FINTRAC API report submission : Methods to report to FINTRAC
Updated April 8, 2024
From: Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC)
Learn how to submit financial transaction reports through FINTRAC API report submission, and consult related technical documentation to implement it.
On this page
- What is FINTRAC API report submission
- Registering to use the FINTRAC API
- Submitting reports through API
- Technical documentation to implement API report submission Updated April 8, 2024
- Related guidance
What is FINTRAC API report submission
FINTRAC API report submission allows for the secure system-to-system transfer of report information to FINTRAC.
You can use API report submission to send FINTRAC the following reports:
- Suspicious Transaction Reports
- Large Cash Transaction Reports
- Large Virtual Currency Transaction Reports
Note: To find out when you will be able to use API report submission for Electronic Funds Transfer Reports and Casino Disbursement Reports, please consult:
- Schedule to implement changes to FINTRAC's reporting forms Updated on May 17, 2024
Registering to use FINTRAC API report submission
An application is required to submit reports using FINTRAC's API. At a minimum, one application and secret is required.
Your technical administration needs to access the FINTRAC API portal to receive enrollment instructions and information on how to create an application and secret keys, to authenticate the API submission pathway for you to begin submitting reports.
Submitting reports through API
In this section
Submitting, changing and deleting reports
There are 2 groups of API endpoints:
- one for a single report submission
- another for the bulk submission of large volumes of simultaneous reports
Both API endpoints have 3 different actions for report submission:
- create a report submission
- change a report submission
- delete a report submission
Transaction submission limits
The transaction submission limits are different for the single API endpoint and the bulk submission:
- If you use the single API endpoint, you can include up to 500 transactions in a single report (maximum total file size of 25 MB)
- If you use bulk submission, file size is limited to 300 MB. You can include up to 5,000 reports and up to 5,000 transactions per report. The number of reports and transactions you can submit in a bulk file will depend on the volume of data in those reports
If the number of transactions exceeds these limits, you must create a new report to include the additional transactions.
Linking transactions across multiple reports
When you create another report because you exceeded the transaction limit, you can link transactions across multiple reports by including the reporting entity report reference number with a suffix (for example, -01, -02, etc.). This will also ensure FINTRAC is aware of linked reports.
If you need to link transactions in multiple reports, you can continue counting transactions incrementally with each report.
Starting action and completing action limits
You can include up to 50 starting actions and 50 completing actions in a single transaction as long as they occurred on the same date and time.
If a transaction has more than 50 starting actions or more than 50 completing actions, you can include these additional starting or completing actions by creating a new transaction in the same report.
Note: Because you must provide a date and time for each transaction, it is understood that all the starting and completing actions within the transaction also occur at this date and time. If this is not the case, then you will need to add a new transaction to the report with the new date and time. This applies even if the number of starting actions or completing actions is under 50.
Technical documentation to implement API report submission
Find the technical documents you'll need to complete the implementation of your API to submit the transaction reports to FINTRAC.
Documentation for all report types
Documentation type | File | Date published |
---|---|---|
Schemas (Note: These files include content for each report type. Content for report types for which you do not use API report submission may be deleted as necessary.) |
Bulk submission schema |
October 23, 2023 Updated on January 19, 2024 |
Validation message schema |
October 23, 2023 Updated on February 22, 2024 |
|
Delete schema |
October 23, 2023 |
|
Samples |
Validation message sample |
October 23, 2023 |
Documentation for Suspicious Transaction Reports
Documentation type | Web page or file | Date published |
---|---|---|
Validation rules |
April 8, 2024 |
|
Schemas |
Suspicious Transaction Reports schema |
April 8, 2024 |
Documentation for Large Cash Transaction Reports
Documentation type | Web page or file | Date published |
---|---|---|
Validation rules |
October 23, 2023 |
|
Schemas |
Large Cash Transaction Report schema |
October 23, 2023 |
Samples |
Large Cash Transaction Report sample |
October 23, 2023 Updated on January 19, 2024 |
Large Cash Transaction Report bulk submission sample |
October 23, 2023 Updated on January 19, 2024 |
Documentation for Large Virtual Currency Transaction Reports
Documentation type | Web page or file | Date published |
---|---|---|
Validations rules |
Large Virtual Currency Transaction Report API Validation rules |
October 23, 2023 |
Schemas |
Large Virtual Currency Transaction Report schema |
October 23, 2023 |
Note: Documentation for Electronic Funds Transfer Reports and Casino Disbursement Reports will be added once implemented by FINTRAC as part of its multi-year initiative to implement important changes to its reporting forms.
- Modernizing FINTRAC's reporting forms Updated on May 17, 2024
- Schedule to implement changes to FINTRAC's reporting forms Updated on May 17, 2024
- Draft documents to help you prepare for changes to FINTRAC's reporting forms Updated on May 17, 2024
Technical support
If you require support, or have questions regarding API report submission, please contact tech@fintrac-canafe.gc.ca.
Related guidance
- Reporting suspicious transactions to FINTRAC
- Reporting large cash transactions to FINTRAC
- Reporting large virtual currency transactions to FINTRAC
- Date Modified: