A comfort letter confirms that a business's CRA program accounts are in good standing. It is most commonly requested by financial institutions (lending institutions) and lawyers. For example, a bank could request a comfort letter from the CRA for a business before granting a loan. Persons who are considering purchasing real property or a business from a person may also request one.

This type of letter is different from a request for a clearance certificate.

Eligibility

A comfort letter applies to the following CRA program accounts:

• corporate income tax (RC)
• payroll deductions (RP)
• GST/HST (RT) program accounts (except for businesses resident in the province of Quebec)

How to request a comfort letter

You must send your request for a comfort letter in writing. Send it either by mail or by fax to the tax services office nearest to the business. Any third party request must be sent with a letter of authorization, unless the requestor is already authorized for each program account.

The request must contain the following information:

• the business number
• the CRA program accounts for which the comfort letter is requested
• the language in which you wish to receive the comfort letter, if different from the language of the request
• the name and position of the person making the request
• a letter of authorization or a completed Form AUT-01, Authorize a Representative for Offline Access