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Certificate of residency

What is a Certificate of Residency?

A Certificate of Residency issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) confirms that a taxpayer is resident of Canada for income tax purposes. An individual, a corporation, a trust, a non-profit organization, a charity, a Canadian governmental body or other entities can request a certificate of residency. 

You may need a Certificate of Residency if you are about to receive or have received income from a foreign country and want foreign taxes deducted at source to be reduced, eliminated or refunded. The Certificate of Residency may be required by the foreign tax administration and/or payer to administer exemptions or tax reductions to the foreign tax, based on the terms of the tax treaty.

Certain residents of Canada are exempt from tax based on a specific provision of the Income Tax Act or other Canadian law. To apply special provisions in their tax treaties and/or domestic laws, a foreign country may want proof that a particular resident of Canada (such as a registered pension plan) has a special exemption from tax in Canada. If requested, the CRA may issue a certificate to certain persons which certifies their tax-exempt status (with or without also certifying Canadian tax residency).

The CRA's ability to issue a certificate of residency which also certifies an entity's tax-exempt status is generally limited to registered charities, registered pension plans, Canadian federal, provincial or municipal governments, and certain others whose tax-exempt status is readily determinable.

Partnerships cannot be issued a certificate of residency because they, in and of themselves, are not liable to tax; however, each partner of a partnership can request a certificate. Where all partners to a partnership are residents of Canada, a representative authorized to act on their behalf can request the CRA certify the residency of all partners, and certify that the partnership is a "Canadian partnership" under subsection 102(1) of the Income Tax Act at a particular time.

The CRA does not issue certificates of residency to fiscally transparent entities or other persons not resident in Canada under Canada's domestic tax laws and its tax treaties. For more information on fiscally transparent entities, go to Canadian Certificates of Residency not issued to fiscally transparent entities.

Types of residency certification

The CRA can certify residency by issuing a standard letter or by certifying a form issued by a foreign tax authority.

Standard certificate of residency:

A standard certificate of residency letter issued by the CRA states the taxpayer is a resident of Canada for income tax purposes. Not all foreign governments will accept a standard certificate of residency issued by the CRA. A foreign form may be required. Taxpayers should confirm what format is needed with the foreign tax administrations before making the request to the CRA. 

Foreign forms:

A request for a certification on a foreign form can be sent by mail, by fax or online via Submit Documents. However, the foreign government may request the original form, if this is the case, ensure to send the forms by mail only.

You must complete all relevant sections of the form and leave the section requesting certification from foreign tax administration blank.

The CRA only certifies official forms issued by foreign tax authorities and will only certify a foreign form if it is in a position to do so.  For example, the CRA will not certify that a person is the beneficial owner of a particular payment, and may refuse to certify a form without an English or French language version unless a translated version is provided to you by the issuing authority.

What to include in your request

Note

Make sure your tax returns have been filed and are up to date before you request a certificate of residency.

To prevent processing delays include in your request the following:

Individuals

This section applies to you if you are requesting a certificate for yourself as an individual. Please see representatives tab if you wish to submit a request on behalf of someone else.

  • full name
  • address
  • social insurance number
  • the name of the foreign country or countries, or the tax treaty for which the certification of residency is requested (including, where applicable, the specific provision(s) of the treaty)
  • tax year(s) for which the certification of residency is requested
Corporations

This section applies to all incorporated bodies, including registered charities,  government agencies or crown corporations, non-profit organizations (NPO), and pension corporations.

Note: For Business trusts (non incorporated entities with a Business Number created to administer a pension plan), refer to the Trusts tab.

  • name of corporation or organization (and proof of any recent name change)
  • mailing address
  • business number
  • the name of the foreign country or countries, or the tax treaty for which the certification is requested (including, where applicable, the specific articles of the treaty)
  • tax year(s) for which the certification of residency is requested

If a corporation or organization is exempt from income tax and wants its tax-exempt status noted on a certificate of residency then it must:

  • ask for its tax-exempt status to be referenced on the certificate
  • indicate the tax year(s) the certification of tax-exempt status is for
  • indicate the specific legal provision that creates its tax-exempt status (for example, a pension corporation described in paragraph 149(1)(o.1) or a crown corporation described in paragraph 149(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act should reference the relevant paragraph)
  • provide the CRA registration number of any relevant plan
Trusts

This section applies to all types of trusts such as: Master trusts, Pension trusts, Testamentary trusts, etc.

  • name of the trust (and proof of any recent name change)
  • mailing address of the trustee, executor, administrator or custodian
  • trust account number
  • the name of the foreign country or countries, or the tax treaty for which the certification of residency is requested (including, where applicable, the specific provision(s) of the treaty)
  • tax year(s) for which the certification of residency is required

Note

Business trusts (non-incorporated entities with a Business Number created to administer a pension plan) must provide their Business Number and the pension plan number with any request to certify their residency or tax exempt status.

If a trust (such as a trust governed by a registered pension plan) is exempt from income tax and wants its tax-exempt status noted on a certificate of residency then it must:

  • ask for its tax-exempt status to be stated on the certificate
  • indicate the tax year(s) the certification of tax-exempt status is requested for
  • indicate the specific legal provision that creates the trust's tax-exempt status (for example, a trust governed by a registered pension plan should reference paragraph 149(1)(o) of the Income Tax Act)
  • provide the CRA registration number and name of any relevant plan
  • if the trust is exempt from tax under paragraph 149(1)(o.4) of the Income Tax Act then it must also:
    • specify the tax year for which an election under paragraph 149(1)(o.4) of the Income Tax Act was made in respect of the trust
    • provide an attestation that the trust meets the conditions to be prescribed as a master trust for the tax year(s) the certification is for
    • provide a list of all the beneficiaries of the trust together with their CRA registration number(s) and tax year(s) the certification is requested for
Partnerships

The CRA does not issue certificates of residency for partnerships. If the CRA is to issue one certificate of residency for all partners in a partnership, the representative must provide the following:

  • the name of each partner, together with their address and social insurance number, business number or trust account number
  • A partnership agreement to update partners (if applicable) or confirmation that they do not have a written partnership agreement
  • a Form AUT-01, Authorize a Representative for Offline Access or a letter of consent from each and every partner authorizing the CRA to release their residency status to the representative
  • the partnership business number
  • the name of the foreign country or countries, or tax treaty for which the certification is requested (including, where applicable, the specific articles of the treaty)
  • the tax year(s) for which the certification of residency is requested

Letter of consent

A copy of the letter of consent must be attached to the certificate of residency request if authorization was not previously submitted to the CRA. The letter of consent must contain the following:

  • the name of the partner
  • the name of the partnership
  • the name of the representative
  • the date
  • a statement from the partner indicating they acknowledge by signing the letter of consent, they are allowing the CRA to disclose their residency status to the representative
  • the partner's signature

The consent will be valid until revoked by the partner. The CRA must receive the request within six months from the date it is signed. For businesses and trusts the letter may only be signed by an authorized person of the business or trust. This includes an owner, partner of a partnership, a director of a corporation, an officer of a non-profit organization, or a trustee.

Representatives

The CRA needs a taxpayer's authorization to deal with a representative for that taxpayer, including for the purposes of issuing a certificate of residency and/or tax-exempt status for that taxpayer.

Go to Representative authorization if you want to authorize a representative to deal with the CRA for you.

A legal document, usually a limited Power of Attorney (POA), can also authorize a representative to request a certificate of residency and/or tax-exempt status on behalf of the taxpayer. The representative should include the document with the request. A limited POA must meet the following basic criteria:

  • it is not a draft
  • it includes all (properly completed) pages of the limited POA
  • it is dated with a year, month and day
  • it is signed by the taxpayer in the presence of a witness
  • if there is no signature of the taxpayer, his/her name is in quotation marks (" ") and it is annotated that the original is signed and it is a true copy of the original
  • it is signed by witnesses and dated on the same date as the taxpayer signed and dated the document
  • if from another country, it has been sent with a notarized translated copy (signed and dated by the notary) of the original legal document
  • it is property specific. This type of POA covers financial matters, including taxes and dealings with the CRA (unless the document specifically states that the CRA is excluded)
  • if the taxpayer is incapacitated, it contains an Enduring or Springing clause for mental incapacitation and a medical certificate is provided to identify that the taxpayer is suffering from a mental incapacitation (must include when the incapacitation started and if it is expected to end or not)

Request for multiple entities:

If you require a certificate of residency for several entities at once:

  • To the extent possible, do not consolidate large, multiple requests and bundle them into a single submission. 
  • It is not necessary to wait until the beginning of the calendar year to request the certificate. The CRA will accept your request starting on October 15 for the upcoming year.
  • Clearly indicate and separate any multiple requests by account type (SIN, Trust Account, and Business Number). 
  • Ensure that all requests clearly include the tax year and the country.
  • If it’s necessary to submit a large number of requests in a single submission, include a cover sheet listing all the individual requests.

Submitting a request

While a request for a certificate of residency can be made at any time, requests for future years should not be submitted before October 15 of the current year. A future year request will only be processed on or after the beginning of the tax year for which the request is made.

Request a Certificate of Residency by mail, fax or through Submit Documents online via My Account, My Business Account or Represent a client, or by phone.

By Mail or Fax

Contact Center Correspondence Program
Sudbury Tax Centre
PO Box 20000 Station A
Sudbury ON  
P3A 5C1 
Fax : 418-562-3368 or 1-833-697-2401

Online

By phone

A standard Certificate of Residency letters may be requested over the phone:

Additional information

Notarizing and authenticating documents

Some countries require taxpayers applying for tax treaty benefits to provide a notarized document to show that they are a resident of Canada. All notary services and fees are the responsibility of the taxpayer.

The CRA cannot authenticate documents or provide apostille certifications. For both cases the document would need to be notarized by a Canadian notary and authenticated by Global Affairs Canada (visit Authentication of documents for more information). Apostille certification can be legalized through the particular country’s Canadian embassy. For addresses to foreign embassies in Canada, go to Diplomatic Missions' Addresses.

Deemed non-resident of Canada

An individual initially considered as a resident in Canada under Canada's domestic laws may also be considered as a resident of another country under their domestic laws. When such a situation happens and a tax treaty exists between Canada and the other jurisdiction, provisions in the tax treaty, referred to as the tie-breaker rules, will determine whether the individual is a resident of Canada or the other country. Please review the tax treaty for the country you are requesting the certificate, and any other which you may be considered a tax resident, for any tie-breaker rules that may apply. A person deemed non-resident of Canada, including under a competent authority agreement, should not request a certificate of residency from the CRA.

Where the taxpayer is not an individual and may be considered a resident of the country for which the certificate is being requested special attention must be given to the tie-breaker rules as they may be modified by the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. Taxpayers considered resident in Canada and the other country covered by these modified rules should contact the CRA’s Competent Authority Services Division for assistance.

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