Start using CRA My Business Account in Canada: register for a CRA account, link your social insurance number to your business number, add program accounts, set up email notifications and online mail, and authorize a representative.
Applies in: CA
My Business Account is an online portal in your CRA account that lets you interact with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on various business accounts, with program accounts including GST/HST, payroll, corporation income taxes, excise taxes, excise duties, and more, according to About My Business Account. This guide walks through starting with it: registering for a CRA account, getting a business number and program accounts, linking your social insurance number (SIN) to that business number, setting up mail and notifications, and authorizing a representative. It gives no tax advice, states no tax rate or filing figure of its own, and does not cover the personal portal, CRA My Account, except where the two are distinguished. If you report business income on a personal income tax return and hold no business-number program accounts, check step 1 before going further, because the personal portal may be the one you need.
One CRA 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 Business Account is the business panel you select from the Welcome page after signing in, as described in Welcome page for CRA account. Work through the steps in order: the SIN-to-business-number link in step 4 is what turns a signed-in CRA account into access to a business, so do not skip ahead to the services list before it.
My Business Account is for business accounts, not for your personal tax file. About My Business Account states that business owners, including partners, directors, and officers, can use My Business Account, and that authorized representatives, including accountants and employees, access these services through Represent a Client in their own CRA account, not by signing in as the owner. The same page notes one routing exception: to access GST/HST accounts administered by Revenu Québec, go to Revenu Québec's website instead.
The distinction from the other two portals matters at the start. CRA My Account is the personal portal for individual income tax and benefit information. Represent a Client is the portal representatives use to act for someone else's accounts. Looking for the fastest and easiest way to manage your business taxes online? Use our digital services! states the sole-proprietor test directly: if you report your business income on a personal income tax return, you should sign up for My Account. If you hold a business number with program accounts, such as a GST/HST account or a payroll account, those accounts are managed in My Business Account, and your personal file stays in My Account. Both panels sit on the one Welcome page: Welcome page for CRA account states that the Welcome page displays a panel for each account linked to your SIN, such as My Account, your default My Business Account, and Represent a Client, and that selecting a panel takes you to that account's overview page.
Only certain people can open a business in the portal. Maintain your business states that only owners, partners, or directors whose name and SIN are on file with the CRA have the authority to access the business information, make changes to the business, add representatives, and access My Business Account. If your name or SIN is not on file for the business, step 4 will fail at validation, and the remedy is updating the CRA's records, not a different sign-in. Employees and accountants never get in through the owner's credential; they are authorized as representatives, covered in step 6.
If you already have a CRA account, sign in with it; do not register again. Register for a CRA account states that if you have already registered for My Account, My Business Account, or Represent a Client using a CRA user ID and password or a Sign-In Partner, you should sign in with your existing credential. If you do not see your business, representative, or other accounts when you sign in, the same page points you to adding your other accounts, which is step 4 of this guide.
If you have no CRA account, register through one of the three options on the registration page: a CRA user ID and password, a Sign-In Partner through your online banking, or a provincial partner account through an Alberta.ca Account or a BC Services Card. Register for a CRA account states that the option you register with is the one you use each time you sign in, and that you cannot use GC Key to sign in to a CRA account, although GC Key works with other Government of Canada departments. The same page states that your banking information and the identity of your financial institution are not shared with the Government of Canada when you use a Sign-In Partner, and none of your personal tax information is shared with your financial institution. Pick the option you will still control in a year, since changing options later means going through registration again with your existing multi-factor authentication.
Gather what registration asks for before you start, because your session ends after 18 minutes without activity and your progress is not saved, according to Register for a CRA account. For a CRA user ID and password or a Sign-In Partner, you need your date of birth, your SIN, and amounts from your most recent assessed income tax and benefit return from within the last two years, using the amounts you initially reported even if the return was later reassessed. The same page states the filing test behind that requirement: to register with a Sign-In Partner or a CRA user ID and password, you must have filed your taxes for either the current tax year or the previous tax year, and if you have never filed, or have not filed in the last two years, you cannot register until you do, with an exception for Alberta and British Columbia residents registering through a provincial partner. If you do not have a SIN, the page states the CRA also accepts a temporary tax number (TTN) or an individual tax number (ITN). Check this carefully: the filed-return test is a CRA-account registration rule stated on the registration page, and the About My Business Account page publishes no separate filing test of its own for adding a business number, so do not treat a filed personal return as a My Business Account requirement in itself.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is mandatory for all CRA account users. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) states that MFA requires a one-time passcode every time you sign in, in addition to your password or sign-in, and that when you register you will be prompted to enrol in two MFA options, although only one is currently mandatory. Enrol in both: the telephone, passcode grid, and authenticator app options are the three listed on the MFA page, and the MFA page states that enrolling in more than one option is what keeps you able to sign in if you change your phone number, cannot access text messages, misplace your passcode grid, or delete your authenticator app. You can add, remove, or change MFA options later from Security settings on the Welcome page, according to the same MFA page. 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 that page, although you may choose to give a passcode to the CRA's automated system or a representative on a call you initiated.
Identity verification completes the CRA account registration. Register for a CRA account gives two methods: the document verification service, using a mobile device for immediate access, or a CRA security code mailed to the address the CRA has on file within 10 business days, which you must sign in and enter before it expires. The About My Business Account page publishes no separate verification step, security code, or limited-access tier for My Business Account itself, so treat verification as a CRA-account step that happens before you add a business number, and check the registration page linked here for the current accepted photo IDs and the remedies if a mailed code is lost, late, or expired, rather than assuming a business-only verification route exists.
A business number (BN) is the identifier the CRA gives your business, and program accounts attach to it for each area of business tax. Businesses: Go online to register for a business number or CRA program account states that a BN is a unique 9-digit number, and that a CRA program account relates to a specific aspect of your business taxes or reporting linked to your BN, with each program account adding letters to the end of your BN, for example RT for GST/HST, RP for payroll, RC for corporation income tax, and RZ for information returns. The same page lists reasons you would need a BN, including collecting GST/HST, having employees and needing a payroll deductions account, importing or exporting goods, incorporating federally or provincially, filing information returns, and filing corporate income tax. This guide states no threshold, rate, or deadline for any of those registrations: the CRA page linked here publishes no figure for when registration becomes required, so check the registration requirements for your situation in Business Registration Online rather than relying on a number carried from elsewhere.
Since November 3, 2025, new BN and program account registrations must be done online. Businesses: Go online to register for a business number or CRA program account states that registrations must be done online through Business Registration Online (BRO), and that if you call the Business Enquiries line to register, you will be directed to BRO. The route from inside your CRA account is set out in Welcome page for CRA account: sign in, select +Add account on the Welcome page, select Business account and then Register a Business to complete your registration, noting that this signs you out of your CRA account so you can register for a BN and program accounts such as GST/HST or payroll, and that when you finish you sign back in to add your BN. About My Business Account gives the same fork in shorter form: if you do not have a BN, select Register a Business Online to complete your registration, sign back in, and follow the steps for a business number you already have.
Registering online gives you the BN and account details instantly, according to Businesses: Go online to register for a business number or CRA program account, and you should save or print the confirmation, as it will not be sent separately. The same page states what BRO does not cover: reactivating a previously closed program account, registering a Canadian business with only non-resident owners, and registering a business owned by another business, such as another corporation or partnership, all need the CRA's Business Enquiries line or paper registration instead. If one of those situations applies to you, do not keep retrying the online flow; use the route the page names. Your new BN will not appear automatically in your CRA account, according to Welcome page for CRA account, so step 4 is still required after registration.
Adding a business number is a two-part check: your SIN must be linked to the BN, and the BN must be added to your CRA account. About My Business Account states that to access My Business Account for the first time, you must link your SIN to your BN, if it has not already been done, and then add your BN to your CRA account. Follow the add-a-BN flow exactly as the page sets it out:
The 28-day rule is the part most people trip over. About My Business Account states that if you select No, you can only link your SIN if your BN was registered within the last 28 days, and that if your information matches CRA records and validation is successful, your SIN will be linked automatically to your BN and your BN will be added to your CRA account. If your BN is older than 28 days and you have filed neither return, the online link will not complete, and you need one of the record-update routes in the next paragraph. After your BN is added, go to the Welcome page and select Business account to access My Business Account, on the same page. If you hold more than one business, Welcome page for CRA account states that you access your additional business accounts from your default business account panel, switching between them from the overview page using the menu in the top left corner.
If you cannot link your SIN online, do not create a second CRA account or re-register. About My Business Account states that if you cannot link your SIN to your BN, you will not be able to add your BN to your CRA account, and refers you to Maintain your business for other ways to update your SIN. Maintain your business states that a signed request from the owner, partner, or director asking the CRA to add their SIN can be submitted through Represent a Client using the Submit documents service, by fax to the business tax centre, or by mail to the business tax centre, and that requests submitted through Represent a Client, fax, or mail must be dated and signed. The same page lists the fax numbers for the Prince Edward Island and Sudbury tax centres; use the number for your business tax centre and check the CRA address page for mailing addresses, rather than guessing either from memory. Once your SIN has been linked, return to the add-a-BN flow above. Confirm my representative's authorization request adds the underlying match rule: you can only complete adding a business number if your name and SIN match the information the CRA has on file for your business, and if you get an error message at that step, you will need to contact the CRA to update your records.
Most business mail now arrives online, so the email address on file is what tells you it is there. About My Business Account states that most correspondence is only available online in My Business Account by default, except when a business has changed its delivery method to receive paper mail, and that you should register for email notifications to find out when you have new mail to view. Email notifications from the CRA – Businesses states that email notifications let you know when important changes are made on your account and when you have mail to view in My Business Account, covering changes to your address, direct deposit information, authorized representative, owner name, owner SIN, owner telephone number, language preferences, multi-factor authentication enrolment, user ID and password, account lockout status, an applied online payment, returned mail, and new mail to view, with optional notifications for payments, submitted documents, Progress tracker updates, and payroll information return filing due dates.
Put the addresses on file before you need them. Email notifications from the CRA – Businesses states that you can add up to 3 email addresses for each program account in My Business Account, which allows you to add your representative, accountant, or whomever you need to be informed, and that you are responsible for making sure the CRA has your correct email addresses at all times. Provide an address through managing notification preferences in My Business Account, and check the confirmation behaviour on the same page: a confirmation email arrives immediately if you provided the address through My Business Account, Represent a Client, or Business Registration Online, and within 8 business days if you provided it on an electronic return. If no confirmation arrives, sign in and check the addresses in your My Business Account Profile, correct any error, and check your junk mail folder. Mail you can receive online includes notices of assessment and reassessment, the PD7A statement of account for current source deductions, and most statements and letters, on the same page, while some mail cannot be added in My Business Account and will continue on paper. Access mail by selecting the mail icon on the Welcome page or Mail on the overview page, and print a paper copy from there if you need one.
Confirm the delivery method for each program account rather than assuming paper still arrives. Email notifications from the CRA – Businesses sets out the update flow: sign in, select your Business account, select Profile, select Manage mail for my business, select Start, select Online or Paper as the method you want to opt out of, select the program accounts the change applies to, confirm the acknowledgements, and submit. If the method is set to Paper, mail will still be available to view in My Business Account, but you will not receive an email notification about it, you must keep your mailing address up to date, any undeliverable mail will change the method back to Online, and you will need to reapply for paper mail every 2 years. Treat a genuine notification with the scam checks on the same page: genuine CRA email notifications carry the sender name Canada Revenue Agency / Agence du Revenu du Canada, and will not ask for personal or financial information, request payment by prepaid credit cards or gift cards, use aggressive language or tone, or threaten arrest or sending police.
Authorizing a representative means they work in their own portal, under their own authorization, not yours. About My Business Account states that authorized representatives access the business services through Represent a Client in their CRA account, and Authorize a representative: Overview states that with authorization a representative could get information about your business tax accounts and update some of your business number and program account information, and that their access remains until you or they cancel it or it expires, if an expiry date was included. The opened overview page publishes no numbered access levels, so this guide states none: when you authorize or confirm a representative, review the level of access stated in that specific request or authorization, and check the representative authorization pages linked here for the current level descriptions before granting more than view-only access, rather than relying on a level number carried from elsewhere.
To add a representative yourself, use Profile in My Business Account. How do individuals and businesses authorize me? states that a business can go to My Business Account and enter the representative's RepID to authorize them as an individual, a GroupID to authorize a group of representatives, or the business number to authorize all employees of a business. Authorize a representative: Overview states that in Profile, under Manage authorized representatives, you can view all current representatives, view, modify, or delete a specific representative's authorization, view the online transactions done by a representative on your business account, select Authorize a representative to add one, and select Confirm pending authorizations. Ask the representative for the correct identifier before you start, and confirm the authorization is listed afterwards. The paper alternative, Form AUT-01, gives offline access only, by phone, fax, mail, or in person, according to How do individuals and businesses authorize me?, and cancellation can be done through My Account, My Business Account, or Represent a Client, or with Form AUT-01X sent to a tax centre, on the same page.
If your representative submits the request instead, you confirm it in My Business Account, and the clock is short. Confirm my representative's authorization request states that your representative can submit authorization requests using Represent a Client or certified tax software (EFILE), that you must use the Confirm my Representative service in My Business Account to confirm or deny them, and that you must confirm or deny within 10 business days or the request will be cancelled and your representative must submit a new one. The confirmation steps on that page are: sign in, select your Business account, select Profile from the left navigation menu, in Authorized representatives select Manage authorized representatives, select Confirm pending authorizations, select the pending request, and select Confirm or Deny. Turn on email notifications for authorization requests so a request does not sit unseen, as the same page suggests. Two exceptions are stated on that page and worth knowing before you wait: sole proprietors using the same representative for business and personal taxes may not have to use Confirm my Representative in My Business Account, with automatic activation generally within five business days after a signed signature page where the stated conditions are met; and Confirm my Representative is not available where all owners or directors are identified as non-residents of Canada with no delegated authority, or where a legal representative certifies the request, in which case the representative submits a signed certification page through the Submit button in Represent a Client, never by mail or fax, and the request is generally processed within five days. Check the exclusions section of the page linked here if either situation describes your business, rather than waiting for a confirmation screen that will not appear.
Once the business is added, the services you see depend on the program accounts attached to it. Services in My Business Account lists the services under All Programs, including managing addresses, the owner phone number, notification preferences, direct deposit, authorized representatives, business numbers in your profile, the program account name, language preference, CRA security options, and operating names, plus submitting documents, viewing mail, the message centre, audit enquiries, direct deposit transactions, outstanding returns and balances, filing and balance confirmation, pre-authorized debit, and opening a non-resident tax account. For GST/HST (RT), the same list includes filing, viewing, and adjusting a return, filing and viewing a rebate, filing and viewing elections, viewing and paying the account balance, registering a formal dispute, calculating instalment payments, the enquiries service, and closing the account. For payroll (RP), it includes filing a return, providing a nil remittance, responding to notices, viewing and paying the balance, viewing remitting requirements, requesting a payment search, a refund, or a CPP/EI ruling or refund, transferring a misallocated payment, and downloading reports. For corporation income tax (RC), it includes transmitting a return, viewing return status and balances, viewing and paying the balance, viewing special elections and returns, registering a formal dispute, calculating instalment payments, and the enquiries service. Open the account for the program you need from the overview page, and use the enquiries service inside that account for account-specific questions, rather than treating the overview page as the place a return itself is filed, since the services list distinguishes filing, transmitting, and viewing by program.
Two practical limits close the guide. About My Business Account states in its What's new section that the Manage balance service gives self-service options for outstanding tax debts, and that if you have corporate income tax, GST/HST, or payroll debts of $1,000 or more, you will be brought directly to self-service options when you access My Business Account, allowing you to pay your balance in full, right away or over time, call a collections officer, or request a callback. That $1,000 figure is a portal-routing rule from the opened page, not a payment threshold or a statement about what you owe, so check the balance shown in the account itself before acting on it. And CRA account availability states that 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, with additional scheduled maintenance weekends listed on that page, so a sign-in failure inside those hours is the service window, not a problem with your business number, and the page also lists the browser requirements to check before contacting the CRA.
Use My Account for the personal return itself. [Looking for the fastest and easiest way to manage your business taxes online? Use our digital services!](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/tax-tips/tax-tips-2023/looking-fastest-easiest-way-manage-business-taxes-online-use-digital-services.html) states that if you report your business income on a personal income tax return, you should sign up for My Account, which shows your personal income tax and benefit information. My Business Account is the portal for business accounts such as GST/HST, payroll, and corporation income tax, according to [About My Business Account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-businesses/business-account/about-business-account.html). If you also hold a business number with program accounts, for example a GST/HST account, you use My Business Account for those accounts and My Account for your personal file, both reached from the same CRA account Welcome page described in [Welcome page for CRA account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/help/welcome-page.html).
No. [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 that you only need to register one time to access your personal, business, and other accounts, and that if you have already registered using a CRA user ID and password or a Sign-In Partner, you should sign in with your existing credential. After signing in, [About My Business Account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-businesses/business-account/about-business-account.html) states that you add your business number from the Welcome page by selecting +Add account and then Business account, after linking your social insurance number to your business number if that has not already been done. [Welcome page for CRA account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/help/welcome-page.html) states that the Welcome page shows a panel for each account linked to your social insurance number, including My Account and your default My Business Account, and that you select the panel to open that account.
First check the two rules on the linking flow. [About My Business Account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-businesses/business-account/about-business-account.html) states that if your social insurance number is not linked to your business number, you answer whether you have filed a GST/HST return or a T2 Corporation income tax return, and that if you answer No, you can only link your social insurance number if your business number was registered within the last 28 days. The same page states plainly that if you cannot link your social insurance number to your business number, you will not be able to add your business number to your CRA account. [Maintain your business](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/business-registration/maintain-business.html) gives the other routes: a signed request from the owner, partner, or director asking the CRA to add their social insurance number, submitted through Represent a Client using the Submit documents service, by fax to the business tax centre, or by mail. [Confirm my representative's authorization request](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/representative-authorization/confirm-representative.html) adds that if your name and social insurance number do not match the information the CRA has on file for your business, and you get an error message at the add-a-business-number step, you will need to contact the CRA to update your records.
There are two online routes, and one paper route for offline access only. [How do individuals and businesses authorize me?](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/represent-a-client/individuals-businesses-authorize.html) states that a business can go to My Business Account and enter the representative's RepID to authorize them as an individual, a GroupID to authorize a group of representatives, or the business number to authorize all employees of a business. The same page states that completing Form AUT-01 and sending it to a tax centre gives offline access only, by phone, fax, mail, or in person. Alternatively, your representative submits an authorization request through Represent a Client, and you confirm or deny it in My Business Account. [Confirm my representative's authorization request](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/representative-authorization/confirm-representative.html) states that you must confirm or deny the request within 10 business days in My Business Account or it will be cancelled, and your representative must submit a new request. [Authorize a representative: Overview](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/representative-authorization/overview.html) states that from Profile in My Business Account you can view, modify, or delete a representative's authorization, and view the online transactions done by a representative on your business account.
By default, no. [Email notifications from the CRA – Businesses](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/digital-services-businesses/online-mail-reduce-your-cost-doing-business-saving-time-online.html) states that by default businesses have their mail delivery method set to Online, and that most business correspondence is now sent online through the My Business Account portal, with an email notification when you have new mail to view if you have provided an email address. The same page states that some mail cannot be added in My Business Account and will continue to be mailed on paper, and that you can access your mail by selecting the mail icon on the Welcome page or Mail on the overview page of My Business Account. To receive paper mail, follow the steps on that page under Manage mail for my business, choosing the program accounts the change applies to. If your mail delivery method is set to Paper, your mail will still be available to view in My Business Account, but you will not receive an email notification about it, you must keep your mailing address up to date, any undeliverable mail will change your method back to Online, and you will need to reapply for paper mail every 2 years.
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 has changed or you can no longer receive your one-time passcode at that number, you can use another multi-factor authentication option you are already enrolled with, which is why the CRA prompts you to enrol in two options at registration. If you still cannot receive your one-time passcode, 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 method you are enrolled with; if that happens 3 times, you will be permanently locked out and will need to contact the CRA. [Register for a CRA account](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services/register-cra-sign-in-services.html) adds that regaining access through re-registration requires an existing multi-factor authentication option, so keep at least one backup method current. The About My Business Account page publishes no separate sign-in or passcode recovery route for My Business Account itself; recovery runs through the shared CRA account, so check the multi-factor authentication page linked here before assuming a business-only reset exists.
No tax rate, registration threshold, filing deadline, or fee 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 security code mailing time, the 28-day SIN-linking limit, the 10-business-day representative confirmation window, or the 21-hour service window. Check the CRA page linked beside any rule before relying on it for a filing or payment decision.