Canada money services business registration.

What you get

How we get you licensed and live

1. Scoping and proposal. 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.

Your team, banking and technology

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.

One programme, from scoping to launch. Speak to an expert about this licence.

Who needs the licence

An MSB with a place of business in Canada that offers foreign exchange dealing; remitting or transmitting funds, including invoice payment and payment services for goods or services; issuing or redeeming money orders, traveller’s cheques or similar instruments; dealing in virtual currency by exchange or transfer; crowdfunding platform services; or armoured car, cheque cashing and private ABM acquiring services registers under section 11.1 of the Act. Advertising such services, holding a related licence or reporting the activity for tax purposes also brings a business in scope. A foreign MSB with no place of business in Canada registers where it directs services at persons in Canada, for example through Canadian marketing, a .ca domain or a Canadian directory listing, and serves clients in Canada. Agents and mandataries do not register separately, and provincial licensing, for example in Quebec, is additional to FINTRAC registration. A business performing payment functions also registers with the Bank of Canada, described below.

Registration types

What FINTRAC requires

• Place of business or representative. An MSB has a place of business in Canada; a foreign MSB appoints a representative for service resident in Canada and reports any change of representative within 30 days.
• Criminal record checks. For the chief executive, president, directors and owners of 20% or more, issued within six months by the country of residence, with certified translations.
• Eligibility. The applicant and its chief executive, president, directors and 20% owners must be free of convictions for money laundering, terrorist financing, specified offences under the Act, drug offences other than simple possession, Criminal Code offences involving terrorist groups, proceeds of crime or fraud, weapons, human trafficking and listed repeat offences; listed terrorist entities are ineligible.
• Compliance programme. Five elements: an appointed compliance officer; written policies and procedures approved by a senior officer; a documented risk assessment covering money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions evasion; a written ongoing training programme and plan; and an effectiveness review at least every two years, reported to a senior officer within 30 days.
• Registration form. Bank account information, the compliance officer, employees, incorporation details, the names and dates of birth of owners and senior management, projected annual volumes per service, all locations and all agents, or the representative for service for a foreign MSB.
• Ongoing obligations. Changes to the contact person or representative for service reported within 30 days; clarification requests answered within 30 days; cessation reported within 30 days; renewal before the two-year expiry.

Capital

Where the trust method is used the Bank of Canada expects a written legal opinion confirming a valid express trust; CDIC deposit insurance alone does not meet the requirement.

Timing

Regulator figures are quoted as published and converted to months. Our realistic timeline assumes a complete, well-prepared application.

Fees and costs

Bank of Canada registration under the Retail Payment Activities Act

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 Bank issues the registration notice as soon as feasible; the Department of Finance has 60 days, about two months, for a national security review where the Minister considers one necessary, with 180 days prescribed for extended reviews, and refusal notices follow 45-day or 30-day timelines. 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.

Geographic scope

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.

Why applications are delayed

FINTRAC publishes how it handles applications.

1. Incomplete packages. An incomplete application is closed and must be resubmitted; the registration form must be uploaded through the secure link within 15 days of receipt or the application closes.
2. Clarification requests. Each request must be answered within 30 days; an unanswered request leads to denial or revocation.
3. Eligibility. Registration is denied or revoked where the applicant or a chief executive, president, director or 20% owner is ineligible, or where a foreign MSB does not report a change of representative for service within 30 days.

Your bank accounts

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.

Common questions

References

1. FINTRAC: money services businesses
2. FINTRAC: register your MSB or foreign MSB
3. FINTRAC: responding to FINTRAC, renewals, changes and denial
4. Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, section 11.1
5. Bank of Canada: criteria for registering payment service providers
6. Bank of Canada: frequently asked questions about retail payments supervision

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Requirements and fees change, and the regulator’s own publications take precedence.