CANADA'S UNCASHED CHEQUES.

Amount has now jumped to $1.2 billion

OTTAWA• Everyday, half a million dollars in uncashed cheques are being added to Canada Revenue Agency’s pile of nearly eight million cheques waiting to be claimed by their owner.

Approximately five million Canadians (and counting) have failed to claim one or more uncashed cheques from the Canada Revenue Agency.

“Each year, the Canada Revenue Agency issues millions of payments in the form of refunds and benefits. These payments are issued by either direct deposit or by cheque. Over time, payments can remain uncashed for various reasons, such as the taxpayer misplacing the cheque or even a change of address which did not allow for delivery. This is money that belongs to Canadians,” CRA spokeswoman Sylvie Branch said in an email.

Last March, the National Post first reported that the CRA was sitting on more than $1 billion in uncashed CRA cheques issued over the past 20 years. Nearly one year later — and despite hundreds of thousands of cheques being claimed — that amount has jumped to $1.2 billion.

Now the CRA is once again asking Canadians to claim their money by using the simple “Uncashed Cheques” feature launched on its website last February. And while you’re at it, please sign up for direct deposit if possible, the agency pleads.

To access the online tool, visit CRA’S website and look for the agency’s “My Account” service. Once logged in, click on the “Uncashed Cheques” link at the bottom of the “Related Services” column on the “Overview” page.

Any unpaid amounts that have sat dormant for over six months will be listed on that page, as well as the necessary forms to claim your money.

In the program’s first eight months, CRA says Canadians have redeemed almost 480,000 cheques worth a total of $108 million.

That, despite the fact the program was suspended for some time last spring when the CRA temporarily stopped all non-critical services to focus on administering COVID-19 emergency financial aid programs.

But the launch of the Uncashed Cheques feature on its website hasn’t reduced the number of payments that are unclaimed by Canadians day after day.

“Even with the CRA Uncashed Cheque feature in My Account, the number of uncashed cheques are increasing, with approximately 1,700 uncashed cheques valued at approximately $500,000 added to the list each day,” Branch said, adding that 562,000 unclaimed cheques have been added to the total tally since February 2020.

The CRA says it cannot speculate as to why the total continues to increase, though it could confirm that it isn’t because of the numerous COVID-19 relief payments such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

That means that these dormant payments are only related to longer-standing programs such as GST/HST reimbursements, the Canada Child Benefit or even income tax refunds.

“Canada Emergency Response Benefits and other COVID-19 relief payments are not included in the uncashed cheques list,” Branch said.

She repeated the agency’s plea to Canadians to forgo receiving paper cheques by signing up to have any money from the federal government deposited straight into their bank accounts.

“Again, we would like to strongly reiterate that signing up for direct deposit is the best way to ensure cheques don’t go uncashed,” she said.

But if the agency is so intent on getting the unclaimed money out, why doesn’ t the government automatically send taxpayers a new cheque?

“As government cheques never expire or stale-date, the CRA cannot void the original cheque and reissue a new one unless requested by the taxpayer. Taxpayers are encouraged to cash any cheques they have in their possession,” Jeremy Bellefeuille, spokesman for National Revenue, explained last spring.

The money doesn’t sit dormant in an account where it can wait years before being claimed. Instead, it goes back into the government’s general coffers to be spent until a taxpayer one day cashes the cheque.

THIS IS MONEY THAT BELONGS TO CANADIANS.