Routing Transit Number - Canadian Transit Number

Canadian Transit Number

Canadian transit numbers are regulated by the Canadian Payments Association. A number has the following form:

XXXXX-YYY

where XXXXX is a Branch Number, and YYY is an Institution Number. The dash between the branch number and the institution number is an integral part of the transit number. This format is only valid for paper-type transactions such as cheques. For Electronic Fund Transactions (EFT) the current format is a leading zero, the institution number, then the branch number all with no dashes. For example if a cheque reads XXXXX-YYY, the corresponding EFT code would be 0YYYXXXXX.

As a general rule, Bank institution numbers start with 0, 2, 3, or 6, Credit Union and Caisse Populaire institution numbers start with 8, and Trust Company institution numbers with 5.

Examples:

• XXXXX-001 Bank of Montreal
• XXXXX-002 Bank of Nova Scotia
• XXXXX-003 Royal Bank of Canada
• XXXXX-004 Toronto-Dominion Bank (which is the legal name for the bank, although it operates as TD Canada Trust)
• XXXXX-006 National Bank of Canada
• XXXXX-010 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (includes President's Choice Financial)
• XXXXX-016 HSBC Canada
• XXXXX-030 Canadian Western Bank
• XXXXX-039 Laurentian Bank of Canada
• XXXXX-117 Government of Canada (Not listed as a member of the Canadian Payments Association)
• XXXXX-127 Canada Post (money orders)
• XXXXX-177 Bank of Canada (Canadian central bank)
• XXXXX-219 ATB Financial
• XXXXX-241 Bank of America Canada
• XXXXX-260 Citibank Canada
• XXXXX-270 JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (Toronto Branch)
• XXXXX-290 UBS Bank (Canada)
• XXXXX-308 Bank of China (Canada)
• XXXXX-309 Citizens Bank of Canada (Canada)
• XXXXX-326 President's Choice Financial (no longer assigned, now shares XXXXX-010 code with CIBC)
• XXXXX-338 Canadian Tire Bank
• XXXXX-340 ICICI Bank Canada
• XXXXX-509 Canada Trust (prior to the merger of TD & Canada Trust)
• XXXXX-540 Manulife Bank
• XXXXX-614 ING Direct Canada
• XXXXX-809 - BC Region]
• XXXXX-815 Caisses Desjardins du Québec
• XXXXX-819 Caisses populaires Desjardins du Manitoba
• XXXXX-828 - ON Region]
• XXXXX-829 Caisses populaires Desjardins de l'Ontario
• XXXXX-837 Meridian Credit Union (formerly Hepco)
• XXXXX-839 Credit Union Heritage (Nova Scotia)
• XXXXX-865 Caisses populaires Desjardins acadiennes
• XXXXX-879 Credit Union Central of Manitoba
• XXXXX-889 Credit Union Central of Saskatchewan
• XXXXX-899 Credit Union Central Alberta
• XXXXX-900 ?

In a Canadian bank transit number, the last digit of the branch number, with few exceptions, indicates the geographical location of the branch.

Branch numbers ending with:

• 0 are located in British Columbia and Yukon
• 1 are located in Western Québec including Montreal and surrounding areas
• 2 are located in Ontario including Toronto and surrounding area
• 3 are located in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland excluding Labrador
• 4 are located in New Brunswick
• 5 are located in Eastern Québec including Labrador
• 6 are located in Eastern Ontario including Ottawa and surrounding area
• 7 are located in Manitoba and North-Western Ontario
• 8 are located in Saskatchewan
• 9 are located in Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (?)

For example, the number 58876-004 indicates that the associated account is held at an Eastern Ontario branch of The Toronto-Dominion Bank (58876 is the transit number, 5887 is the branch number and 004 is the institution number).

The Canadian Payments Association maintains the Financial Institutions File (FIF) as well as the Financial Institutions Branch Directory (FIBD). The FIF and the FIBD identify routing numbers and addresses for branches of all Canadian financial institutions (whether they have a physical location or a virtual location).

The FIF, which is updated weekly, is a fee-based subscription service that enables its subscribers to validate routing information and to upload the information in a variety of business applications. More details, including available formats and pricing can be found here: cdnpay.ca

The Financial Institutions Branch Directory, also updated weekly, contains the same information found in the FIF and is available free of charge. It is recommended for occasional reference as it cannot be uploaded into business applications and doesn't offer the same validation features as the FIF. The FIBD is accessible at cdnpay.ca.