The CRA has nearly $2B in uncashed cheques — some of that could be yours
Some people in Canada may not realize they still have money with the government, as a massive amount of uncashed cheques from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) remain unclaimed.
The CRA is urging Canadians to find out if they have any uncashed cheques still waiting to be claimed. In an email to Daily Hive, the agency stated that, as of April 2026, it’s currently holding around 11 million uncashed cheques of varying amounts. Combined, these cheques are valued at $1.9 billion. That total has grown since March 2025, when the CRA was holding 10.2 million uncashed cheques valued at $1.7 billion.
According to the CRA, most of the amounts are “relatively small,” with the majority of cheques valued at under $1,000; however, a small number of these exceed $100,000 in value. And the number of uncashed cheques has been increasing gradually over the years, as more Canadians are leaving money on the table.
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Government cheques could have been issued for various reasons, such as benefits and tax refunds. Unclaimed money has been an ongoing issue for the CRA, prompting the agency to set up an online tool to help Canadians access “money they may have missed.”
“Canadians can check for and request any uncashed payments at any time by logging into their secure CRA My Account,” states the agency. “Checking for uncashed payments takes only a few minutes and can help ensure Canadians don’t miss money they are entitled to.”
Canadians can call the CRA or visit its uncashed cheques website to find out whether they still have a government payment. They can also notify the agency if a cheque was lost, stolen, or damaged.
And if you have an old cheque from the CRA that still hasn’t been cashed, don’t worry — you can still cash it at any financial institution for no charge, as ones issued by the Government of Canada never expire.