pinzo

Hi all,

I have had lots of wonderful things happen in the five years I've been living here, the most exciting of which was having a beautiful baby girl in June this year and becoming a citizen in the last few weeks.
With that has come a lot of updating of information with the CRA.

After I had my baby we filled out all the forms in the hospital (this is our first baby so we are new to all this!) a few weeks later I received a letter from the CRA stating I was not eligible for Canada Child Tax Benefit due to my "residency status." (At this point I was a PR with notice to complete my citizenship in August, so my status was perfectly alright.)
At first we assumed that maybe only citizens can get CCTB but after a bit of reading online we discovered PR are eligible too.

So next day I called CRA and explained the situation.
According to their files they had me down as a "temporary resident" that had expired in the year 2000! (I was here on a visitor’s visa all those years ago and they hadn't updated my file since.)

They told me I had to send a letter to Summerside, PEI with copies of my PR card so they can update my file, then when I got citizenship I had to do the same so they could update my file again. (The reason I had to do it twice is because they needed to verify my status in Canada when I had the baby in June.)

So....in case there are any readers out there who have renewed their PR or become citizens and are having a baby, you might want to check with the CRA as to what status they have on you...it might save you a lot of time and hassle in the long run!

I am still waiting for my first CCTB cheque 3 months after having my baby. The nice part is, all the people I have talked to at the CRA have been wonderfully helpful.

Zoe Bell

isn't there a question on your tax return that asks if you are a citizen? Surely that should do it?

pinzo

Hi Zoe,
Yes, there is a question on the tax return like that. But I've been filing tax returns for the past five years that I've been working full time here and all along the CRA had me down as a "temporary resident" on their files! You'd think something would trigger that I was filing tax returns but my status in the country was completely incorrect for 14 years!
I guess they don't dig too deep...at least not in my case anyway!

Novocastrian

What's the first digit of your SIN?

pinzo

5

Do you know what that means?

Zoe Bell

I think Novo was wondering if it still started with a "9" I.E. a temp one

pinzo

Yeah, I just 'googled' it and 5 means Ontario.

Novocastrian

I was. It's hard to imagine that the CRA would think that a tax return under a SIN which doesn't start with a 9 was from a temporary resident.

pinzo

I know! It seems crazy, but that's what they told me on the phone.
The lady on the phone last week said that every time you renew a PR card or get Citizenship you have to notify them.
I have never sent them updated info (because I didn't know I had to) hence the grossly outdated information....and now delay in my child tax benefit application.

Novocastrian

I'm not aware of that either. You certainly should have notified them when you became a PR the first time though.

pinzo

I most definitely would have if I knew I had to.
I always 'assumed' each government department talked to each other and Immigration would have shared information with CRA.

Novocastrian

A reasonable assumption in most countries. But this is Canada.

Edit: I've just reread your first post in the thread. Is it that you were in Canada around 2000, left and then came back as PR about 6 years ago?

This maybe connected to your problem if you didn't inform the CRA when you left back then.

pinzo

Yes Novo,
I was here years ago working out west when I was student. Once my working visa expired I stayed on a visitors visa before leaving in 2000 when that expired.
I came back as a PR in 2009
It probably is all related and my fault for not keeping it updated.
I'm glad I know what I know now, although becoming a citizen means I don't have to notify them any more.

Novocastrian

BTW, I should have said congratulations on the baby.

pinzo

Thanks!
Big adjustment....but she's great!