Crypto license in Canada
Processing time
Срок рассмотрения
about 3 months
около 3 месяцев
First renewal due
Первое продление
after 2 years
после 2 лет
Ontario, new firm
Онтарио, новая фирма
CAD 1,300
1 300 CAD
Dealer surcharge
Надбавка за дилера
CAD 24,500
24 500 CAD
When you need a crypto license in Canada
You exchange or transfer crypto
Dealing in virtual currency is a money services business service in Canada, and FINTRAC registration has to be in place before the business begins to operate.
Your company sits outside Canada
A firm with no Canadian office still registers as a foreign money services business once it directs its services at people and businesses in Canada.
What you trade may be a security
Then a second regulator appears. Securities commissions sit at provincial level, and dealer registration there is a separate track with its own charges.
Your bank asks for a number
Canadian financial entities have to confirm that a foreign money services business is registered with FINTRAC before they open an account for it.
You want to run a trading platform
Platform trading in crypto assets that are securities or derivatives points at investment dealer registration and membership of the self-regulatory organisation.
What you get
- A registration decision you can plan around
- A compliance programme the regulator accepts
- An answer on whether securities rules catch you
- A calendar of reporting and renewal dates
- A written position for your bank
What Canada requires from a crypto business
Two registrations that do not replace each other
Canada splits the question in two. Anti-money-laundering supervision is federal and sits with FINTRAC, which registers money services businesses. Whether your product is a security or a derivative is a provincial question, answered by the securities commission of each province and territory. A FINTRAC registration says nothing about the second question; a dealer registration says nothing about the first.
The federal side: money services business
Dealing in virtual currency covers both exchange and transfer. FINTRAC charges no registration fees. The form is filed after a pre-registration request and contact from a compliance officer, and the secure link for documents expires in fifteen days. Criminal record checks go in with the application for the chief executive, the president, the directors and anyone holding twenty per cent or more, each issued no more than six months earlier. Most complete applications are processed within three months.
What the federal registry asks after that
Registration has to be renewed: for a corporation the first renewal falls on the last day of the month of its first incorporation anniversary that comes after the second anniversary of registration. Receiving virtual currency worth CAD 10,000 or more in one transaction, or in two or more amounts inside a rolling 24 hours, is a large virtual currency transaction report, due within five working days. Transfers of CAD 1,000 or more carry prescribed information with them.
The provincial side: dealer registration
Where the crypto asset traded is a security or a derivative, the platform is expected to register as an investment dealer and join CIRO. The interim route of time-limited restricted dealer registration was closed to new pre-registration undertakings in August 2024, and new platforms apply to CIRO directly. Ontario publishes what each step costs.
What the two levels charge and promise
| Question | Federal, FINTRAC | Provincial, Ontario |
|---|---|---|
| What gets registered | Money services business | Dealer, by category |
| Registration charge | None | CAD 1,300 for a new firm |
| Crypto surcharge | None | CAD 24,500, restricted dealer |
| Exemption application | None | CAD 4,800 or CAD 7,000 |
| Marketplace exemptions | None | CAD 24,500 on top |
| Yearly charge | None | From CAD 700, by revenue |
| Published processing time | About three months | Not published |
| Renewal | Required, first after two years | Yearly fee, no reapplication |
Where a licence number is the requirement
Some payment providers and investors want a licence number they can look up themselves. Canada answers with two registers instead. Where that falls short for you, the licensing and compliance direction lists the countries that issue one, and our crypto and fintech licensing overview shows how their regimes differ.
Sources: FINTRAC guidance on money services businesses and registration, fintrac-canafe.canada.ca; SOR/2007-121, s. 6.1; PCMLTFR ss. 129, 132, 35.1; OSC Rule 13-502, Appendices C and F, consolidation current to 3 March 2025; OSC crypto businesses page, 20 August 2026; CSA notice of 6 August 2024.
Stages of work
Perimeter and asset review
We work out which of your activities is dealing in virtual currency, and whether any asset you plan to list looks like a security or a derivative in Canada.
Entity and provincial filings
The company is incorporated federally or in a province, and registered extra-provincially wherever it will have a place of business.
Compliance programme and screening
A written compliance programme, a named compliance officer and the criminal record checks the regulations list are prepared in one pass.
Pre-registration and the first call
The pre-registration request goes in, a compliance officer makes contact, and the document list and estimated transaction volumes are assembled from that call.
Filing inside the fifteen-day link
The secure transfer link expires in fifteen days, so the package is complete before it is issued. A missed window closes the application and it starts again.
Processing and clarification requests
Most complete applications are processed within three months. Clarification requests are answered from the same file, so what you say matches what you filed.
Securities route where it applies
If provincial rules catch the product, we prepare the dealer application and the exemptive relief for your principal regulator and for CIRO.
Reporting and renewal calendar
You get the dates: your first renewal, five working days for large transaction reports, and the information every transfer above CAD 1,000 must carry.
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