CRA My Account is the Canada Revenue Agency’s secure online portal for individuals. It shows your registered account room, your returns and assessments, your benefit payments and the slips that employers and financial institutions have filed under your name, and it lets you change your details without waiting on hold. This page walks through what each part of the account does. It is one of the guides in the Dealing with the CRA directory.
What is CRA My Account?
CRA My Account (formerly called “My Account for Individuals”) is the CRA’s secure online portal. It gives you direct access to your personal tax information, with no waiting on hold with the CRA and no guessing your benefit payment dates.
You sign in either with your online banking login through a Sign-In Partner or with a CRA user ID and password. Registering takes identity checks and, for the CRA user ID route, a security code by mail; the steps, the sign-in options and what to do if you are locked out are on the CRA My Account registration and sign-in guide.
The most useful features in CRA My Account
1. Registered account room
Under “RRSP and savings plans”:
- Your current RRSP deduction limit (contribution room available)
- Your TFSA room (contribution room available including room from previous years)
- Your FHSA room (if you have opened an FHSA)
- HBP and LLP balances (Home Buyers’ Plan and Lifelong Learning Plan repayments outstanding)
This is the authoritative source for your registered account room, more reliable than any third-party tool. How the RRSP figure is built up from your earned income and pension adjustment is explained in the guide to your RRSP room.
2. Tax return and Notice of Assessment status
Under “Tax returns”:
- Status of your most recently filed return (received, assessed, under review)
- Your Notice of Assessment (NOA) for each year
- Your Explanation of Changes if the CRA changed your return
- Your Express NOA, which you can get right after filing if your software links to My Account
The status stages are explained in how to check whether your tax return was accepted, and each section of the assessment itself in how to read your Notice of Assessment. To correct a return you already filed, the “Change my return” service (the online T1-ADJ) is covered in what to do if you made a mistake on your tax return.
3. Benefit payments
Under “Benefits and credits”:
- Payment dates and amounts for the CCB (Canada Child Benefit), the GST/HST credit and other benefits
- Current eligibility status
- Change marital status or update number of children to recalculate benefits
The dates themselves are listed in the government payment calendar.
4. Tax slips
Under “Tax information slips (T-slips)”:
- All T4s, T5s, T3s, T4As, T2202s, and other slips submitted to the CRA by your employers, banks, investment firms, and institutions
- Available from February onward for the prior tax year
- Auto-fill my return in your tax software imports them in one step (see below)
What each slip reports is covered in the guide to Canadian tax slips.
5. Direct deposit
Under “Direct deposit” you can view or update the bank account the CRA pays refunds, the CCB and GST/HST credits into. The steps and the banking details you need are in how to set up CRA direct deposit.
6. Address and personal information
Under “Personal information”:
- Update your mailing address
- View phone numbers on file
- See your correspondence preferences (paper vs. online mail)
The other ways to tell the CRA you moved are in how to change your address with the CRA.
7. Outstanding balance or refund
Under “Account balance and activities”:
- See if you owe the CRA money or have a refund pending
- View payment history and any interest charges
- Set up a payment arrangement if applicable
Reading the balance and working out why it appeared is covered in how to know if you owe the CRA; the payment options are in how to pay the CRA online, and the CRA’s payment arrangements for a bill you can’t pay in full have their own guide.
8. Representatives and documents
| Feature | What you can do |
|---|---|
| Authorize a representative | Grant an accountant or authorized representative access to your file |
| Upload documents | Respond to CRA requests or submit supporting documents |
9. CRA mail (My Account online mail)
You can elect to receive CRA correspondence electronically rather than by paper mail. This means NOAs, letters, and benefit notices are sent to your My Account inbox, which is faster than the postal service and reduces the risk of mail being lost.
Using Auto-fill my return
Auto-fill my return connects your tax software to CRA My Account and imports all your available tax slips automatically.
How to activate:
- Start your return in any CRA-authorized tax software (TurboTax, Wealthsimple Tax, H&R Block, UFile, TaxTips, etc.)
- Look for the “Auto-fill my return” or “Import from CRA” option
- You will be redirected to log in to your CRA account or Sign-In Partner
- Authorize the software to access your slips
- The software pulls all available slips into your return
What gets imported:
- T4 (employment income)
- T4A (pension, other income, CERB, etc.)
- T5 (investment income)
- T3 (trust income; T3 slips can be late and may not appear until March)
- T2202 (tuition)
- RRSP contribution receipts
- T4RSP / T4RIF (RRSP/RRIF withdrawals)
- And more
What was imported still needs a review. If a T3 for an ETF is late, it may not appear until after your initial filing, which then requires an amendment.
Security practices
CRA accounts have been targeted by fraudsters using stolen passwords from other data breaches. The main protections:
- A unique password: one not used on any other site
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA): set under Profile, then Security settings, in My Account
- The Sign-In Partner option: your bank’s own security protects your CRA access
- Credentials kept private: the CRA will never ask for your password
- A check of the account after tax season: unauthorized changes to your direct deposit or address show up there
- A careful read of your NOA: income you did not earn can be a sign of fraud, which you can report to the CRA
What the CRA will never do
| The CRA will never… | If someone does this, it’s fraud |
|---|---|
| Email asking for your SIN or banking info | Hang up / delete the email |
| Text a link to “verify” your account | It’s phishing |
| Demand payment by gift card or cryptocurrency | Legitimate tax debt is paid through banking, online, or cheque |
| Threaten immediate arrest for tax debt | The CRA uses civil collections, not immediate arrest threats |
| Call without sending a prior letter | Unsolicited CRA calls without prior correspondence are suspicious |
If in doubt, hang up and call the CRA back on a number from the CRA contact numbers and hours to verify.
Locked out or can’t sign in
Password resets, locked or revoked user IDs and failed identity checks are covered in the My Account registration and sign-in guide.
Related CRA guides
- Uncashed CRA cheques: My Account lists cheques the CRA issued that were never cashed
- Why the CRA reassessed your taxes: what a Notice of Reassessment in your online mail means