CRA My Account, Business Number and Online Services Explained

CRA My Account is the Canada Revenue Agency's secure online portal for individuals. It is where you see your slips and notices of assessment, check your RRSP deduction limit, update your address and direct deposit, track a return and manage benefits. Businesses use a nine-digit Business Number (BN) and program accounts, and a service called Represent a Client lets an accountant act for you. This guide explains how to register for CRA My Account, how a BN works, which online services matter to newcomers and owners, and how the CRA login compares with the IRS and Indian portals.

What does CRA My Account do?

The CRA groups its digital services by user: My Account, My Business Account, Represent a Client, a Registered Plan Administrator account and a Non-Resident Withholding Tax service share one sign-in area. Inside My Account for individuals you can:

• View processed tax slips once the CRA has them (most slips are issued by the end of February).
• See your notice of assessment. Digital notices are available only in My Account after the CRA processes the return.
• Find your NETFILE access code, which the CRA now shows under tax returns.
• Check your RRSP deduction limit and TFSA information (the CRA updates TFSA room once a year, in the spring).
• Change your address, phone number, marital status and direct deposit details.
• Submit documents online, follow your file with the Progress Tracker, make a payment or set up pre-authorized debit. Payment arrangements are made through the CRA's TeleArrangement service.

How to register for CRA My Account (step by step)

1. Gather the identity details. You need your date of birth and your SIN. If Service Canada cannot issue a SIN, the CRA may give you a temporary tax number (TTN), which can be used for benefits, tax returns and a CRA account.
2. Find a return figure. The CRA asks for an amount from your most recent assessed return filed within the last two years. Use the amount you initially reported, even if the return was later reassessed.
3. Choose a sign-in method. Options are a CRA user ID and password, a participating Sign-In Partner, or a provincial partner for British Columbia and Alberta. The provincial partner route needs only your SIN, and you can register even if you have not filed in the last two years.
4. Set up multi-factor authentication. The CRA offers one-time passcodes by text or call, a passcode grid or an authenticator app. First-time registrants enroll in two methods, and the CRA has required a backup method on file since February 2026.
5. Verify your identity. You can choose a mailed CRA security code (up to 10 business days, sent to the address the CRA has on file) or use the CRA's document verification service with a mobile device and accepted photo ID. If a code is lost, expired or late, the document route is the fallback.
6. Sign in and enter the code before it expires, then confirm your contact details.

Worked example: a newcomer in Surrey

Gurpreet arrived in Surrey in September 2025, received a SIN and has not yet filed in Canada. He has no assessed return to quote, so he uses the British Columbia provincial partner option, which needs only his SIN. Once registered he adds direct deposit, applies for benefits and later files his 2025 return. Elsewhere the identity options include document verification with photo ID and Sign-In Partners; read the CRA register page on the day you register, because the options change.

Business Number and program accounts

A Business Number is the CRA's single identifier for a business. Each program account is the BN plus a two-letter code and a four-digit reference, for example 123456789 RT 0001.

You need a BN when you incorporate, or when an unincorporated business needs a GST/HST, payroll or another program account. A sole proprietor with no program account usually does not need one. Registering or incorporating in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island or Saskatchewan gives you a BN from the province; other provinces and territories, including Quebec, do not, so you register with the CRA separately.

How to register a business online

Since November 3, 2025, the CRA has required new BN and program account registrations to be completed online through Business Registration Online (BRO), and it no longer registers new accounts by phone. To use BRO you need a CRA account with business access, so register your personal account first. BRO covers the BN, GST/HST (outside Quebec), payroll, corporate tax and several other accounts. It cannot register a Canadian business with only non-resident owners, so confirm the route with your Canadian CPA. See our GST/HST registration guide and payroll source deductions guide for what to do after you have the BN.

Represent a Client and authorizing your accountant

If you sign in on behalf of anyone else, including family, the CRA says you must use Represent a Client rather than their credentials. Your Canadian CPA or tax preparer is authorized through your CRA account or through a Represent a Client request that you confirm. Since July 15, 2025, the older Authorize a Representative function inside EFILE software is no longer available. The same system powers Auto-fill my return, which lets a preparer using certified software import the slips the CRA already holds. You remain responsible for the accuracy of the return. Our authorized representatives by country page compares the U.S. and Indian systems.

Documents, timing and deadlines

• Photo ID, SIN or TTN, date of birth and current Canadian address.
• A recent notice of assessment or return, if you have filed before.
• For a business: legal and operating names, owners and directors, fiscal year-end, expected sales and payroll details.
• A phone or authenticator app for multi-factor sign-in.

Opening a CRA account has no filing deadline, but a mailed security code takes up to 10 business days and expires, so register well before April 30. Business accounts have their own filing dates once registered.

Security and scam warnings

Keep your CRA account to yourself. The CRA warns against browser autofill for online banking sign-in on a shared device, because registering with someone else's banking details can link their information to your SIN. Our scam alerts for the IRS, CRA and India page shows what genuine tax-agency contact looks like. If a temporary resident permit expires, benefit payments stop, so keep the CRA updated.

If you also file in the U.S. or India

A Canadian newcomer who still has a U.S. return to file needs an SSN or ITIN; read how to apply for an SSN or ITIN. If you also hold Indian income or accounts, your PAN is the key to the Indian portal; see the income tax portal, AIS and Form 26AS guide. Our overview of electronic filing and portals by country compares the three.

Mistakes to avoid

• Entering the reassessed amount from a return instead of the amount you initially reported.
• Letting the mailed security code expire.
• Using a relative's or employer's sign-in rather than Represent a Client.
• Trying to register a new business by phone, which is no longer available.
• Ignoring address changes. Notices go to the address the CRA has on file.

How we can help

We are a U.S. CPA firm serving Aurora and the Fox Valley in Illinois. We do not act before the CRA or maintain CRA accounts. We handle the U.S. side and coordinate with your Canadian CPA, who handles CRA access, so filings in both countries agree. See individual tax returns for newcomers and NRIs and cross-border tax services for India, Canada and the USA. More Canadian guides are on the Canada hub.

Frequently asked questions

General information only. It is not tax, legal, accounting or immigration advice for your situation, and rules change; confirm the current rules with the official source or a licensed professional in the relevant country.