As I’ve mentioned before, one of the most important documents in Canada is your Social Insurance Number, or simply SIN. I wrote about the Social Insurance Number and said that you must not provide your SIN number in your Resume.
However, what if a company asks for my SIN number? What are the institutions that could ask for a SIN number? I’ve listed below some of them. Take a look:
- your employer;
- your income tax information;
- financial institutions from which you earn interest or income (for example, banks, credit unions, trust companies);
- Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Régie des rentes du Québec (RRQ) benefits;
- Employment Insurance (EI) program benefits;
- Canada Education Savings Grants (CESG) and Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP);
- Child Tax Benefit;
- Canada Student Loans;
- Goods and Services Tax (GST) / Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) claims;
- Social assistance benefits;
- Veterans benefits and programs;
- Workers Compensation benefits;
- child support payments.
There are also institutions that could ask for your SIN number, BUT you don’t have to provide your SIN number:
- proving your identity (except for specific government programs);
- completing a job application before you get the job;
- completing an application to rent a property;
- negotiating a lease with a landlord;
- completing credit card application;
- cashing a cheque;
- applying for a video club membership;
- completing some banking transactions (mortgage, line of credit, loan);
- completing a medical questionnaire;
- renting a car;
- subscribing to long-distance or cellular telephone services;
- writing a will;
- applying to a university or college.
Be careful – this is very important if you are not sure what to do, contact Service Canada and ask for help. For more information, visit the Service Canada website as well.
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