Do you need a US EIN as a Canadian business? Which situations actually require one, which do not, and how to apply by phone, fax, or mail.
Applies in: CA
Most Canadian businesses do not need a US EIN — until they do something specific in the United States. The confusion comes from two different questions being asked as one: does the IRS require you to have an EIN, and does a US bank, marketplace, or customer demand one anyway? The answers are different, and this guide keeps them separate. An EIN (Employer Identification Number, also called a FEIN) is a nine-digit number the IRS assigns to a business entity for tax filing and reporting purposes. It is free, it is issued only by the IRS, and a Canadian business applies for it on IRS Form SS-4.
The IRS publishes a short list of triggers. You need an EIN if your business:
Each corporation in an affiliated group needs its own EIN, and a sole proprietorship that incorporates or enters into a partnership needs a new one. If none of these triggers applies — the common case is a Canadian sole proprietor selling services or goods into the US with no US employees and no US entity — the IRS does not require an EIN for federal tax purposes. That is the first half of the contradiction resolved: the sources that say "you must have one" are describing businesses that have crossed one of these triggers, and the sources that say "you do not need one" are describing sole proprietors who have not.
A Canadian sole proprietor with no US employees can generally report US business income using a personal tax identifier rather than an EIN. Canadians do not have a US Social Security Number, so the personal identifier in that situation is an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) — a separate IRS application for an individual, not a business. An ITIN is not a substitute for an EIN and an EIN is not a substitute for an ITIN: the IRS instructions state plainly that an EIN is for use in connection with your business activities only, and not to use your EIN in place of your SSN or ITIN. If a US customer asks you to complete a withholding form, the form for a foreign individual is the W-8BEN and the form for a foreign entity is the W-8BEN-E — which form you complete depends on whether you are selling as an individual or as a business entity, and that choice is what decides whether an EIN or an ITIN is the right number to put on it.
Here is the second half of the contradiction. Even when the IRS does not require an EIN, the IRS notes that you can still request one for banking or state tax purposes — and in practice, US banks and marketplaces often require one. A US bank commonly asks for an EIN before opening a business account for a foreign entity. US marketplaces and payment platforms may ask for one before they will pay a foreign seller or set up a seller account. A US customer may ask for your EIN on their vendor paperwork. None of those requests is the IRS requiring an EIN; all of them are a counterparty requiring one as a condition of doing business with you. If any of them asks, that is reason enough to apply — the number is free, and having it does not create a US tax obligation by itself. What creates US tax obligations is the underlying activity (employees, a US entity, US-source income), not the number.
The IRS recommends applying electronically where possible, but the online application is closed to you if your business has no legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office in the US or its territories. The Form SS-4 instructions state this directly. From Canada, you have three routes, all using Form SS-4, and you should use only one method per entity so you do not receive more than one EIN:
If the IRS asks, mail or fax the signed Form SS-4 (including any third-party designee authorization) within 24 hours to the address the representative gives you. To check on a mailed application, call 800-829-4933.
Form SS-4 asks for the legal name of the entity exactly as it appears on its charter or other legal document, the trade name if different, the mailing address (for an address outside the US, include city, province, postal code, and the full country name), the type of entity, the reason for applying, and the responsible party — the individual who controls, manages, or directs the entity. The responsible party must be an individual, not another business. On line 7b, enter the responsible party's SSN or ITIN; if the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN and is not eligible for one, enter "foreign" or "N/A". Do not leave the line blank. EIN issuances are limited to one per responsible party per day, and that limit applies across all methods. If you want a US-based attorney or accountant to receive the EIN for you, complete the third-party designee section and sign it — the designee's authority ends when the EIN is assigned.
The most common mistake is trying the online application first and getting blocked, then assuming the EIN is unavailable — the online tool is simply not built for applicants outside the US, and the phone route exists specifically for you. The second is paying a third-party website for the number: the IRS charges nothing, and any site charging a fee is selling you a free form. The third is applying by two methods at once, which can produce two EINs for one entity and a cleanup job with the IRS. The fourth is putting an SSN or ITIN where an EIN belongs, or vice versa — the numbers identify different things, and the IRS warns against swapping them. Finally, do not treat getting an EIN as tax advice: it is a registration step, not a determination of whether you owe US tax, and the question of whether your US activity creates a filing obligation is separate from the number itself.
Two things were not confirmed on an official page opened while drafting this guide and are deliberately left out of the steps above. First, the CRA-side treatment of US-source income — how the Canada-US tax treaty and CRA reporting apply to a specific Canadian business — was not verified on an opened Canada Revenue Agency page, so this guide does not state treaty withholding rates or CRA filing positions. Second, the detailed line-by-line completion of Forms W-8BEN and W-8BEN-E was not verified on an opened IRS page; the guide names the forms and who they are for, but does not walk through their fields. Confirm both on the IRS and CRA pages before you rely on them for a filing.
| EIN issued directly by the IRS | Free — no filing fee by any method |
|---|---|
| Phone application (international applicants) | EIN assigned during the call; the call itself is not toll-free |
| Fax application | EIN generally faxed back within 4 business days |
| Mail application | EIN received in about 4 weeks; apply 4 to 5 weeks before you need it |
The IRS states plainly that you never have to pay a fee for an EIN. Any website charging for one is selling you a free form.
It depends on what you do in the US. You need an EIN if you hire US employees, operate a US corporation, partnership, or multi-member LLC, file US excise taxes, or withhold tax on income paid to a non-resident alien. A Canadian sole proprietor with no US employees and none of those triggers generally does not need one for federal tax purposes.
Yes. The IRS instructions for Form SS-4 say that if the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN and is not eligible for one, you enter foreign or N/A on line 7b. You then apply by phone, fax, or mail, because the online application requires a valid taxpayer identification number to verify identity.
No, not if your business has no legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office in the US or its territories. The IRS states this directly in the Form SS-4 instructions. From Canada your routes are phone (267-941-1099), fax (304-707-9471 from outside the US), or mail to the IRS EIN International Operation in Cincinnati, Ohio.
An EIN is a nine-digit number the IRS assigns to a business entity for tax filing and reporting. An SSN is the personal number for a US resident individual. An ITIN is the personal tax number for an individual who needs a US tax identifier but is not eligible for an SSN. An EIN is for the business; an ITIN or SSN is for a person. The IRS warns not to use an EIN in place of an SSN or ITIN.
Often yes in practice, even when the IRS does not require one for federal tax purposes. The IRS notes that you can still request an EIN for banking or state tax purposes when you do not need one federally, and many US banks and marketplaces ask for an EIN before they will open a business account or pay a foreign seller. If a bank or platform asks for one, that request itself is the reason to apply.
By phone, the IRS assigns the EIN during the call. By fax, you generally receive it within 4 business days if you include a return fax number. By mail, allow about 4 weeks — the IRS recommends mailing Form SS-4 at least 4 to 5 weeks before you need the number. Use only one method per entity so you do not end up with more than one EIN.