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 A9
Arbitration
Retail batch payment system
Rule A10
Image Rule
Retail batch payment system
Rule B1
Intermember Exchange and Clearing at Regional Exchange Points​​​
Retail batch payment system
Rule B2
Manual Preparation of Clearing Logs
Retail batch payment system
Rule B3
Regional Exchange Points - Composition and Representation
Retail batch payment system
Rule B4
Formation, Membership and Management of Regional Clearing Associations
Retail batch payment system
Rule B5
Intermember Cheque Exchanges
Retail batch payment system
Rule B9
Manual Balancing and Settlement
Retail batch payment system
Rule B10
Tracing, Clearing Errors and Use of Photocopies
Retail batch payment system
Rule B13
Procedures for Joint Air/Ground Courier Arrangements
Retail batch payment system
Rule C1
Cross-border Arrangements
Retail batch payment system
Rule D1
Direct Clearer / Group Clearer Requirements ​​
Retail batch payment system