Process to change Name / Date of Birth Information for Financial Institutions
If you have a rejected individual TFSA record from CRA that indicates:
- Code 11 - Invalid date format for holder date of birth
- Code 37 - Holder's Surname does not match CRA records
- Code 72 - Account holder date of birth does not match CRA records
Verify with your client that they have provided you with their correct information which they have filed with CRA. If you contact your client and they confirm that the date of birth and/or surname on their individual record which was transmitted was correct, advise your client to contact the CRA General Income Tax Enquiries line at:
1-800-959-8281 (English) or 1-800-959-7383 (Bilingual)
The individual would need to identify themselves to the Enquiries agent and indicate that they are calling because they are a TFSA holder and have been advised by their financial institution to confirm / update their date of birth or surname with the Agency.
Note: It is important that they specifically inform the CRA agent that their call is in connection with being a TFSA holder.
Confidentiality / legal representative
In all cases, due to strict confidentiality guidelines, only the individual themselves should contact the CRA to verify and/or request identification changes. The only exception would be a legal representative specifically authorized to deal with the CRA on the individual's behalf. If any other person, such as a spouse, child, parent, etc., attempts to contact the CRA on the individual's behalf, identification information will neither be confirmed nor updated.
Date of Birth (DOB)
The date of birth indicated on the CRA database, corresponds to the date of birth transmitted to us on the Social Insurance Registry (SIR) by Service Canada.
Conflicting information
If the DOB given by the individual does not match the one on the SIR the individual must provide an original or certified true copy of one of the following documents:
- Canadian birth certificate issued by the Vital Statistics branch of the province or territory of birth;
- Valid Canadian Passport;
- Certificate of Canadian Citizenship Card (wallet sized card); or
- Canadian immigration record such as the Permanent Resident Card (also known as the Maple Leaf Card), Confirmation of Permanent Residence (Form IMM 1442) or similar certified document on which the date of birth is recorded.
The individual must send the request to their regional CRA Tax Centre. The original copy will be returned to them. The CRA Enquiries agent will explain this procedure to them.
Change of Name
Change of given name and/or surname
A change of name can be done through a CRA Enquiries agent unless any previous change was made to the opposite name (i.e. the taxpayer has previously changed their given name and is now asking for a change of surname). If this is the case, documentation will be required. The only exception is when an individual wishes to go back to their maiden name.
Complete change of name
In the case of a complete name change, a signed request must be accompanied by one of the following documents:
- Name Change Certificate from a Provincial/Territorial Vital Statistics Department; or
- Court order issued under an act on a change of name.
The individual must send the request to their regional CRA Tax Centre. The original copy will be returned to them. The CRA Enquiries agent will explain this procedure to them.
Maiden name
When an individual wants to go back to their maiden name and that name was previously on our records, they do not have to send documentation. The CRA Enquiries agent can proceed with the change over the phone.
When a maiden name cannot be verified on the CRA system, a signed request must be accompanied by an original or certified true copy of one of the following documents:
- Canadian birth certificate issued by the Vital Statistics branch of the province or territory of birth;
- Valid Canadian Passport;
- Certificate of Canadian Citizenship Card (wallet sized card); or
- Canadian immigration record such as the Permanent Resident Card (also known as the Maple Leaf Card), Confirmation of Permanent Residence (Form IMM 1442) or similar certified document on which the date of birth is recorded.
The individual must send the request to their regional CRA Tax Centre. The original copy will be returned to them. The Enquiries agent will explain this procedure to them.
Correcting a spelling mistake in the surname and/or given name
If it is obvious that a spelling mistake was made or if the name and surname have been inverted, the CRA Enquiries agent may proceed with the correction over the phone.
If the correction requested does not match the information found in CRA records, the CRA Enquiries agent may still do the change however; the taxpayer will be advised that they have to get their Social Insurance Registry file corrected by proceeding as if it were a name change. The Enquiries agent will explain this procedure to them.
Certifying a true copy of a document
The following is a list of officials who can certify a true copy of an original document:
- Medical doctor or equivalent;
- Judge or magistrate;
- Police officer (municipal, provincial, or RCMP);
- Lawyer (member of a provincial bar association);
- Mayor;
- Minister of religion authorized under provincial law to perform marriages;
- Notary public;
- Professional accountant (member of APA, CA, CGA, CMA, or RPA);
- Professional engineer (P. Eng., Ing in Quebec); and
- Member of provincial or federal parliament.
Impact on rejected records on MyBA
If a TFSA holder contacts the CRA and has the appropriate identification information updated in our system to match the data as provided on the TFSA individual record, subsequent internal actions will be taken to accept the record as originally submitted.
By doing so, this record would then be removed from the reject list available for download via My Business Account.
If certain records are not removed from the reject list as a result of this process, which issuers feel should have been removed, an attempt can be made to resubmit the record. If mismatch issues persist, staff in the TFSA Processing Unit may assist / intervene as appropriate.