CRA Account - Registration

The processing of paper tax returns sent in by snail mail can take up to 4 months. The reason for the long processing: The tax return is processed by another tax office specifically for non-residents. 

Officially: You can register for the CRA online account only after the tax return has been processed or you have received the “Notice of Assessment”. 

But, if you haven’t received mail from the CRA after 4 months, you could try to register to find out what’s going on. It could maybe be due to the delivery of the mail. e.g. an old address from a previous tax return.  

The CRA now has a tracker on the website where you can see the status of the processing. The tracker will be activated after the tax return documents have been received by the CRA.

  • If you can make it through the first step of registration, the tracker is activated and you can see the status of the tax assessment on the home screen after you register.
  • If there is an error message in the first step, the tax return has not yet been processed.

CRA-Registration

Registration for the CRA account is > done here under this link <

Sign-In Partner: Choose this option if you have a Canadian bank account and want to register with the bank’s login credentials.

From outside Canada, I recommend:

CRA user ID and password: Here you can set your own login data.

To register, you need the PDF file of the tax return. In the PDF on the page "T1-KFS" you will find line 15000.

You have to enter the number in the "Tax information" field in the CRA registration. Only the full amount, without the decimals. In this example, you can see the 22432

In the next step, the full amount from line 10100 from the same PDF, without the decimals. In this example, you can see the 22432

In the next step, click the round button and Next.

In order to have full access to the CRA account later, the CRA will send you a letter with a code. This code will be sent to the address you provided on your tax return.
In this step, enter the zip code of the address from the tax return.

Create the CRA user ID and password.

Create the security questions.

After you have created the security questions and checked them again, you have to agree to the terms.

The tax authority has made multi-factor authentication mandatory. You always have to log in to the CRA account with a unique passcode.

From outside Canada, you only have 2 options (because you don't have a Canadian cell phone anymore)

1. Passcode-Grid

The passcode grid is a table made up of numbered rows and labeled columns, similar to a bingo card. The CRA asks for combinations (e.g. B1; A3) and users must specify the 3 letters that will be displayed in the grid.

When the passcode grid is created, a PDF file is generated that you can print or save to your computer.

This means it’s an easy way to log in to the CRA account from anywhere in the world, without a Canadian phone.

2. Authenticator App

This option is new since 2024 and is an option to log in with an authenticator app. Since there are many such apps on the Internet, you would first have to research which ones you like. I use the “Google Authenticator“. Please read up on how to install this authenticator.

Every time you log in to your CRA account: With the app, you scan the displayed QR code with your mobile phone. The app will then generate a 6-digit passcode (TOTP). Then, enter this passcode. 

Here is an example with the Authenticator app. The QR code must be scanned.

The generated one-time passcode from the app must be entered here.

The following error code is normal, because at the beginning you only have limited access to the CRA account. Click the button anyway.

You made it, you're in your personal CRA Account. You can see if the tax return has been processed.

After you received the CRA Security Code by mail, log in to this CRA Account and enter the code. Then full access will be unlocked and you can do a lot of things in this account. You will then also see the PDF of the tax assessment (Notice of Assessment) under “Mail” and you can download it.