Printing cheques in Canada: CPA Standard 006, date format and cheque stock

What Standard 006 is

Standard 006 is Payments Canada's specification for cheques and other MICR-encoded payment items. It sets where each field goes, the MICR line at the bottom, the colours and backgrounds that still image cleanly, and how the date is written. It still carries the name of the Canadian Payments Association (CPA), Payments Canada's former name, which is why accountants call them "CPA cheques". The current edition is from 2024.

Cheques are now cleared from images, so the rules exist to make sure the date, amount, payee and signature read clearly on a scan. A non-compliant cheque may be rejected, or your bank may charge a fee for handling it.

The MICR line

The line of numbers at the very bottom of a cheque is the MICR line, printed in the E-13B font in magnetic ink. It holds the cheque number, the branch transit number, the institution number and your account number. Standard 006 keeps a 5/8-inch band at the bottom clear for it, with no other magnetic ink allowed there.

Most small businesses never print a MICR line themselves: it comes already printed on cheque stock ordered for their account. Printing it yourself takes MICR toner and careful testing, and a cheque without a proper MICR line can't be processed as a cheque.

The date field

This is where Canadian cheques differ most from American ones. Standard 006 says:

• The date is numeric, in one of three orders: YYYYMMDD, MMDDYYYY or DDMMYYYY.
• Spaces, dashes or dots may separate the parts (2026 11 11, 2026-11-11, 11.11.2026). Slashes are not allowed between the parts of the date.
• Small field indicators (6 to 8 point) are printed under the date to show which order is used, such as Y Y Y Y M M D D. For the YYYYMMDD order a bilingual version is allowed: Y/A M/M D/J.
• The date sits toward the upper right of the cheque, with the word DATE in at least 8 point.
• On cheques filled in by hand, guidance boxes for each digit are printed in a light colour that drops out of the image. They're optional on cheques filled in by software.

The indicators are what make 2026-03-04 unambiguous: without them nobody can tell March 4 from April 3. YYYYMMDD (the ISO order) is the one that can't be misread.

Printing your own

Payments Canada's business guide says you can print your own cheques if they follow Standard 006 and have a MICR line, and that you should show your financial institution a printed sample before you start using them. For the parts your software fills in:

• The date and the amount in words are printed in at least 10 point, not slanted or italic.
• Ink is black, blue or dark purple, so it shows up in the image.
• The signature is clear of other fields and dark enough to image.

Cheques are generally stale-dated after six months, and a post-dated cheque shouldn't be deposited before its date.

Choosing cheque stock

• Buy from an accredited printer. Payments Canada runs a Cheque Printer Self-Accreditation Program; cheques from those printers are exempt from routine Standard 006 testing, while others may be tested by your bank. Your bank can also order stock for you.
• Voucher cheques (one cheque at the top of a letter-size page, two stubs below) suit payroll and bill payments, where the payee keeps a stub.
• Standard cheques (three to a letter-size page) suit businesses writing many cheques with no stub.
• Laser stock is what desktop printers use. Tell the supplier it's for software printing so the layout matches common accounting software.
• Check the date area. Ask for stock with the date indicators printed in the order your software prints (YYYYMMDD is the usual choice), so the printed date and the indicators match.

Printing cheques from AcboBooks

In AcboBooks, Print Cheques lists the cheques, bill payments and paycheques waiting to print. Choose the cheque paper in the printer: voucher cheques (one a page, two stubs) or standard cheques (three a page). On pre-printed stock, AcboBooks prints only the filled-in fields: the date, payee, amount, amount in words with asterisks to fill the line, and the memo, in black at 10 to 11 point. On voucher stock the stubs carry the payment details, or the full pay stub for a paycheque. Print alignment test prints a sample on plain paper to hold over the stock against the light, and you nudge the fields right or down in hundredths of an inch until they line up. Print at "Actual size", not "Fit to page".

Two things to know. The plain paper option draws the whole cheque for your records, with no MICR line, so it isn't something a bank can process. And the date prints in your computer's regional date format: with Windows set to English (Canada) it prints as 2026-11-11, the YYYYMMDD order with dashes that Standard 006 accepts; a US-style format would print slashes, which it doesn't. Check the date on your alignment test, and use stock whose pre-printed indicators match it.

Frequently asked questions