On July 3, 2025, the CRA began phasing out paper mail for certain individuals and transitioning them to online mail. CRA has been notifying affected individuals by way of:
CRA is generally applying the transition to individuals who have an email address on file and who currently receive paper mail. The CRA has not provided further details on their parameters for selecting which individuals are impacted. If you received an email or paper notification on this transition, please review it carefully.
IMPLICATIONS OF TRANSITION TO ONLINE MAIL BY THE CRA
Once the CRA made the transition to online mail to an individual’s CRA account, that individual will no longer receive paper mail. The individual’s authorized representatives (such as their accountant) will also no longer receive paper mail (even though their representative’s address may be the mailing address) and will not receive an email notification for new correspondence from CRA.
This change does not impact any benefit, credit, or refund payments. Individuals who have signed up for direct deposit will continue to receive their payments directly into their bank accounts. Those who receive cheques from the Government will continue to get them by mail.
HOW TO CHANGE YOUR CRA CORRESPONDENCE PREFERENCE BACK TO PAPER MAIL
If you would like to continue to receive CRA mail by paper (or for us to receive your CRA mail as your mailing address), you will need to immediately change your CRA mail preferences back to paper mail.
To do this, follow the step-by-step instructions in the CRA email or paper notification or here. The CRA does not allow an authorized representative (such as an accountant) to make this change on behalf of the individual; the individual must make the change through their CRA account online.
HOW TO RETRIEVE CRA ONLINE MAIL
Once transitioned by the CRA, individuals will be responsible for retrieving their CRA mail online in a timely manner.
Unless individuals have changed their preferences back to paper mail. CRA will not be sending any further mail by paper even though there is a mailing address on the correspondence. Representatives (such as accountants) are also not able to receive CRA email notification on behalf of the individuals.
Under CRA’s online mail delivery method, individuals will be sent an automated notification to the email address on file and individuals will need to:
Further information to view CRA mail online can be found here.
AVOID MISSING DEADLINES OR TIME LIMITS TO RESPOND TO CRA ONLINE MAIL
CRA correspondence is considered received on the date it is posted to an individual’s CRA online account.
If you do not change the CRA settings back to paper mail, you must actively monitor your email for CRA notifications and retrieve the mail in a timely manner. Failure to do so can result in adverse implications including missing deadlines to respond to CRA inquiries, being unaware of outstanding balances and accruing interest charges, being unaware of CRA actions, or not being able to file an objection to an incorrect assessment before the time limit expires.
NEED ASSISTANCE?
We are here to help you through this transition. If you need support with:
Please reach out to our team with any questions.
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