Certificate of residency

• What is a certificate of residency?
• Who can get a certificate of residency?
• Notarizing and authenticating documents
• How to get a certificate of residency
• When to submit a request
• What to include in your request
• Where to send the request

What is a certificate of residency?

Residents of Canada are subject to tax in Canada on their world income (income from Canadian and foreign sources). Income from sources outside of Canada can also be taxed in the country where it was earned. You may be able to reduce or eliminate the amount of tax you have to pay on income from other countries if Canada has a tax treaty with them.

Some countries want a certificate of residency to prove that a taxpayer is a resident of Canada and entitled to tax treaty benefits on income earned in their country. These countries will ask that the taxpayer provide the certificate to their tax administration or the payer of the income. The certificate of residency helps the foreign tax administration and/or payer to administer exemptions or tax reductions to the foreign tax you pay, based on the terms of the tax treaty.

A certificate of residency issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) confirms the taxpayer is resident in Canada and is liable to tax in Canada. The test is applied to a person (whether it be an individual, corporation or trust) in their own right without reference to the tax liability of others. 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.

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).

You can ask for a certificate of residency for the current year or for earlier years or future years. See When to submit a request for restrictions concerning requests for future years.

Who can get a certificate of residency?

An individual, a corporation, a trust, a non-profit organization, a charity, a Canadian governmental body or other person can get a certificate of residency, as long as they are resident in Canada for income tax purposes.

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's willingness 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.

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. The taxpayer is responsible to get the services of a notary.

Some countries want the certificates of residency the CRA issues to be authenticated or have apostille certification. The CRA cannot authenticate documents or provide apostille certifications. The information that follows is for taxpayers who need those procedures:

• Authentication: The document needs to be notarized by a Canadian notary and authenticated by Global Affairs Canada. Go to Authentication of documents for more information.
• Apostille certification: The document needs to be notarized by a Canadian notary, authenticated by Global Affairs Canada, and legalized by the particular country's embassy in Canada. For addresses to foreign embassies in Canada, go to Diplomatic Missions' Addresses.

How to get a certificate of residency

Mail or fax your written request, or the form given to you by the foreign government for this purpose, to the Sudbury Tax Centre to get a certificate of residency.

You may be able to ask for the certificate over the phone in some cases:

• for individuals or trusts, call 1-800-959-8281
• for corporations and other organizations, call 1-800-959-5525

If the foreign government has given you a form and wants it to be certified and returned to them, you need to send the form by mail to the CRA.

A standard certificate of residency issued by the CRA states the taxpayer is a resident of Canada for tax purposes. Not all jurisdictions accept the certificates of residency forms issued by the CRA. Taxpayers should confirm what format is needed with the foreign tax administrations before making the request to the CRA. They should indicate if certification on a foreign government form (or in a format specified by a foreign tax administration) is desired in their request. Such requests must be made in writing to the Sudbury Tax Centre. The CRA 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 will not certify a form without an English or French language version, or a form that gives rise to uncertainties. Taxpayers must state the name of the other country or foreign tax administration and the tax year the certification is for in their request.

When to submit a request

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

What to include in your request

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 Power of Attorney (POA), can also authorize a representative to deal with the CRA on a taxpayer's behalf. 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 POA must meet the following basic criteria:

• it is not a draft
• it includes all (properly completed) pages of the 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) 

Foreign forms

A request for a certification on a foreign form must be made in writing. Attach the form to your request and, unless evident from the form, provide the name of the foreign tax administration that requires its use.

Individuals:

• 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

Trusts:

• 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

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

Corporations and other organizations:

• 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

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 Form AUT-01, Authorize a Representative for Offline Access or a letter of consent from each and every partner to authorize 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.

Where to send the request

Send your request to:

 Sudbury Tax Centre
 PO Box 20000 Station A
 Sudbury ON  
 P3A 5C1 

 Fax : 418-562-3368 or 1-833-697-2401