Account alerts – Helping you keep tabs on your account information

Sign up for account alerts to get an email from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) whenever there’s a change made to your address or to your direct deposit information. We’ll also send you an email if paper mail that we sent to you gets returned to us, so you’ll know that you may need to update your mailing address.

Benefits of account alerts:

• Don’t miss out on any payments – if the CRA sent you paper mail, such as a cheque, and it was returned to us you’ll get an email
• Stop worrying and stay protected – if you get an email for a change you didn’t make, you can report it as soon as it happens
• Receive confirmation of your account changes – you’ll get an email as soon as we process your address or direct deposit change

How to register or update your email address for account alerts

To start receiving account alerts, you have to be registered for My Account. There are two ways you can sign up or update your email address for account alerts:

• log in to My Account and select “Account alerts”
• use the MyCRA mobile app or the MyBenefits CRA mobile app and select “Account alerts”

If you do not receive a registration confirmation email within 24 hours, log in to My Account, MyCRA mobile app, or the MyBenefits CRA mobile app and make sure the email address in your profile is right. If the email address is wrong, update it. If it is right, check your junk mail folder for an email from the CRA.

Just like with your mailing address, it is your responsibility to make sure that the CRA always has your correct email address.

Notifications you will receive electronically

When you sign up for account alerts with the CRA, we will send you an email to confirm your registration. After that, the CRA will send you an email when:

• your address (home and mailing) is changed
• your banking information for direct deposit is changed
• mail sent to you by the CRA has been returned

We’ll send you the account alert email as soon as we process the account change. For example, if you update your address or direct deposit information through My Account, MyCRA mobile app, or MyBenefits CRA mobile app you will receive the account alert email at once. However, if you sent in the change by paper, then it will take us up to 8 weeks to process the change.

How to know if the email notification is from the CRA

The CRA will never use aggressive language or tone, ask for prepaid credit cards, threaten arrest, or send police in any correspondence. A CRA email notification will only advise you that you have mail to view in My Account or that a change has been made to your account. It will never ask for you to confirm information or click on a link. For more information, find out how to protect yourself against fraud.

Similar to the system used by banks, no sensitive or confidential information is sent to you by email, nor does the CRA ask you to send us sensitive or confidential information through email.

Other notifications from the CRA

You can also register for online mail from the CRA. Online mail is a simple to use service that allows individuals to receive most of their mail, like their notice of assessment or benefit notices, from the CRA directly in My Account. For more information, go to Online mail – Helping you organize your Canada Revenue Agency mail.

Date modified:

2017-02-13