Canada is fully supported on Subvert. If you're running into issues connecting Stripe or setting up payouts, one of the patterns below is almost certainly the cause.
The USD/CAD currency mismatch
What it looks like: Stripe tells you your Canadian bank account can't receive transactions in USD because it's a Canadian financial institution.
What's happening: Subvert pays out in USD. Most Canadian bank accounts are CAD-denominated. Stripe flags the mismatch when you try to link the account.
Your options:
Option 1: Accept the currency conversion (simplest). Stripe will convert your USD payout to CAD when it hits your account. The conversion uses Stripe's exchange rate at the time of the payout, and your bank may also charge a small conversion fee. Most Canadian artists use this option without issue.
Option 2: Use a USD-denominated account. Some Canadian banks offer USD chequing accounts alongside your regular CAD account. You can also use a service like Wise to hold USD. If you link a USD account, payouts arrive without conversion. One thing to know: the country you select during Stripe onboarding must match the country where your bank is registered. If you use Wise or another international service, there may be tax and legal implications worth checking with your accountant.
Getting the routing number format right
What it looks like: Stripe rejects your bank details, or the routing number field won't accept what you're entering.
What's happening: Stripe expects a single 8-digit routing number: your 5-digit branch transit number followed by your 3-digit institution number, no spaces or dashes.
Example: If your branch transit number is 12345 and you bank with RBC (institution number 003), the routing number you'd enter is 12345003.
Your branch transit number is on your cheques (the first 5 digits of the bottom line), in your online banking under account details, or by calling your bank.
Common Canadian institution numbers:
| Bank | Institution number |
|---|---|
| BMO | 001 |
| Scotiabank | 002 |
| RBC | 003 |
| TD | 004 |
| National Bank | 006 |
| CIBC | 010 |
| HSBC Canada | 016 |
| ATB Financial | 219 |
| Tangerine | 614 |
| Desjardins (Quebec) | 815 |
| BC credit unions (Central 1) | 809 |
| Ontario credit unions (Central 1) | 828 |
| Meridian Credit Union | 837 |
| Servus Credit Union | 879 |
Credit union note: Most Canadian credit unions route through their provincial Central rather than having their own institution number. If your credit union isn't listed above, look for it in your bank's official routing documentation, or contact your branch directly.
Desjardins note: Desjardins has two institution numbers depending on caisse type (815 for Desjardins Quebec, 829 for Caisses populaires Desjardins). Some Desjardins transit numbers begin with a leading zero — keep it as-is when building the 8-digit string.
Stripe is only showing US banks
What it looks like: When you go through the Stripe onboarding, the country is locked to the US and you can only see American banks.
What's happening: Stripe locked your account to the US during initial setup, likely based on your IP address at the time (for example, if you were on a VPN or a US network).
Fix: Write to us at info@subvert.fm and we'll reset your Stripe connection. When you restart the flow, make sure any VPN is turned off so Stripe reads your location as Canada, and select Canada explicitly when prompted.
Stripe connected, but payouts aren't working
If Stripe shows as connected but you're still unable to publish or initiate payouts, the connection may not have fully completed. This can happen if the Stripe onboarding window closed before finishing.
Write to us at info@subvert.fm and we can reset your Stripe connection so you can restart the flow cleanly.
Still stuck?
Email info@subvert.fm with a description of where you're getting stuck and a screenshot of any error message. Canadian Stripe issues fall into a small number of known patterns and we can usually sort it quickly once we know which one you're hitting.