To send a wire transfer from a Canadian bank, you need three sets of information: your own verified identity and account details, the recipient’s full legal name and account number, and the receiving bank’s routing codes. International wires add a SWIFT code and, usually, a currency conversion decision. Gather all of it before you start the form, because a single wrong digit can send funds to the wrong account, and wires are difficult to reverse once they settle.1Payments Canada
What Your Bank Needs From You
Before releasing any funds, your bank confirms who is asking. You provide your full legal name exactly as it appears on your government-issued ID and bank records. A shortened first name or a missing middle name can trigger a compliance hold, so check your bank card or a recent statement if you are unsure how your name is registered.
You also give your current residential address. Banks generally will not accept a P.O. Box as the primary address for wire purposes because anti-money laundering rules require a traceable physical location. Finally, confirm the exact account number the funds will come from. Your online banking portal or a recent monthly statement is the reliable place to check.
What You Need From the Recipient
The receiving side mirrors your own. Collect the recipient’s complete legal name as it appears on their bank account, or the registered corporate name if the payment is going to a business. You also need their physical residential or business address.
Then come the banking details: the account number, the branch name and full address including postal code, and the amount you want to send. Payments Canada specifies that account numbers should be entered as a continuous string of digits with no spaces, dashes, or special characters.1Payments Canada
The form will also ask you to pick a value date, meaning the date you want the transfer processed, and to indicate who pays the service fees: you, the recipient, or both parties splitting the cost.
Canadian Routing Codes: Institution and Transit Numbers
Canadian banks route domestic wires using two numbers. The first is a three-digit institution number identifying the bank. The second is a five-digit transit number identifying the specific branch. Together with a leading zero, they form a nine-digit routing number in the format 0YYYXXXXX, where YYY is the institution number and XXXXX is the transit number.
You will find both numbers at the bottom of a Canadian cheque or in your online banking account details. If the wire form asks for a single “routing number,” enter all nine digits including the leading zero. If it asks for the institution and transit numbers in separate fields, enter each in its designated place.
What Changes for an International Wire
When money crosses the border into Canada, the transfer needs a SWIFT Business Identifier Code, also called a BIC. This is an eight- or eleven-character alphanumeric code that identifies the recipient’s bank inside the global SWIFT messaging network. Each Canadian bank has its own SWIFT code. CIBC’s, for example, is CIBCCATT. The recipient can obtain their bank’s code from a branch representative or the institution’s website.
Canada does not use the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) system that is standard across Europe and many other regions. International senders instead need the recipient’s SWIFT code paired with the three-digit institution number and five-digit transit number. Providing the full branch street address and postal code adds a layer of verification that correspondent banks rely on when routing the payment through intermediary institutions.
Currency Conversion and the Fee Question on the Form
If the transfer involves converting between currencies, the exchange rate your bank offers will almost certainly differ from the mid-market rate you see on Google or a financial news site. Banks build a markup into the rate, and that spread can add a meaningful cost on top of the flat wire fee. On a $10,000 transfer, even a two-percent spread means an extra $200 in effective charges.
International wires may also pass through one or more intermediary, or correspondent, banks before reaching the destination. Each intermediary can deduct its own processing fee from the transfer amount, so the recipient may receive less than you sent. This is why the fee-sharing choice on the form matters. Selecting “sender pays all fees” (known as OUR in SWIFT terminology) means you cover intermediary charges upfront. Selecting “beneficiary pays” (BEN) means those fees get subtracted from the amount delivered. Decide which you want before you sit down at the form, because the answer belongs in the wire instructions themselves.
Every major Canadian bank also charges a flat outgoing wire fee, and the amount varies by institution, transfer type, and sometimes the dollar value being sent. Incoming wires usually carry a smaller fee as well. If cost is a concern, ask your bank for its full wire fee schedule before initiating the transfer; some premium account packages waive or reduce these charges.
Extra Questions on Large International Wires
When an international wire reaches $10,000 CAD or more in a single transaction, your financial institution must file an Electronic Funds Transfer Report with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.2FINTRAC The bank handles the filing; you do not submit anything yourself. What this means in practical terms is that you should expect the institution to ask additional questions about the purpose of the wire and the source of the funds, and to have supporting information ready.
The threshold also captures transactions that individually fall below $10,000 but add up to $10,000 or more within a 24-hour window when they involve the same sender or beneficiary. Purely domestic wires do not trigger the same reporting obligation.
Verify Before You Submit, and Keep the MT103 After
Wires are built for speed and finality, which makes errors costly. If you enter an incorrect but valid account number, the funds may land in a stranger’s account, and there is no automatic mechanism to pull them back. Your bank can attempt a SWIFT recall, but the receiving institution is under no obligation to return the money, particularly if the account holder has already withdrawn it.
Prevention is the real protection. Before submitting, verify every digit of the account number and routing codes directly with the recipient. For international transfers, confirm the SWIFT code matches the specific branch rather than the bank’s head office. If you realize an error after submitting, contact your bank immediately; the faster you act, the better the chance of intercepting the payment before it settles, though nothing is guaranteed.
Once the wire is dispatched, ask your bank for an MT103 confirmation. That is the standard SWIFT message that serves as proof of payment, and it contains the transaction details both banks need to trace the payment through the network if a dispute arises. Keep it with your records.