Print & Cheques Now Inc., a Calgary-based cheque printer, has released a plain-language guide to Standard 006, the Payments Canada specification governing cheques drawn on Canadian financial institutions. The guide is intended for accountants, controllers, business owners, and administrative staff who order or approve business cheques, and it details how MICR encoding, layout, magnetic signal strength, and security elements can affect automated processing.
The release comes amid rising concerns about cheque fraud and processing errors. According to the company, a cheque may display correct account and transit numbers yet still fail testing if its MICR line is incorrectly printed or positioned. The guide aims to demystify these technical requirements before businesses place orders or print cheques in-house.
Standard 006 mandates a 5/8-inch band along the bottom of a cheque for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) encoding. No printing is allowed within this band except for the prescribed E-13B characters in the encoding line. The lower 3/16 inch of the band must remain clear, the encoding line occupies the next 1/4 inch, and the 3/16 inch above it must also be unobstructed. Logos, signatures, borders, or other printed elements that intrude into this area may interfere with MICR processing or cause the cheque to fail testing.
E-13B includes digits zero through nine and four symbols: Transit Number, On-Us, Amount, and Dash. These characters identify and separate payment processing information. The MICR line must be printed with magnetic ink and produce a signal within Standard 006 tolerances. Testing also evaluates character dimensions, spacing, placement, and the presence of extraneous magnetic ink. A cheque that appears correct to the human eye may still produce an inadequate or inconsistent magnetic signal. Payments Canada recommends that organizations printing their own cheques submit pre-production samples to a financial institution for testing.
Print & Cheques Now holds the designation CPA Self-Accredited Printer #1010 through the Cheque Printer Self-Accreditation Program administered by Payments Canada. Self-accredited printers attest that they produce cheques within Standard 006 tolerances and follow the program’s testing requirements. In addition to meeting Standard 006, the company’s cheques include three confirmed security features: holograms, thermochromic (heat-sensitive) ink, and microprinting visible under magnification. These features are separate from MICR encoding but are regulated by Standard 006 to ensure they do not interfere with imaging, the MICR band, or required cheque fields.
Managing cheque printing in-house requires control over the MICR font, magnetic signal, character placement, and clear-band dimensions. Changes to printer, toner, paper, or other components can affect compliance. Print & Cheques Now tests its production under the self-accreditation program and backs every order with its Bank Acceptance Guarantee: if a Canadian financial institution rejects the cheque, the company will reprint or refund the order.
Jon Gilchrist, Owner of Print & Cheques Now, explained the motivation behind the guide: “Most business owners never look at the standard behind a cheque until one gets rejected. The person ordering cheques for a company is usually an accountant or an office manager, not a compliance specialist, so we wrote this guide in plain language instead of leaving that standard buried in a technical document only a printer would read.”
Businesses can review business cheque options or order cheques matched to their financial institution. The company’s products are accepted by major banks, including RBC, TD, BMO, CIBC, Scotiabank, ATB Financial, Desjardins, National Bank, and more than 200 credit unions across Canada. This guide serves as a resource for businesses to navigate the complexities of cheque production and avoid costly rejections.
