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Validating your application – COVID-19 benefits from the CRA

Status: All benefits are closed

Status: The Canada Emergency Benefits Validation program is now closed and has stopped accepting new requests.

If you received or applied for any COVID-19 benefits, the CRA may ask you to provide more information to validate your application.

On this page

If you are contacted by the CRA

The CRA may contact you to validate your eligibility and request information to support your application for any COVID-19 benefits we administer.

Review the eligibility criteria for:

Answering the call

The CRA may ask you to:

  • Confirm the personal information we have on file
  • Verify that you meet the eligibility criteria
  • Review your account activity if we detect any suspicious behaviour

In order to answer these questions, you may need access to:

  • Your Social Insurance Number (SIN)
  • Your full name and date of birth
  • A copy of a government issued identification such as a license or passport
  • Your CRA My Account, if applicable, or an assessed return, notice of assessment or reassessment, or other tax document

Documents you may need to provide

To complete our validation, and a possible second review, we may ask you to provide some additional documents based on your situation. The CRA may verify the authenticity of any documents you provide.

We may ask for one or more of the following documents:

If you were an employee

You may be asked to provide:

  • Recent pay slips
  • Employer name and address
  • Employment verification letter, including salary, if accessible online
  • Record of Employment
  • Bank statements showing name, address, and payroll deposit
  • Other readily available and relevant information

If you received CRCB, you may also be asked to provide:

If you were self-employed

You may be asked to provide:

  • Invoice for services rendered that includes:
    • the service date
    • who the service was for
    • the name of the individual or company
  • Receipt of payment for the service or services provided (a statement of account or bill of sale showing a payment and the remaining balance owed)
  • Documents showing income earned from a "trade or business" as a sole proprietor, an independent contractor, or a partnership
  • Any other document that will confirm you earned $5,000 in employment or self-employment income
  • Other readily available and relevant information

If you received CRCB, you may also be asked to provide:

If you received provincial or federal benefits

You may be asked to provide:

  • Statement of benefits
  • Bank statements showing, name, address, and benefit deposit
  • Other readily available and relevant information

If you received CRCB, you may also be asked to provide:

You must submit your validation documents to the CRA within the time period discussed or as shown on your notification.

How to submit your validation documents

Online
Submit your documents through CRA My Account
  1. Log in to your CRA My Account
  2. Select "Submit documents" (in left navigation)
  3. Enter your case or reference number
  4. Select "Submit supporting documents for COVID-19 support payments"
  5. Enter a short description about your submission and attach your files
By fax
Send your documents by fax
  1. Include a cover sheet with your full name, SIN, case or reference number (if available), a daytime phone number, and the number of pages you're faxing
  2. Label the cover sheet "Supporting documents for COVID-19 support payments"
  3. Fax your documents to:
    • 1-833-325-0555 if you've been asked to validate your income
    • 1-833-442-0368 if you've been asked to confirm your identity

We will contact you once the validation is complete.

If your eligibility is denied

If you disagree with the result of a review, refer to the decision letter you received. You had 30 days to request a second review after your initial review. Second review requests are now all outside of the 30-day window.

You may apply to the Federal Court for a judicial review of the CRA decision within 30 days of the date you received the second review decision.

Request a second review for double payments

To request a review for double COVID-19 benefit payments received for the same period

If you received two COVID-19 benefit payments for the same benefit period from Service Canada or the CRA, or for double CERB payments from both Service Canada and the CRA, you can submit your review request by mail or fax:

By mail or fax
Send your request by mail or fax for double CERB payments from both Service Canada and the CRA

For English and French language requests:
CERB/CRB Eligibility and Entitlement
Winnipeg Tax Centre
Post Office Box 14001, Station Main
Winnipeg MB R3C 3M3
Fax: 1-204-984-3528

If you need to repay COVID-19 benefits

If you received benefit payments that you were not eligible for, you will need to return the full amount you received.

For details: Repay COVID-19 benefits

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2026-05-06