The Canada Revenue Agency reported that it holds about 8.9 million checks with a total value of approximately 1.4 billion dollars that have not been cashed over the years.

This federal agency issues millions of payments every year by checks or direct deposits in the form of refunds and social benefits.

However, some checks remain uncashed for various reasons, including checks being placed in the wrong location or changes in mailing addresses.

The Revenue Agency will notify some recipients of the Canada Child Benefit and related provincial and territorial programs by email of any check they may have in their possession that has not yet been cashed.

Nearly 25,000 electronic notices will be issued this August, another 25,000 notices in the upcoming November, and an additional 25,000 notices in May 2023.

The Revenue Agency states that since launching this initiative in February 2020, Canadians between the tenth of that month and the thirty-first of May 2022 have cashed about two million checks that had not been previously cashed, amounting to a total value of 802 million dollars.

In 2020, the Revenue Agency launched a function allowing taxpayers to check if they have uncashed checks and collect benefit amounts and credit payments they are entitled to but have not received.

Thanks to the "My Account / Mon dossier" function, Canadians can check whether they have an uncashed check with the Revenue Agency.

They can also verify this by calling toll-free at 1.800.959.7383

Since government checks never expire, the Revenue Agency cannot cancel the original check and issue a new one in its place unless the taxpayer requests it.

The average value of each uncashed check is 158 dollars, and some of these checks date back to 1998.