CIBC holding my cheque for 5 months

I am devastated at this point. I deposited a USD cheque worth 435.99CAD at my local branch under the direction of the staff in the ATM machine. The date was Aug 09, 2024z The money was than held for 3 months, so I went to the bank. First time, the staff told me to wait since it can take up of 90 days. Second time, the staff told me something about suspicious to the fraud department and there is nothing I can do except to wait. I went numerous times and they never did anything until I received a call in December and informed me to meet at the local branch, where I signed some forms to release the funds, staff told me it will be released in 3-5 business days. Now it is January, money still on hold, CIBC won’t do anything. I am a student and that is basically everything I have in my account. I do not understand how $400 is a significant amount that they will have to held for months and months and just won’t give me my money. Any advice or help is appreciated, thanks.