Back in the late 90's, for a couple of years I worked as a Teller & CSR for a major regional bank to help pay for beer, books, and pizza in college. From that experience...
If they're holding up your checks and not giving you a good reason, it could be that the bank is suspicious of either the check-writer or you. Could be because it's an out-of-state check. Could be because there's history on the account. Could be because the Teller who's cashing/depositing it for you got in trouble for cashing a bad check three weeks ago and is now super-cautious because they might lose their job. I've seen examples of all.
We were aware of certain people or businesses who would regularly write NSF checks. When we'd get those checks, we'd often put hard-holds on them knowing that there was a better-than-average chance they'd be bad. This was an attempt to offer some protection to both the bank and our customers. I could tell you many stories where some innocent customer received a bad check, depostited said check, then proceeded to write their own checks all weekend against that money, only to find out on Monday that the deposited check was bad, their account is now overdrawn, the checks *they* wrote in good faith are now bad, and they're now hit with hundreds of dollars worth of fees. It can be a disaster.
And yes, banks charge fees because they can. Or at least they think they can. If your bank nickle-and-dimes you to death with fees, find a new bank. There are plenty of banks out there that treat their customers fairly. I use a local bank where all of the normal sort of account activites are free. No balance limits, no fees on checks, debit cards, etc. Yet I know people who bank where there's a $.25 charge per debit card transaction, or a $5 monthly "account maintenance" fee, or a $2 ATM fee (even on the bank's own ATM's), or a you-wrote-more-than-5-checks-this-month-fee, etc. It's stupid to bank at a place that does that.
Placing a hold on a certified check is weird, but it can happen. Banks are supposed to trust eachother on certified checks but sometimes they do not. Could be that your bank isn't familiar with the other bank. Or it could be that the other bank is worried about fraud and requires your bank to put a hard hold on it until it's verified.
The questions the Teller asked you seem strange. It could be that the Teller was new to the job and was confused as to what was going on. When in doubt, always ask to speak to a supervisor. If you question why they're holding your funds (and you have a right to question it), ask to speak to a supervisor or the branch manager. Get an answer. Especially if you're an account-holder at the branch, you deserve to know why they're holding *your* money. But if you're *not* a customer of that bank, understand they they likely won't (indeed, can't) tell you anything.
Everything here applies to my experience with the US banking system. I have no idea how it applies to the canadian (or any other country's) banking system.
If you want the funds for a check *now*, cash it at the issuing bank. If it's a cashier's check from "First National Bank of Axiom", go to a "FNBoA" branch and cash it. It's their account, they'll know instantly if it's good. Then take the cash to your bank. The only exception to this is (in the US) if it's for more than $3,000. If it's more than $3,000, be aware that the bank submits info about the transaction to the IRS. And if it's more than $10,000 in cash, you will have IRS paperwork to fill out. At least those were the limits/rules when I worked at a bank.
Never take more than $2,999.99 in cash to a US bank if you don't want the IRS to (easily) know about it.
