How to Fill Out and Submit a Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD) Form

To fill out a Pre-Authorized Debit form, you enter your name and contact details, add your bank’s transit, institution, and account numbers, choose the type of PAD and the payment schedule, and sign the authorization before returning it to the biller. The form lets a company pull recurring payments — mortgage installments, utility bills, insurance premiums, subscription fees — directly from your chequing or savings account under standards set by Payments Canada’s Rule H1.¹

What to Gather Before You Start

Every PAD form asks for three numbers that route the payment to the right place:

Transit number: a five-digit code identifying your specific branch.
Institution number: a three-digit code representing your bank. CIBC, for example, is 010.²
Account number: the number for your chequing or savings account. Length varies by bank.

The simplest source is a void cheque. The encoded line along the bottom shows the cheque number, transit number, institution number, and account number in that order. If you don’t have paper cheques, most banks let you download a pre-printed account information form through online banking or the mobile app that works the same way.³ Some billers ask you to attach the void cheque or printout as verification.

You’ll also need the biller’s information: legal name, address, and your customer, account, or policy number so the payment gets matched on their end.

Completing the Payor and Account Sections

Most PAD forms share the same layout no matter which biller supplies them. Start with the payor section: your full legal name, address, phone number, and email. Then enter your banking coordinates.

Check every digit twice. A single wrong number can misroute the payment or cause it to bounce, and a failed transaction from insufficient funds or bad routing now costs up to $10 per occurrence at federally regulated banks under Canada’s 2026 fee regulations, down from the earlier range of $45 to $48.⁴

Choosing the PAD Category

The form asks you to identify which type of PAD applies. Rule H1 defines four categories, each carrying different protections and reimbursement windows:¹

Personal PAD: for consumer expenses like mortgages, utilities, insurance, charitable donations, and credit card bills.
Business PAD: for payments tied to a commercial activity, such as franchisee-to-franchisor or dealer-to-manufacturer transactions.
Funds Transfer PAD: for moving your own money between your accounts at different institutions, including registered savings and investment accounts.
Cash Management PAD: similar to a funds transfer but for businesses repositioning funds across institutions within the same corporate family.

The category is not a formality. It determines how long you have to dispute a withdrawal, and personal PADs carry the longest protection window. Selecting the wrong one can shorten your recourse if something goes wrong.

Payment Amount and Schedule

Say whether the payment is a fixed amount or a variable amount, and set the frequency: monthly, biweekly, quarterly, or whatever the biller offers. For variable amounts, the biller must notify you of each upcoming withdrawal at least 10 calendar days in advance, unless you agree on the form to waive or shorten that notice.⁵ If you’re fine with amounts that fluctuate — a hydro bill that shifts with the seasons — waiving the notice speeds things up. If you want to see each amount before it clears, leave the 10 days in place.

Authorizing the Agreement

The last step is the authorization. A wet-ink signature on paper is not strictly required. Rule H1 accepts written, electronic, or another recorded form of authorization, provided it can be stored and retrieved later.¹ Some billers set up a PAD over the phone and follow with a written confirmation. If your account has more than one signing authority, such as a joint account, every authorized signer has to approve the agreement.

Where to Get the Form

Start with the biller. Utility companies, landlords, insurers, and subscription services usually publish their own PAD form as a downloadable PDF or through a customer portal. These versions often come with pre-filled fields like the biller’s account and reference numbers, which spares you the hunt.

Your bank is the other source. Many financial institutions offer a generic pre-authorized payment form through online banking with your transit, institution, and account numbers already filled in. You add the biller’s details and submit. This route cuts down on transcription errors, though you still need the biller’s reference information to finish it.

Submitting the Form

Send the completed form to the biller’s billing department, not to your bank. Most billers accept submissions through a secure online portal, encrypted email, fax, or registered mail. A direct upload is quickest; paper mail adds several business days. Whatever method you pick, keep a signed copy. That copy is your proof of what you authorized if a billing dispute comes up.

After the biller receives your form, they must send you a confirmation at least 10 calendar days before the first withdrawal.¹ The confirmation is either a copy of your PAD agreement or a summary of its key terms: amount, frequency, and start date. You can waive this window or agree to a shorter one on the form itself. If you waive it, the biller still has to send confirmation within five calendar days after the first withdrawal.

Changing or Cancelling the Agreement

You can revoke your authorization at any time by notifying the biller in writing. The form should state the notice period required, which under Rule H1 cannot exceed 30 calendar days.¹ Once that period expires, the biller no longer has legal authority to pull funds. Keep a dated copy of every cancellation notice; the timestamp is your evidence if withdrawals continue past the deadline. Watch your account for at least one billing cycle after cancelling to confirm the debits actually stop.⁶

Changing bank accounts is not a phone-call fix. A new PAD form with the new coordinates and a new authorization is required. Cancel the old PAD first, then submit the new one so you don’t get debited from both accounts.

If a Withdrawal Is Wrong

Rule H1 gives you the right to a refund if a debit was unauthorized or didn’t match your agreement. The window depends on your PAD category:¹

Personal PAD: 90 calendar days from the date the debit posted.
Business PAD: 10 business days from the date the debit posted.

Grounds for a reimbursement claim include an amount that didn’t match your agreement, a debit taken after the agreement was cancelled, no confirmation sent before the first withdrawal, or no valid PAD agreement at all. Where no agreement existed, even business and funds transfer PADs get the longer 90-calendar-day window.¹

File the claim with your financial institution and explain which withdrawal you’re disputing and why. Your bank handles the recovery from the biller’s bank. Past 90 days for a personal PAD, the bank is no longer obligated to reimburse you under the standard Rule H1 process, and the dispute has to go directly to the biller or through other legal channels.⁶

1
Payments Canada. Rule H1 – Pre-Authorized Debits (PADs)
2
CIBC. Transit Number, Institution Number and Account Number
3
CIBC. Download Void Cheque and Set Up Direct Deposit
4
Canada Gazette. Regulations Amending the Financial Consumer Protection Framework Regulations
5
Payments Canada. Pre-Authorized Debit
6
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. Pre-Authorized Debits