The short version
Most Canadian credit unions run on shared digital banking infrastructure — largely the Central 1 and Celero platforms — and inherit its defaults:
- $3,000 per transfer
- $3,000 – $10,000 per day
- $10,000 per rolling 7 days
- $20,000 per rolling 30 days
- $25,000 per incoming transfer
Your credit union can move these. Confirm yours using the 30-second check below.
Why one answer covers so many credit unions
Individual credit unions do not build their own online banking. It would be absurd for a twelve-branch institution to maintain payment infrastructure, so they buy it collectively — historically through Central 1 and Celero, which between them serve most of the sector outside Quebec.
Those platforms ship with default Interac e-Transfer caps, and most credit unions simply keep them. That is why Steinbach Credit Union in Manitoba and Valley Credit Union in Nova Scotia publish identical numbers: $3,000 per transfer, $10,000 per rolling 7 days, $20,000 per rolling 30 days. They did not coordinate. They are running the same software.
So if you bank with a credit union whose limits are nowhere on its website — which is most of them — the platform default is a well-founded starting assumption rather than a guess.
The caveat that matters
A default is not a guarantee. Credit unions can and do adjust their caps, and several differ from the pattern above, most often on the daily figure. Some set the daily limit equal to the per-transfer limit at $3,000; others allow $10,000 a day.
Before sending anything you cannot afford to have bounce, spend thirty seconds confirming.
How to find your actual limit in 30 seconds
- Open your credit union's mobile app or online banking.
- Start an Interac e-Transfer as though you were going to send one.
- Look at the amount screen. Your available limit — and usually your remaining limit for the current window — is displayed there, before you confirm anything.
- Back out. Nothing is sent until you confirm.
This beats calling, because the number shown is the one the system will actually enforce on your account, including any adjustment made to your profile specifically.
Verified examples
The credit unions that do publish their limits, as a reference point:
| Credit union | Per transfer | Per 7 days | Per 30 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steinbach Credit Union (MB) | $3,000 | $10,000 | $20,000 |
| Valley Credit Union (NS) | $3,000 | $10,000 | $20,000 |
| Vancity (BC) | $6,000 | $10,000 | $20,000 |
| Platform default (most others) | $3,000 | $10,000 | $20,000 |
Vancity is the clearest exception: $6,000 per transfer, double the default, and fixed for every member. Coast Capital publishes no e-Transfer limits at all; its page covers the fees and how to find yours.
Steinbach also publishes business limits, which are a useful indication of what credit union business accounts look like generally: $10,000 per transfer, $20,000 a day, $50,000 a week, $100,000 a month. That per-transfer figure is more than triple the personal cap, and competitive with the big banks' business tiers.
Desjardins is the exception to everything on this page. It is a credit union by structure but operates at the scale of a Big Five bank on its own infrastructure, and has its own published limits.
Credit union e-Transfer fees
Here credit unions are genuinely more variable than the banks, and more often more expensive. The typical structure: some chequing packages include free e-Transfers, and the ones that do not charge $1.00 per transfer sent. Receiving is free everywhere.
That $1.00 is worth attention if you receive business payments and send a lot of refunds or contractor payments. It is also why one-cent test transfers are a worse idea at a credit union than at a bank — the fee is charged per transfer regardless of amount.
At the Big Five, free e-Transfers on personal chequing are now effectively universal. See e-Transfer fees by bank for the comparison.
Can you increase a credit union e-Transfer limit?
More often than at a big bank, and this is a real advantage of credit unions. Because caps are configured per member rather than dictated by national policy, a branch can frequently adjust yours — particularly if you have an established account and a specific reason.
Compare that to RBC, whose stated position is that the e-Transfer limit cannot be increased or decreased for anyone. Ask your credit union. The answer is often yes.
If it is no, the usual alternatives apply: send across the rolling window, use a wire transfer, or open a business account. See how to send more than your e-Transfer limit.
If you run a business on a credit union account
Credit unions are a common choice for Canadian service businesses — local relationship, a branch that knows you, business limits that hold up well against the banks. What they do not give you is a view of which invoices those incoming e-Transfers actually paid.
Biller matches each payment to the invoice it settles, tracks what is still outstanding, and handles GST/HST on the invoices themselves. It works with any Canadian institution, credit union included.
Related guides
- Interac e-Transfer limits by bank
- Business e-Transfer limits by bank
- The minimum e-Transfer amount
- How to send more than your limit
Free tools for getting paid by e-Transfer
No account needed to try them.
- Free e-Transfer income tracker — tally your Interac income toward the $30,000 GST/HST threshold.
- Free invoice generator for Canada — build a GST/HST-ready invoice in minutes.
- Free e-Transfer receipt generator — issue a clean, CRA-friendly receipt.