Canada money services business registration

There is no capital and no FINTRAC fee; most complete applications are processed within three months and registration lasts two years. Payment service providers also register with the Bank of Canada for C$2,500.

Remittance, foreign exchange and virtual currency businesses serving Canada, foreign firms included, register with FINTRAC, and payment service providers also register with the Bank of Canada.

Before anything is drafted we advise on whether this is the right authorisation for the business, or whether another route would serve it better.

The FINTRAC and Bank of Canada sequence. FINTRAC’s three months and the 15-day and 30-day limits are FINTRAC’s own; the other times are our planning figures.

1. Confirm the services and the registration type1 week. Map each service against the Act: foreign exchange, remittance or transmission, money orders, virtual currency, crowdfunding, armoured car, cheque cashing or private automated banking machines. A firm with no place of business in Canada registers as a foreign MSB.
2. Build the compliance programme3 to 4 weeks. Five elements: a compliance officer, written policies approved by a senior officer, a documented risk assessment, a training programme and an effectiveness review at least every two years.
3. Obtain criminal record checks2 to 4 weeks. For the chief executive, president, directors and owners of 20% or more, issued within six months by the country of residence, with certified translations.
4. Open the Canadian bank accountIn parallel. Bank account information is part of the registration form, so the account comes first; a foreign MSB also appoints a representative for service resident in Canada.
5. Submit the FINTRAC registrationUpload within 15 days of receiving the link. Complete the form with owners, senior management, projected volumes per service, locations and agents, and upload it through FINTRAC’s secure link within 15 days or the application closes.
6. Answer clarification requests to a decisionAbout 3 months. FINTRAC processes most complete applications within three months; each clarification request must be answered within 30 days or the application is denied.
7. Register with the Bank of Canada if you perform payment functionsFrom application to notice. A payment service provider applies under the Retail Payment Activities Act with the C$2,500 fee; the Department of Finance has 60 days for a national security review where the Minister considers one necessary.
8. Maintain and renewEvery two years. Report changes to the contact person or representative within 30 days, run the effectiveness review at least every two years and renew before the two-year registration expires.

A registered MSB, foreign MSBs included, files these reports with FINTRAC and keeps these records.

Suspicious transaction report

Any amount, as soon as practicable once there are reasonable grounds to suspect; suspected sanctions evasion is reported too

Large cash transaction report

C$10,000 or more in cash, including smaller amounts combined under the 24-hour rule

Large virtual currency transaction report

C$10,000 or more in virtual currency, under the 24-hour rule

Electronic funds transfer report

Each international electronic funds transfer of C$10,000 or more that the MSB initiates or finally receives, under the 24-hour rule

Travel rule

Originator and beneficiary information included with each electronic funds or virtual currency transfer for which a record is kept: C$1,000 or more

Listed person or entity property report

Property of a listed person or entity in the MSB’s possession or control

Records

Kept for at least five years

Regulator application fee

None at FINTRAC; C$2,500 at the Bank of Canada for a payment service provider, flat and non-refundableFINTRAC; Bank of Canada

Initial capital

No feeNo capital requirement under the Act

Annual regulator or supervisory fee

None at FINTRAC; the Bank of Canada’s annual assessment formula is published but not charged until the regulations are finalisedFINTRAC; Bank of Canada

Audit

An effectiveness review of the compliance programme at least every two years, reported to a senior officer within 30 daysFINTRAC compliance programme requirements

Required roles

An appointed compliance officer and a senior officer who approves the policies; a representative for service resident in Canada for a foreign MSBFINTRAC

Insurance or safeguarding

For a payment service provider, end-user funds segregated, held in trust, or covered by insurance or a guarantee at least equal to the safeguarded amountBank of Canada safeguarding framework, in force since 8 September 2025

FINTRAC publishes its processing standard rather than approval counts: most complete applications are processed within three months, longer for complex ones. It closes incomplete applications, denies those where a clarification request goes unanswered for 30 days, and denies or revokes registration where the applicant or a chief executive, president, director or 20% owner is ineligible. The Bank of Canada publishes its registry of payment service providers, the list of applicants and the list of refused or revoked registrations.

The Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act (Bill C-12) received Royal Assent on 26 March 2026. For violations after that date FINTRAC can apply maximum administrative monetary penalties up to 40 times the previous limits, take ability to pay into account, require mandatory compliance agreements for prescribed violations and issue compliance orders. FINTRAC publishes every penalty it imposes.

A payment service provider performing any of five payment functions, providing or maintaining an account, holding funds, initiating an electronic funds transfer, authorising or transmitting transfer instructions, or clearing and settlement, as a service that is not incidental to another business, in fiat currency, with a place of business in Canada or serving and directing services at persons in Canada, registers with the Bank of Canada under the Retail Payment Activities Act.

Revenue level is irrelevant. Banks and authorised foreign banks, credit unions and other provincially regulated deposit-takers, insurers, trust and loan companies, the Bank of Canada, Payments Canada and SWIFT are excluded, as are agents and mandataries of a registered provider, ATM withdrawals, designated financial market infrastructure functions and intra-group transactions.

The application fee is a flat C$2,500, the same for all applicants and non-refundable; the annual assessment fee formula is published and is not charged until the regulations are finalised. Providers that began after 8 September 2025 must receive a registration decision before performing any retail payment activity.

The risk management and safeguarding frameworks have been in force since 8 September 2025 and the annual report is due by 31 March. The Bank publishes the registry of providers, a list of applicants and refused or revoked registrations.

On 12 June 2026 the Bank announced that it would begin publishing notices of violation by payment service providers. Under the Stablecoin Act the Bank will also register non-financial issuers of stablecoins to Canadians, supervise their compliance, monitor issuance and redemption risks and take enforcement action; the Department of Finance has published proposed regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette.

Revenu Québec issues the licences that money services businesses need under Quebec’s Money-Services Businesses Act, and inspects and investigates them. A business may operate an MSB in Quebec only once Revenu Québec has issued its licence.

Revenu Québec asks the Sûreté du Québec and the local municipal police force for security clearance reports on the business and each associated person, covering previous convictions and good moral character; the Sûreté du Québec reports take about 30 days and each one is invoiced. Fees vary with the money services the application covers, and automated teller machines need a licence and a decal for each machine. A national launch plans the Quebec licence as a separate workstream alongside FINTRAC registration.

FINTRAC registration is federal and covers the whole of Canada; provincial MSB licences, for example in Quebec, are additional. Groups serving North America pair it with the FinCEN registration and the state money transmitter licences in the United States; we obtain each.

Bank account information is part of the registration form, so the account comes first. Canadian banks review the compliance programme and, for payment service providers, the Bank of Canada safeguarding arrangement before opening accounts. We open them alongside the registration. See banking and payment processing.

1. Scoping. We confirm the MSB services in scope, whether you register as an MSB or a foreign MSB, and whether Bank of Canada registration under the Retail Payment Activities Act also applies.
2. Application pack. The registration form with owners, senior management, locations, agents and projected volumes, the criminal record checks and the five-element compliance programme, uploaded through FINTRAC’s secure link within the 15 days allowed.
3. Banking. Your Canadian bank account, opened first because its details go in the registration form, and the Bank of Canada safeguarding arrangement where that registration applies.
4. Filing and renewal. We answer FINTRAC clarification requests within 30 days, report changes to the contact person or representative for service within 30 days, and renew the registration before its two-year expiry.

You will need a compliance officer, a chief executive and directors with clean criminal record checks, and a representative in Canada if the business is abroad.