How to Fill Out a Cheque in Canada (2026): What the Rules Say
Write $150 in the box and five hundred dollars on the line and the law says five hundred. Section 27(2) of the Bills of Exchange Act, plus the post-dating deadline nobody publishes.
CreditCardGuru Editorial Team
Rewards & Cards Research · July 30, 2026 · 8 min read
Six fields, and the one people treat as decoration is the one the law defers to.
Write $150 in the box and "five hundred dollars" on the line, and Canadian law says five hundred dollars is the amount payable. Not the figure. The words.
Most guides to writing a cheque describe the boxes and cite nothing. This one names what governs each field, and what happens when it goes wrong.
Filling out a cheque, in one paragraph
Date it, name the payee, write the amount in figures, write the same amount in words, sign it. The memo line is optional and legally irrelevant.
The two amounts must agree. If they do not, one of two things happens: your financial institution refuses the cheque, or it pays the amount in words. Neither is what you wanted.
The six fields, and what governs each
| Field | What it does | If it's wrong or blank |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Sets when the cheque can be cashed | A future date makes it post-dated; an old one may be refused as stale-dated |
| Payee | Names who can deposit it | Blank means anyone holding it can try to cash it. Never leave it empty |
| Amount in figures | The number the processing system reads | A gap before the first digit invites an extra one being added |
| Amount in words | Controls if it disagrees with the figures — Bills of Exchange Act, s. 27(2) | A mismatch is a published reason for a dishonoured cheque |
| Memo | A note for you and the payee | No legal effect whatsoever |
| Signature | Authorises the payment | Unsigned, it will not be paid. A signature unlike your sample is a dishonour reason |
Keep your signature out of the printed strip along the bottom edge — that band is machine-read. For what those numbers mean, see transit and institution numbers. If you actually need to void a cheque rather than write one, see how to void a cheque.
The words line wins — and a mismatch can still bounce
Section 27(2) of the Bills of Exchange Act is unambiguous: "Where the sum payable by a bill is expressed in words and also in figures and there is a discrepancy between the two, the sum denoted by the words is the amount payable."
That is the statute, current as of September 2026. Every guide calling the written line "the legal amount" is pointing at something real.
But there is a second half nobody prints. FCAC lists "a difference between the amount written in words and the amount written in numbers" among the reasons a cheque is dishonoured — alongside insufficient funds and an irregular signature.
So a mismatch does not reliably get you the written amount. It may get the cheque returned instead, with the payee unpaid and possible fees attached. The statute is your remedy afterwards, not a guarantee on the day.
How to write cents on a cheque
Write the dollars in words, then the cents as a fraction over 100. Forty-two dollars and fifty cents becomes Forty-two 50/100, with a line drawn through the remaining space.
For a round amount, write Forty-two 00/100 or Forty-two dollars only. The word "only" and the trailing line do the same job: they close off empty space where a digit or a word could be added.
That is the whole reason the fraction convention exists. It is not stylistic habit — it is fraud prevention, designed so the amount is difficult to extend.
Post-dating: what it does, and the deadline
Post-dating a cheque is legitimate, and FCAC states a person or merchant cannot cash it before the date written on it.
In practice, automated processing means post-dated cheques do sometimes get cashed early. If that happens, ask your financial institution to reverse it — and here is the part no competing guide publishes:
"You must make the request before the date on the cheque."
That is FCAC's own wording. Your recourse expires on the date you wrote. Discover it a week later and the window has closed, leaving you with a complaint rather than a reversal.
Stale-dated cheques: six months is not a law
A cheque does not expire and the money does not vanish. FCAC's wording is careful: financial institutions don't have to cash a cheque that is too old.
Institutions usually treat a cheque as stale-dated after six months — with two exceptions FCAC names: a certified cheque, and a Government of Canada cheque.
"Don't have to" is not "cannot." Banks do sometimes cash old cheques, which is why FCAC advises keeping track of whether cheques you wrote were ever cashed. An old cheque you have mentally written off can still clear, and an NSF fee follows if the money is not there.
If a cheque you received is refused as stale-dated, ask for the original back before requesting a replacement — otherwise two cheques exist for one debt.
You made a mistake. Rewrite it.
Crossing out and initialling is not illegal. It is just a bad idea.
The problem is that nobody downstream can tell your correction apart from someone else's alteration. A teller or an imaging system sees a changed amount and has no way to know who changed it or when.
If you have already handed it over, that ambiguity is the payee's problem and eventually yours. If you still hold the cheque, tearing it up costs you one piece of paper.
Most of the time nothing goes wrong — plenty of people cross out and initial without incident. The advice is about the case where something does.
Two protections worth knowing
Restrict the cheque before you hand it over. FCAC suggests writing "for deposit only to account of payee" on the back. That stops it being signed over to a third party, such as a cheque-cashing service, and helps if a dispute follows.
Know what a stop payment can and cannot do. Not all institutions offer one, and there is usually a fee. You will need the cheque number, the exact amount, the payee's name and the date. FCAC is blunt about the limits: if the stop payment fails — often because a detail was wrong — you are still responsible for the amount, and recovering it means asking the payee to give it back.
Section 27(2) is quoted from the Bills of Exchange Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. B-4, current to 2026-09-03. Statements on stop payments, stale-dating, post-dating, dishonoured cheques and endorsement restrictions are from the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's "Paying by cheque" page at canada.ca, read September 2026. A disputed cheque is a matter for your own financial institution — this page describes the rules, not your specific case. Nothing here is a product recommendation and this page carries no affiliate links.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to write the amount in words?
Write it. Section 27(2) of the Bills of Exchange Act says that where words and figures disagree, the words are the amount payable — so the line is doing real legal work. FCAC also lists a words-and-figures mismatch as a reason a cheque gets dishonoured entirely.
What happens if the words and numbers on a cheque don't match?
Two outcomes. The Bills of Exchange Act says the written amount is payable. But FCAC lists a difference between the two as a reason a cheque is dishonoured, so it may simply be returned unpaid. Make them agree.
How do you write cents on a cheque?
Dollars in words, cents as a fraction over 100 — Forty-two 50/100 — then draw a line through the remaining space. For a round amount use 00/100 or add "only". The convention exists to make the amount hard to extend.
Can a bank cash a post-dated cheque early?
It can happen through automated processing, even though FCAC says a cheque cannot be cashed before its date. If it does, ask your institution to reverse it — but you must make that request before the date written on the cheque. After that, the window has closed.
Do cheques expire after six months?
No. FCAC says institutions don't have to cash a cheque that is stale-dated, usually after six months — which is not the same as it becoming void. Certified cheques and Government of Canada cheques are exceptions. Old cheques do sometimes still clear.
Can I cross out a mistake and initial it?
It is not prohibited, but rewrite the cheque instead. Nobody downstream can distinguish your correction from someone else's alteration, and that ambiguity is what causes problems. If you still have the cheque in hand, a fresh one costs nothing.
What happens if I forget to sign a cheque?
It will not be paid. The signature is what authorises your financial institution to release the money. FCAC also lists an irregular signature — one that differs from the sample your institution holds — as a reason a cheque is dishonoured.
How do I stop someone else from cashing a cheque I wrote?
Request a stop payment, with the cheque number, amount, payee and date. Not every institution offers it and there is usually a fee. FCAC warns that if it fails you remain responsible for the amount, so act quickly and get the details exactly right.