BANK OF CANADA HAS $888 MILLION WAITING FOR CANADIANS
Number of dormant has doubled
OTTAWA • The Bank of
Canada is looking for the owners of nearly $900 million in unclaimed bank accounts, a number that has more than doubled in the last 10 years.
If you or a loved one lost track of a bank account over 10 years ago, Canada’s central bank wants you to know that your money is probably still waiting for you.
As of Dec. 31, Canada’s central bank was holding on to over 2.1 million “unclaimed balances” worth $888 million that belong to either individuals or businesses.
According to the bank, an unclaimed balance is “when a Canadian-dollar account, deposit or negotiable instrument held or issued by a federally-regulated bank or trust company has been inactive for 10 years and the owner cannot be contacted.”
And the number of unclaimed dollars is increasing at an impressive rate. In fact, the amount has more than doubled since 2010, when it sat at $433 million.
There is no clear explanation as to why that amount has ballooned in the last
decade, says the bank. But
one reason could be a legislative change back in 2007 that forces the institution to hold the money for longer before flipping it over to the Receiver General.
“Generally speaking, the most common reasons that people lose track of their accounts is because of relocation, a significant life event such as a divorce or, unfortunately, death,”
explained Bank of Canada spokesperson Rebecca Spence.
Canadian laws oblige financial institutions to send notification to an entity if one of their accounts is inactive for two, five and nine years.
Any bank account in Canadian dollars left abandoned for 10 years is then
sent to the Bank of Canada, who then holds the funds for 30 years if the balance is less than $1,000. Those represent over 93% of all unclaimed accounts, but only a quarter of the total amount of money.
If an abandoned account is worth over $1,000, then the bank has to hold the funds for 100 years. Despite that, 66 of those accounts are between 100 and 120 years old, with the first outstanding unclaimed balance dating back to 1900.
“The first unclaimed balances were transferred to
the Bank of Canada on 31 December 1944. The money hasn’t been transferred to the Receiver General yet, because the 100-year delay hasn’t expired,” Spence said.
Last year, $906,000 in abandoned funds were transferred to government coffers, whereas only $8.5 million were reclaimed by account owners. In 2012, that number was nearly double, at $17.4 million.
But the Bank of Canada doesn’t have the resources to hunt down every single owner of the 2.1 million forgotten accounts. So it set up an online registry for anyone to find out if they or a loved one has money waiting for them.
To access it, click on the
“Unclaimed Balances” link
under the “Core Functions”
tab on the Bank of Canada’s
website to find the search portal.
If you have a balance you believe is yours, the website will help you create a customized claim form that you can send to the bank alongside other requested supporting documentation.
But the bank admits the
verification process isn’t quick and Spence says they are working on making it more efficient.
“In recent years, we have experienced a very high volume of claims. Each claim requires careful review This process takes time but is necessary since the bank is acting as legal custodian of these funds. We want to ensure that balances are reunited with their rightful owners. Estate and corporate claims are also more complex and take longer to process,” Spence warned.
These funds are in addition to the $1 billion in cheques from the Canada Revenue Agency that have been left uncashed by taxpayers over 20 years, as reported by the National Post on Tuesday.
The agency said that between 1998 and 2018, five million Canadians didn’t cash cheques that were sent to them by mail. So on Feb. 24, the tax agency launched a new online tool called “Uncashed cheques.” The goal: find the owner of every one of 7.6 million cheques that have sat in government coffers for two decades.
To see if you’re owed any money, the department created an online verification tool that every taxpayer can access via CRA’S website. Once logged in to the agency’s “My Account” service, click on the “Uncashed cheques” link at the bottom of the “Related services” column on the “Overview” page.
IF AN ACCOUNT IS WORTH MORE THAN $1,000, THE BANK HAS TO HOLD IT FOR 100 YEARS.