps larger cheques at 5 or 6. BMO, CIBC and National Bank publish the federal maximums, while Tangerine and Simplii hold any amount for up to 5 business days.

Published holds on a Canadian-dollar cheque, in business days after the day of deposit:

Scotiabank holds any Canadian-dollar cheque for up to 4 business days after the day of deposit, whatever the amount and however you deposit it. Its help centre (opens in a new tab) says up to 5 business days because it counts the day of deposit too. On a large cheque, five of these banks hold it for less time than the law allows. A $3,000 cheque deposited in the RBC app is held 5 business days, where the federal limit would allow 8. BMO, CIBC, National Bank and EQ Bank publish the full 8.

Two app-based accounts aren’t in the table. KOHO (opens in a new tab) has opened cheque deposits to a small group of users so far, with holds of up to 5 business days, or 8 over $1,500. Neo (opens in a new tab) doesn’t accept cheques.

How much you can use before the hold ends

The law guarantees the first $100, and several of these banks also give each customer a personal amount they can use before a hold ends. None of them publish a figure for it. CIBC calls it an Access to Deposited Funds Limit, Scotiabank a cash back limit and Wealthsimple an instant deposit limit, and TD sets personal limits too. National Bank gives you the first $100 right away at a branch, or for the first cheque of the day in its app, and EQ Bank releases the first $100 the next business day.

Desjardins sets its own hold periods

Desjardins caisses are provincially regulated cooperatives, so the federal limits, including the first $100, don’t apply to them. Under the Desjardins funds on hold policy (opens in a new tab), a cheque is held 5 business days when it’s drawn on an institution in the same province as your caisse, and up to 10 when it’s drawn in another province. A cheque from an Ontario bank deposited at a Montreal caisse can take 10 business days, two more than the longest standard hold at a federal bank.

Instead of a guaranteed first $100, each caisse sets an authorized transit for each member, an amount you can use before the hold ends. Desjardins releases held funds at 9:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday and at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.

US cheques take three to six weeks

The federal limits cover only Canadian-dollar cheques drawn in Canada, so a cheque from a US bank follows each bank’s own policy, and the FCAC says foreign cheques are often held for 30 days. A cheque drawn on a US bank is held 15 business days at RBC, TD and Desjardins. Scotiabank can hold one for up to 19 (opens in a new tab), National Bank up to 25, and BMO and Simplii up to 30. CIBC usually holds one 15 business days, and up to about 30. Tangerine holds deposits from outside Canada for up to 30 days, and EQ Bank and Wealthsimple don’t accept US-dollar cheques.

Why does a cheque take days to clear?

Because your bank is waiting to see whether the cheque comes back unpaid. The cheque reaches the bank it’s drawn on as an image, usually that same night, and under Payments Canada’s rules that bank has until the business day after it receives the cheque to send it back. BMO’s account agreement explains that a hold gives the payer’s bank time to confirm the account has the money.

Canadian banks began exchanging cheque images in 2013, and since November 13, 2023, every bank that clears payments directly has had to swap image files with the others, under Payments Canada’s image rule (opens in a new tab). The deadline for sending a cheque back, for reasons such as insufficient funds or a forged signature, is in Rule A4 (opens in a new tab): the business day after the paying bank receives it. The two banks settle up the next business day, in the same overnight batch that carries most Canadian payments, which our guide to how long a bank transfer takes explains.

Can a cheque bounce after the hold is lifted?

Yes. When a hold ends, your bank is letting you use the money, not promising the cheque is good. Most bad cheques come back within a few days, but some can be returned much later, and your account agreement lets your bank take the money back out of your account when that happens.

Rule A4 gives a bank 90 calendar days to return a cheque that was altered, such as one with the amount changed, and up to six years for one with a forged endorsement. BMO’s agreement warns that “the payor’s bank can return it to your account at any time, even after we have removed a hold,” and gives BMO the right to debit your account for it. EQ Bank’s hold policy says the end of a hold doesn’t guarantee a cheque can’t be returned unpaid, and the FCAC warns: “If your cheque doesn’t clear, you may need to pay back the amount deposited to your account.”

How fake-cheque scams use the hold

The overpayment scam relies on the time between a hold ending and a cheque coming back. A buyer or a new employer sends you a cheque for more than they owe, then asks you to deposit it and send back the difference right away. The money shows up, you send the difference, and the cheque comes back days later as a fake. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (opens in a new tab) warns about the pattern, and its page on job scams (opens in a new tab) describes where it ends: “the cheque you deposited is fake and you now owe money to the bank.”

If a stranger pays by cheque and wants part of it back, assume it’s this scam, one that turns up on Facebook Marketplace and anywhere else people sell things. BMO’s own advice for a cheque you’re unsure about is to ask for cash or an Interac e-Transfer instead.

How long is a cheque good for?

Six months from the date written on it. After that the cheque is stale-dated, and under Payments Canada’s rules the bank it’s drawn on can return it unpaid. Bank drafts, money orders, certified cheques and Government of Canada cheques are exempt from that rule.

A stale-dated cheque also loses the federal hold limits under section 627.24 of the Bank Act (opens in a new tab), so a bank that accepts one can hold it longer. BMO, for example, can hold a cheque deposited six months after its date for up to nine business days. A post-dated cheque is the opposite problem. It’s still a valid cheque under the Bills of Exchange Act (opens in a new tab), but the paying bank can return it if you deposit it before its date, and Wealthsimple won’t accept one at all.

The CRA’s page on uncashed cheques (opens in a new tab) says “Government of Canada cheques never expire,” so an old tax refund cheque is still good. If you think one is out there, our guide to finding unclaimed money shows how to look it up in CRA My Account.

What changes when the first $100 goes up to $250?

The amount you can use right away rises from $100 to $250 per cheque, and app and ATM deposits no longer wait an extra business day for it. Parliament passed the change in Bill C-15, which received royal assent on March 26, 2026, but that part of the law isn’t in force yet, so $100 still applies.

It takes effect on a day the federal cabinet sets by order. The FCAC’s page, updated October 28, still says $100. Budget 2025 had proposed $150, but the law Parliament passed (Division 15 of the Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1 (opens in a new tab)) says $250, and so does the Department of Finance’s March 2026 announcement (opens in a new tab). Finance is also developing regulations to shorten hold periods.

Once the cheque clears, a reason to save it

A cheque is often money you weren’t planning around: a tax refund, a damage deposit coming back, a birthday cheque from a grandparent. Lodavo gives you a reason to leave it in your account. It’s a free app that connects read-only to the savings or chequing account you already use, and every $25 you have saved earns a free ticket in the weekly draw. The more you save, the more chances you get at a cash prize.

Before your next cheque deposit

Depositing with a teller is a day faster than the app at most of the big banks, and at Desjardins a cheque from another province can take up to 10 business days. If someone you don’t know pays you by cheque and asks for part of it back, don’t send it.

Lodavo is free on the Apple App Store (opens in a new tab) and the Google Play Store (opens in a new tab). Once your cheque clears, the money you save earns tickets in the next weekly draw.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.