CRA Direct Deposit

A direct deposit enables CRA to electronically deposit government payments directly into your personal bank account. Payments can only be deposited into a personal Canadian-dollar chequing or savings account. (Payments can’t be deposited into a TFSA or credit card.)

Some examples of payments you can receive directly are income tax refunds, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, or the Canada Emergency Student Benefit.

To set up direct deposit for your small business account, please visit our Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy update to learn more.

Most joint accounts are eligible. However, each account holder must complete their own CRA enrollment in order to receive their own payments in the joint account.

No. If you’ve already registered for other CRA payments you don’t need to register again.

If you need to change the account registered or cancel the direct deposit, please contact the CRA directly at 1-800-959-8281.

To check if you’re already registered, just log on to your CRA account from the CRA website.

The CRA usually takes 1-2 days to process direct deposit registrations. It may take longer due to higher volumes from COVID-19.

You can confirm your submission by visiting the CRA website and accessing CRA My Account for Individuals. If you don’t have a CRA account, contact the CRA at 1-800-959-8281.

The CRA will notify you when important changes are made to your account, such as direct deposit. For more information, please visit the Email Notifications page on the CRA website.

Remember: The CRA will never send you an email, text or Interac e-Transfer link asking for your personal information to receive your benefit payment or refund. These are scams, and taxpayers should never respond to these fraudulent communications or click on any of the links provided.

These are the types of CRA payments that are available through direct deposit:

• Canada Emergency Response Benefit
• Canada Emergency Student Benefit
  
• Income tax refund
• GST/HST credit
• Canada Child Benefit
• Canada Workers Benefit
• Ontario Trillium Benefit

For a complete list of applicable payments, please visit the CRA website.

To receive EI payments through direct deposit, you must set this up on the Employment and Social Development Canada website.

You can get updates by contacting the CRA directly at 1-800-959-8281.

Once you’ve set up CRA direct deposit and applied for CERB or CESB, you should receive payments within five business days of your scheduled payment date.

For further information on CERB or CESB payments and timing, please contact the CRA general enquiries line directly at 1-800-959-8281.

You may need to repay a CERB payment because:

• You applied for EI or CERB on or after March 15th, 2020 through Service Canada, and later applied for the CERB through CRA.
• You applied for a 4-week CERB payment through the CRA and later realized you were not eligible to receive the benefit payment
  

If you mistakenly applied for the CERB through both Service Canada and the CRA, you may have received two payments of $2000 for your first eligibility period. If this is the case, the CRA will contact you with instructions on how you can repay one of these $2000 payments.

HSBC can’t return direct deposits back to the CRA.

For the latest information on returning CERB payments, visit the CRA website.