CBC did a recent article talking about the different ways people can find "lost money". A few of our team members actually went through a few of these sites and found family and friends who had money owing to them! It is worth checking out.
I have summarized it below.
Uncashed CRA cheques
- Did you know CRA has $1 billion of uncashed cheques!
- You need to log into My Account on CRA. They have added a feature on their website to see if you have anything outstanding. Under related services (where you would change your direct deposit information), there is a second called "uncashed cheques".
- These cheques never expire.
The Bank of Canada
- Did Grandma set up a bank account you didn't know about?
- When your bank account goes dormant (i.e. you haven't used it in 10 years), or a money order isn't cashed - that money is sent to the Bank of Canada.
- These balances are called "unclaimed balances" and you can search the database here.
Forgotten EI/CPP/OAS cheques
- Have you ever missed a CPP cheque or forgot to cash an OAS payment?
- Service Canada doesn't have an online search portal, but if you believe you're missing a cheque - you can call them and they can confirm.
Provincial Unclaimed Balances
- If you have ever lived in BC, Alberta or Quebec, you can look for unclaimed balances on their online databases.
Here is a link to the original CBC article.
Happy hunting!
Gary