Canada — SWIFT/BIC Codes & Payment Info

When sending payments to Canada, the remitter should obtain all required bank information from the beneficiary, including the Canadian bank branch routing number, SWIFT BIC code, and beneficiary bank address. Absence of this information may result in delays or returns. For additional information, please refer to www.bankofcanada.ca.

To comply with Canada’s “Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act” and related regulations, complete order party/beneficiary information must be included in any wire payments. This includes: full account name, full account number, full beneficiary bank name, the SWIFT BIC code, and full physical address. A full physical address must include: street number, street name, city or town, state or province, and country, preferably in the 2-character ISO format. A P.O. Box is not acceptable without a full physical address. Some Canadian banks also require the Canadian Clearing Code to avoid delays in processing.

The ideal size for the mandatory fields for ordering party/beneficiary full account name is 35 characters. For the mandatory ordering party/beneficiary address, full physical address components should fit into the rest of the 3 lines with 35 characters each. The full beneficiary name and full address should fit in 4 lines if needed. The address information should not overflow into other fields to avoid delays or rejection. Financial institutions may reject or delay your wires if the required information is not provided or does not include a full physical address in the mandatory fields.

Beneficiary Bank (SWIFT MT103 F57): Include the SWIFT BIC and the Canadian bank branch routing number, or, where BIC and Routing Code is not provided by the counterparty, the full name, and full physical address of the beneficiary bank as an alternative, although, the payment may fall into repair. It is recommended by JPMorgan that the bank’s SWIFT BIC is provided, and, where applicable, the Canadian Clearing Code is provided for CAD payments. Include the Beneficiary Bank’s Nostro Account Number in Field 57. Where the SWIFT BIC is not provided, the wire payment may fall into repair. It is recommended by Payments Canada that the Canadian Clearing Code or routing code be used for payments denominated in CAD. The 9-digit routing number is made up of the Direct Payment Routing Number (4 digits) and the Branch Transit Number (5 digits). The structure is //CC followed by nine digits. Example: //CC123412345. The Transit Number must be included in Field 70 for payment formatting. Where applicable, the beneficiary bank address and/or transit number identifies which internal branch account the main bank should direct the funds to. SWIFT BIC is 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters: xxxxCAxx or xxxxCAxxxxx. Wire receipts for credit to a Canadian corporate account need to be received by JPMorgan Toronto in the SWIFT MT103 format due to Canadian regulatory reporting obligations. If they are received in the MT202 format for credit to a corporate-owned account, the wire receipt in the MT202 format will be rejected and will have to be resent by the counterparty in the SWIFT MT103 format. Payments where the underlying remitter is a Money Service Business (MSB) or Payment Service Provider (PSP) are not supported. For the 'Reason for Payment' section, refer to the 'Purpose of Payment Codes'. Include the requirement of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) in the additional information section.