CRA & Accounts

How to create your CRA account

One sign-in now covers My Account, My Business Account and Represent a Client. Here is every registration route, how the identity check works, and what to do when the password is gone and the deadline is not.

a2z

Anil Vasaya, a2z Financial Solutions

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Updated August 2026

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8 min read

Registering takes about twenty minutes – waiting on a mailed security code takes up to ten business days.

the short version

One CRA account now covers personal, business and representative access.
Register with your bank (sign-in partner), a CRA user ID, or a BC/Alberta digital ID.
Verify by phone camera for same-day access – the mailed code takes up to 10 business days.
Enrol two MFA methods, or a new phone number becomes a lockout.

What a CRA account actually gets you

A CRA account is the Canada Revenue Agency secure portal for your tax and benefit information. Since the single sign-in change, one credential reaches your personal information, your corporation accounts and, for professionals, client files.

My Account – notices of assessment, refund status, RRSP and TFSA room, benefit payments, direct deposit and address changes.
My Business Account – GST/HST, payroll and corporate tax balances and filings for your business number.
Represent a Client – how we access your file once you authorise us, instead of you forwarding screenshots.

Already registered before the change? Keep using your existing credential. There is nothing to redo.

ten minutes of gathering

Before you start, have these to hand

Your social insurance number and date of birth.
Your current address as the CRA has it. Most failed registrations are a stale address after a move.
Amounts from your most recently assessed return, entered as you originally reported them even if the return was later reassessed.
At least one MFA option – a passcode is required every single sign-in.
For instant access: a camera phone and an accepted photo ID (Canadian passport, Canadian driver licence, or a provincial or territorial photo ID card).

Have not filed in the last two years? There is a separate CRA path for that, and registering through a provincial partner needs only your SIN.

Three ways to register and sign in

Whichever option you register with becomes the option you use every time. Pick the one you will still have access to in a year.

1 · Sign-In Partner

Use the online banking credentials you already have. The CRA never sees your banking password, and your bank never sees your tax data.

Good if you want fewer passwords. Watch out: on a shared device, never autofill someone else banking login.

2 · CRA user ID and password

A credential that exists only for the CRA, with security questions and your chosen multi-factor method.

Good if you would rather not tie tax access to a bank login. Watch out: this is the one people forget. Save it to a password manager the day you create it.

3 · Provincial partner

A BC Services Card or Alberta.ca Account signs you in directly. Registering this way needs only your SIN, because the province has already verified who you are.

Good if you live in Alberta or BC and use provincial services already.

Proving who you are: two routes

Choosing a sign-in option is only half of it. The CRA then has to confirm you are you, and this is where most people get stuck.

Document verification service - immediate

Photograph a government-issued photo ID with your phone and take a selfie to match it. Access is granted straight away. You must be 16 or older, with a camera-enabled device and a Canadian passport, Canadian driver licence, or provincial or territorial photo ID card.

CRA security code by mail - the fallback

If instant verification is not available to you, the CRA posts a code to the address on file. It can take up to 10 business days and it expires, so enter it as soon as it lands.

You get limited access meanwhile. If you have moved, update your address before requesting the code.

Then set up multi-factor authentication

Every sign-in needs a one-time passcode. Enrol more than one method so a lost phone is an inconvenience, not a lockout.

Text message to an enrolled number
Automated phone call, which works when texts to a VoIP line do not
Passcode grid you print and keep
Third-party authenticator app

start to finish

The registration, step by step

Open the CRA registration page

Go directly to canada.ca rather than through a search ad, and choose “Register”.

Pick your sign-in option

Sign-In Partner, CRA user ID, or provincial partner. This choice sticks.

Enter your details exactly as filed

SIN, date of birth, postal code and amounts from your assessed return. Small mismatches are the usual reason registration fails.

Verify your identity

Document verification for same-day access, or request the security code by post.

Tidy up inside the account

Check your address, set up direct deposit, choose correspondence preferences, and add a second MFA method while you are there.

Do it before you need it.

A security code by post takes up to 10 business days. Nobody wants to discover that on the filing deadline.

the part everyone searches for

Forgot your password, or locked out entirely

I forgot my CRA user ID or password

Use the recovery links on the CRA sign-in page first – you can retrieve a user ID or reset a password by answering security questions. If those answers are gone too, you are not stuck for good: the CRA now lets people who lost their credential register again with a new one and regain access to the same account.

My account is locked after too many attempts

Repeated wrong entries, wrong security answers or failed passcodes lock the account. The CRA locked account help page sets out the route, and in most cases you will need to phone them. Have your SIN and a recent return in front of you when you call.

My one-time passcode never arrives

Ask for it again, or send it to another enrolled number. Choose “Call me” instead of “Text me” if your number is a VoIP line. If you enrolled a passcode grid or authenticator app, use those. If none of that works, the CRA has to sort it out by phone.

My details are rejected during registration

Nine times out of ten it is an address the CRA has not been told about, or a return amount typed from the reassessment rather than the original filing. Check both. Newcomers without a Canadian filing history should follow the CRA separate path.

The CRA will never ask for your password, and will not demand payment by e-transfer or gift card. If a message pressures you, close it and sign in from canada.ca yourself.

If you have a business number too

Business access sits behind the same sign-in. Once your personal side is verified you add the business number and its program accounts: GST/HST, payroll, corporate income tax. If you are incorporating, that setup is part of the sequence we run for you on the business incorporation page.

Once you authorise us through Represent a Client we can see balances, filings and notices directly, which removes most of the back-and-forth around tax return preparation and payroll filings.

Official sources

External links open on Government of Canada sites. Rules and screens change; we confirm the current position for your situation during the consultation.

stuck at step three?

We will stay on the call while you do it.

Registration is quicker with someone who has watched a hundred people through it. Book a consultation and bring your ID.

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