Register for CRA My Account in Canada: who can register, the three sign-in options, multi-factor authentication, document verification or the mailed security code, and what you can do once you have full access.
Applies in: CA
My Account is the Canada Revenue Agency's online portal for your personal income tax and benefit information. Through it you view and manage your own tax affairs: your returns, your notices of assessment, your benefit and credit payments, your RRSP and TFSA figures, and the personal details the CRA holds for you, as described in About My Account. This guide walks through registering for it and using it. It gives no tax advice, states no tax figure of its own, and does not cover My Business Account, which is the separate portal for business tax accounts and is reached through the same CRA sign-in.
One registration covers your CRA accounts. Register for a CRA account states that registering once lets you access your personal, business, and other accounts, and that you only need to register one time. My Account itself is the individual account you select from the Welcome page after signing in.
Work through the steps in order. The verification step decides whether you get full access at once or limited access until a mailed code arrives, so read step 5 before you start step 3.
You can use My Account if you have a social insurance number (SIN) and a filed and assessed income tax and benefit return from the current or previous tax year, according to About My Account. The registration page states the filing test with the same scope: to register with a CRA user ID and password or a Sign-In Partner, you must have filed your taxes for either the current tax year or the previous tax year, in Register for a CRA account. If you have never filed, or have not filed in the last two years, you cannot register until you file.
Two exceptions and one exclusion belong in this step. Alberta and British Columbia residents can register using a provincial partner even if they have never filed, on the same registration page. If you do not have a SIN, the CRA also accepts a temporary tax number (TTN) or an individual tax number (ITN) for registration, and a non-resident representative number (NRRN) for access to Represent a Client. GC Key is the exclusion: you cannot use GC Key to sign in to a CRA account, although it works with other Government of Canada departments.
If you cannot register yet because no return has been assessed, file a return first and register after the notice of assessment arrives. The newcomer filing guide in Related guides below covers a first return.
Your registration session ends after 18 minutes without activity, and your progress is not saved, according to Register for a CRA account. Gather everything before you open the registration page:
If you register through a provincial partner in Alberta or British Columbia, you only need your SIN to start, on the same page. Everyone else needs the return amounts, so have the return itself open beside you rather than working from memory.
There are three options for registering for and signing in to your CRA account, listed in About My Account: a CRA user ID and password, a Sign-In Partner, or a provincial partner. The option you register with is the one you use each time you sign in.
A CRA user ID and password is a credential you create for the CRA alone, with security questions to validate your identity. A Sign-In Partner lets you register and sign in with the same online banking information you already use, through one of the CRA's Sign-In Partner financial institutions. The registration page states that your banking information and the identity of your financial institution are not shared with the Government of Canada, and none of your personal tax information is shared with your financial institution, in Register for a CRA account. A provincial partner lets you register and sign in with a BC Services Card or an Alberta.ca Account, if you already hold one.
Pick the option you will still have access to in a year. If you change banks, a Sign-In Partner credential follows the bank account, so a CRA user ID and password or a provincial partner credential is the steadier choice when a bank change is coming. If you already have a CRA account under one option, sign in with that existing credential rather than registering again; registering again removes the previous credential, as set out on the registration page.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is mandatory for all CRA account users. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) states that it requires a one-time passcode every time you sign in, in addition to your password or sign-in. When you register, the CRA prompts you to enrol in two MFA options, although only one is currently mandatory. Enrol in both. The second option is what saves you when the first stops working: a changed phone number, a lost passcode grid, or a deleted authenticator app each leaves you with the other method.
The three options are a telephone number, a passcode grid, and a third-party authenticator app. You can add, remove, or change them later from Security settings on the Welcome page, after signing in. Keep the passcode grid somewhere safe if you choose it; you will be asked for combinations from it at every sign-in. Never share a one-time passcode with anyone who calls or texts asking for it. The CRA will never call and ask for your one-time passcode over the phone, on the MFA page, although you may choose to give a passcode to the CRA's automated system or a representative on a call you initiated, to verify your identity during that call.
Users who do not yet have a backup MFA option are asked to enrol in one the next time they sign in, according to the "What's new" note on the About page. Treat that prompt as part of registration, not as an optional extra.
Identity verification is what turns registration into access, and the method you choose decides how much access you get and how fast. About My Account sets out the three outcomes: document verification gives immediate and full access; a mailed security code gives limited access until you complete registration; a provincial partner registration needs no separate verification and gives full access.
The document verification service uses a mobile device with a camera and an accepted government-issued photo ID. The accepted IDs listed on the Register for a CRA account page are a Canadian driver's licence, a Canadian permanent resident card, a Secure Certificate of Indian Status issued as of February 2019 or later, a provincial or territorial photo ID card, and a Canadian, Australian, British, or New Zealand passport. The About page notes the service has been expanded to accept additional government-issued photo IDs, so check the current list on the registration page if your ID is not among those named here.
The alternative is a CRA security code sent by mail to the address the CRA has on file, within 10 business days. While you wait, your access is limited, as described in the FAQ above. When the letter arrives, sign in and enter the code before it expires. If the code is lost, has not arrived after 10 business days, or has expired, use the document verification service instead or contact the CRA for a new code, on the registration page. Make sure the address on file is current before you choose the mailed code, since a code sent to an old address helps no one and delays full access by another mailing cycle.
An email address is required to use My Account. Email notifications from the CRA – Individuals states that My Account users must have an email address on file with the CRA, to protect accounts from fraudulent activity and to receive notifications when important changes are made. If you do not already have one on file, you will have to provide one the next time you access My Account. You can have only one email address on file at a time, and the CRA uses the most recent one you provide.
Your correspondence preference decides whether CRA mail reaches you on paper or online. By default it is set to Paper, although the CRA has changed the preference of some individuals to Electronic mail, on the same email-notifications page. With Electronic mail selected, you get an email notification when new mail is available to view in My Account, and you will not receive a paper copy. With Paper selected, the mail is still available to view in My Account, but you get no email notification about it. Change the preference under Notification preferences in the Correspondence menu, and tick the box agreeing to the terms of use before submitting.
Once the preferences are set, check the three records most people register to see: your notice of assessment or reassessment, your benefit and credit payments and statements, and your RRSP deduction limit and TFSA contribution room. All three are listed in Services in My Account. The detailed notice, the detailed RRSP and TFSA view, and your tax information slips need full access, so if any of them is missing, check whether your verification is complete before assuming the record itself is missing.
With full access, My Account covers the routine work of a personal tax file. Services in My Account lists, among others: viewing and updating your address and telephone numbers, changing your marital status and the children in your care, arranging direct deposit, viewing your account balance and statement of account, paying by pre-authorized debit, viewing instalments and uncashed cheques, viewing your proof of income statement, changing your return, submitting documents, authorizing a representative, registering a formal dispute, requesting a CPP/EI ruling or relief of penalties and interest, and tracking progress on files you submitted. Digital services for individuals adds the same framing in plainer terms: change your return, change your address or telephone number, sign up for email notifications, submit documents, authorize a representative, track submitted files, or formally dispute an assessment.
Keep the personal details current, because benefit and credit payments depend on them. An address, marital status, or children-in-care change made late can delay a payment or send CRA mail to the wrong address. The same services list is the check: if a change is not reflected after you submit it, look for the confirmation in your mail in My Account before calling, since My Account shows the most up-to-date information immediately while a mailed notice goes through manual processes first.
Three practical limits close the guide. CRA sign-in services are available 21 hours a day and are not available between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Eastern time for daily maintenance, according to CRA account availability, with additional scheduled maintenance weekends listed on that page. If a tax information slip is missing, check the issuer first: a slip issued with an error in your SIN, first name, or last name will not appear in My Account or in Auto-fill my return, on the services page. And treat every unexpected message with the scam checks on the email-notifications page: CRA email notifications never ask for personal or financial information, never request payment by prepaid credit card or gift card, and never threaten arrest. The sender name on a genuine notification is Canada Revenue Agency / Agence du Revenu du Canada.
Not through the CRA user ID or Sign-In Partner routes. Registration through those routes requires a filed return for either the current tax year or the previous tax year, according to [Register for a CRA account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/register-cra-sign-in-services.html). The same page states that if you have never filed, or have not filed in the last two years, you cannot register until you file. File your first return first, wait for it to be assessed, and then register. Alberta and British Columbia residents have a different route: the same page states that you can register using a provincial partner even if you have never filed your taxes. [About My Account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-individuals/account-individuals/about-account.html) states the same eligibility test in shorter form, a social insurance number plus a filed and assessed return from the current or previous tax year.
Limited access is what you get after registering but before your identity is fully verified, when you are waiting for a mailed security code. [Services in My Account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-individuals/account-individuals/about-account/services-my-account.html) lists what each level can do. With limited access you can view your notice of assessment, your RRSP deduction limit and TFSA contribution room, and the status of your return, and you can set notification preferences, create a pre-authorized debit agreement, and request a remittance voucher. The detailed versions of those records, your tax information slips, changing your return, updating your address, and arranging direct deposit all need full access. Full access arrives immediately if you verify with the document verification service, or when you enter the mailed security code. Registering through a provincial partner also gives full access without a separate verification step, according to [About My Account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-individuals/account-individuals/about-account.html).
The CRA mails the code to the address it has on file within 10 business days, according to [Register for a CRA account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/register-cra-sign-in-services.html). If the code has been lost, or has not arrived after 10 business days, that page gives two remedies: use the document verification service instead, or contact the CRA for a new code by mail. An expired code has the same two remedies, plus a third: sign in and request a new code to be sent by mail. A separate CRA page on submitting documents states 15 days for delivery outside Canada and the United States, in [Submitting documents online](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/review-your-tax-return-cra/submitting-documents-electronically.html). Check first that the address the CRA holds for you is current, since the code goes to the address on file. Enter the code before it expires, and keep the letter until the code has been accepted.
GC Key does not work for a CRA account. [Register for a CRA account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/register-cra-sign-in-services.html) states plainly that you cannot use GC Key to sign in to your CRA account, although GC Key works with other Government of Canada departments. The three methods that do work are a CRA user ID and password, a Sign-In Partner, and a provincial partner account. You register once, and the option you register with is the one you sign in with each time. Changing methods is possible but it means going through registration again with your existing multi-factor authentication, and your previous credential is removed. If you registered through a provincial partner, you can add a CRA user ID and password or a Sign-In Partner as a second sign-in option without losing the provincial credential.
Use a backup method you already enrolled with. [Multi-factor authentication (MFA)](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/help-cra-sign-in-services/multi-factor-authentication.html) states that if your phone number changed or you can no longer receive a passcode at that number, you can use another MFA option you are already enrolled with, which is why the CRA prompts you to enrol in two options at registration. If no enrolled method works, contact the CRA. Entering the wrong passcode too many times locks the account for 30 minutes, and after that period you can try again or use another enrolled method. If that happens three times, the account is permanently locked out and you will need to contact the CRA. Regaining access through re-registration also requires an existing MFA option, according to [Register for a CRA account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/register-cra-sign-in-services.html), so keep at least one backup method current and keep your passcode grid somewhere you can find it.
No, not from your own My Account. [About My Account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-individuals/account-individuals/about-account.html) states that to access My Account on behalf of someone else, including friends and family members, you must be their authorized representative and use Represent a Client from your CRA account. The same page states that you cannot use My Account to access a deceased person's information at all; a representative such as an executor accesses it through Represent a Client instead. Do not sign in as the other person with their credentials. Authorize yourself as their representative, and use the representative service, so each person's access stays under their own authorization.
No tax rate, benefit amount, or deadline of the CRA's own making is stated in this guide, because none was needed to explain the portal and none was carried from a secondary source. Where a number appears, it is a portal rule from an opened CRA page named beside it, such as the 10-business-day mailing time or the 21-hour service window. Check the CRA page linked beside any rule before relying on it for a filing or payment decision.