The CRA has a $1.7B stack of uncashed cheques — Here’s how to find out if any belong to you

If you’ve ever filed taxes in Canada, there’s a chance the government owes you money you don’t even know about.

The Canada Revenue Agency recently revealed that more than 10 million cheques are currently sitting uncashed across the country, adding up to over $1.75 billion in unclaimed money. That works out to an average of about $170 per cheque.

Before you assume this doesn’t apply to you, consider how easy it is for a cheque to go missing. Maybe it was sent to an address where you no longer live. Maybe it got mixed in with junk mail and accidentally tossed. Maybe it’s still sitting in a drawer somewhere, forgotten.

Why so many cheques go unclaimed

The CRA sends out millions of payments every year for things like tax refunds, GST/HST credits, Canada Child Benefit payments and various provincial benefits. Most people who use direct deposit will receive these payments automatically, but not everyone has it set up.

And here’s something important to know: even if you’re currently enrolled in direct deposit, the CRA might still be holding cheques that were issued before you signed up. Those old payments don’t automatically get converted to direct deposits.

The silver lining is that government cheques never expire. That means you can claim them even if they’re years or decades old.

How to check if the CRA owes you money

As pointed out by in a CRA X post, the easiest way to find out is through your CRA My Account paget. Once you log in, look for “Uncashed cheques” in the right sidebar on the main Overview page.

If the CRA is holding any uncashed payments for you, you’ll see them listed there. The tool covers personal payments that are more than six months old, including tax refunds, benefit payments and credits.

From there, you can download a pre-filled form to request a replacement payment. You’ll have the option to receive it as a direct deposit or as a new cheque in the mail.

What if you’re not registered online?

If you don’t have a CRA My Account set up, or if you’re looking for business or trust cheques, you’ll need to call the CRA directly. They can confirm whether you have any uncashed payments and send you the form you need to claim them.

Once you’ve filled out and signed the form, you can either upload it through your online account or mail it to the Sudbury tax centre. Processing typically takes up to 12 weeks, and that timeline can stretch longer during busy periods.

One thing to keep in mind: if you owe the CRA money, they may deduct that amount from your uncashed cheques before sending you the balance.

Worth a quick check

Logging in to check takes just a few minutes, and there’s really no downside. If you’ve received any CRA payments over the years — even if it was a long time ago — it might be worth seeing if any of that money is still waiting for you.

This article is adapted from “The CRA is sitting on over $1.7B in uncashed cheques — Here’s how to check if any are yours,” which was published on Narcity.