Why Payments Canada Accreditation
Guarantees Your Cheques Clear

Payments Canada, together with its member financial institutions and the Canadian Cheque Manufacturers Industry Group, created the Cheque Printer Self Accreditation (CPSA) Program to improve the efficiency of the cheque testing process in Canada. The program allows eligible cheque printers to formally attest to Payments Canada that they are capable of producing Standard 006-compliant documents. In exchange, cheques produced by an accredited printer are exempt from Standard 006 testing requirements at financial institutions — meaning your cheques do not need to be submitted to your bank for sample testing before use. The program has been active since June 1, 2010. You can read the full program details on the Payments Canada Cheque Printer Guide ↗.

Yes. Print & Cheques Now Inc. holds Payments Canada Printer ID #1010 as an active member of the Cheque Printer Self Accreditation Program. This 4-digit ID is printed on the upper right corner of the back of every cheque we produce, in a minimum 10-point font with a print contrast signal of at least 0.60, prefaced with "Printer ID#" as required by Payments Canada. You can verify our status on the official Payments Canada directory ↗.

Yes, absolutely. Banks in Canada — including RBC, TD, BMO, CIBC, Scotiabank, ATB Financial, and all credit unions — are required to accept cheques that meet Payments Canada standards. As a self-accredited printer with Printer ID #1010, our cheques are exempt from pre-submission testing and guaranteed to clear at any Canadian financial institution. Our Works-At-Your-Bank Guarantee backs every order — if for any reason your bank does not accept our cheques, we will reprint at no charge. We have served 46,000+ Canadian businesses since 2006 without exception. Learn more about CPA compliance →

Payments Canada Standard 006 (officially "Specifications for Imageable MICR-Encoded Payment Items") is the national technical standard that every cheque drawn on a Canadian financial institution account must follow. It governs MICR encoding using E-13B font, the 1.59 cm clear band at the bottom of cheques, date field formats, security feature placement, and image capture requirements. Cheques that do not meet Standard 006 may be rejected during clearing, causing payment delays and return fees. All cheques produced by Print & Cheques Now are designed, tested, and printed to comply with Standard 006 within Payments Canada's accepted tolerances. We test every print run using industry-standard MICR verification equipment to confirm compliance before shipment.

Yes. Under the terms of the Payments Canada CPSA Program, an accredited printer must — on request — provide a compliance report confirming that cheques meet Standard 006 and that a sample was tested from each print run. Print & Cheques Now maintains this documentation for every order. To request a compliance report for your order, contact our team at 1-866-760-2661 or via our website. This is particularly useful for larger organizations, government agencies, or any business that requires documented proof of cheque compliance for audit purposes.

No — and it's important to be transparent about this. As noted in the official Payments Canada program documentation, self-accredited printers cannot claim that Payments Canada endorsed, certified, or accredited the printer or its products. The CPSA Program is a self-accreditation: Print & Cheques Now formally attests to Payments Canada that we comply with Standard 006. The benefit is our Printer ID #1010 and the exemption from pre-submission bank testing. Payments Canada does not endorse specific commercial printers — it sets and administers the standard. You can view our accreditation directly on the Payments Canada self-accredited printer directory ↗.