The easiest way to make sure you never miss a payment again is to register for “My Account” and sign up for direct deposit. HOW TO REGISTER FOR AN ONLINE CRA ACCOUNT It’s worth noting that if you owe money to the CRA, the total owed will be reduced by that amount.

“They are considered uncashed if they are not deposited within six months of their original issue date.” The CRA will never reissue and send you a cheque on its own initiative because “government cheques have no legislated expiry date,” explains Branch. If not, it will issue a new cheque and mail it to the address on file, but only if you (or your authorized legal representative) request it. If you’re registered for direct deposit, the CRA will deposit the payment into your account.

To claim an uncashed cheque, request a duplicate payment by selecting and completing the displayed form.

Log in and select “Uncashed cheques” from the bottom of the list under “Related services.” This page will display the relevant amounts.

Go to the CRA website and choose “My Account” (see details on creating an online account below).

Here’s how to determine whether any of the 7.7 million cheques issued are in your name: “And some cheques date back to 1998,” she adds. And goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) credit payments account for almost half of all uncashed cheques on the list.”Īs for the amounts involved, Branch says consolidated data indicate that the average value of an uncashed cheque is around $150. “A substantial proportion of these are income-tested payments (including family and child benefits) to individuals with household incomes below specified thresholds. “The number of cheques continues to grow,” says Branch. But despite its efforts, only around 692,000 cheques (totalling $183 million) were claimed between Februand December 31, 2020. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) launched its uncashed cheque tracking tool in February 2020 to “help taxpayers get their money back,” explains Sylvie Branch, media relations officer with the CRA. In all, nearly $1.1 billion in government-issued cheques are waiting to be cashed. THE ISSUE AT HANDĮvery day, nearly 1,700 cheques issued by the federal government (amounting to around $500,000) join the pile of payments that have never been claimed. Unfortunately, many of those cheques don’t ever get cashed: a good number end up lost, stolen or destroyed, or are sent to an address that is no longer valid. Last year, in fact, 90 per cent chose that method.Įven so, some taxpayers haven’t yet registered for direct deposit (or did so only recently), so the government may still be sending them cheques instead. Ensure you never miss a payment from the CRA by registering for a CRA online account and signing up for direct deposit (Getty Images/Oliver Rossi)Īn overwhelming majority of Canadians now file their taxes electronically.

Canada revenue agency address