Updated Checked by the Tax-Services.ca editorial team How we check
Revenue Canada is the old name for the Canada Revenue Agency, the CRA. It collects federal income tax, runs the GST/HST and pays out benefits, and it does most of that for the provinces too. Quebec is the big exception for personal tax.
Is Revenue Canada the same as the CRA?
Yes, though the name went through two changes. Revenue Canada became the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency in 1999. Customs moved to a separate border agency, and on 12 December 2005 the name changed to the Canada Revenue Agency. Wikipedia dates the border agency’s split from the old agency to December 2003, so the new name took a couple of years to become official. People kept saying Revenue Canada anyway, and search engines know it. Your uncle in Saskatoon still says it, and he’s not wrong about who he means.
If you want the history in one place, the Wikipedia article on the Canada Revenue Agency (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA) walks through the 1999 change and the later rebranding.
What does the CRA handle, and what doesn’t it?
The CRA administers the Income Tax Act, the Excise Tax Act (which includes GST/HST) and the Excise Act. It also handles Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance rulings, collects tax for the provinces and territories that use it, and runs benefit programs through the tax system, so one agency touches your paycheque, your refund and some of the payments you receive. Its overview says it works for all levels of government.
| Question | Who answers |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax return | CRA |
| Provincial income tax, outside Quebec | CRA, on the same return |
| Quebec income tax | Revenu Québec |
| Social Insurance Number | Service Canada |
| Customs at the border | Canada Border Services Agency |
The CRA’s own overview lists Quebec, which runs its own individual and corporate tax, and Alberta, which runs its own corporate tax, as the two exceptions.
How big is it?
Big enough that your return is one of many. For 2023-24 the CRA reported about 33.5 million individual returns, 205 services and benefits, and $52.7 billion paid out in benefits. Those are its numbers, not ours, and they’ll change with each annual report. What matters for you is simpler. Check your slips each year, as the CRA itself advises, and fix a wrong one at the source.
What can you do in your CRA account?
Most of what people phone about, you can do online, so set it up before you need it in a hurry. The account shows your notice of assessment, and it shows a reassessment before the paper copy turns up. You can check a refund, find your RRSP deduction limit and set up direct deposit. For the last one, the CRA says it’s faster and safer than a cheque.
Your account also holds your RRSP room, and the RRSP calculator shows what a contribution is worth against it. If you do need a human, our page on dealing with the CRA covers letters, audits and payments.
What does the CRA do with your return?
It compares the tax owing with what was withheld or paid in instalments. Say your employer held back $13,500 during the year, and you earned $75,000 in Ontario. Our income tax calculator puts the tax at $12,705, which means a refund of about $795.
Now claim a $5,000 RRSP deduction. Tax falls to $11,072 and the refund grows to about $2,428. That’s $1,633 less tax for a $5,000 deduction, roughly 33 cents on each dollar at this income, though the rate changes with your pay and province. The tax refund calculator lets you try your own figures.
That $13,500 is an assumption, not a typical figure, and the tool skips credits you might claim. Your notice of assessment has the real answer.
Is a message from “Revenue Canada” real?
Be careful. The name hasn’t been used by the agency for years, so a text or email that uses it deserves a second look. Don’t click. Open a browser, type the CRA’s address yourself, sign in to your account and see whether anything is waiting there. If the message was real, the same news will be in your account. If it wasn’t, you’ve lost a minute and kept your banking details.
What trips people up?
Mixing up agencies. The SIN comes from Service Canada, and a Quebec return goes to Revenu Québec. Missing dates is the other one. For the 2025 return the CRA’s dates were 30 April 2026 for most people and 15 June 2026 for the self-employed, who still owed any balance by 30 April. We found no published dates for the 2026 return yet.
If you’re self-employed or have income with no tax withheld, the tax instalments calculator shows what four equal payments would look like. The CRA’s instalment dates are 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December.
We aren’t connected to the CRA or any government body, so use its pages for anything that matters.
Where do these facts come from?
The agency’s mandate, history and figures come from CRA pages on canada.ca, including its overview for 2023-24. Filing dates come from the CRA’s page for the 2025 return. Dollar examples use our 2026 engine.
Frequently asked questions
Is Revenue Canada still a thing?
Not by that name. It became the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency in 1999 and the Canada Revenue Agency in 2005.
Does the CRA collect Quebec income tax?
No. Revenu Québec runs Quebec's individual and corporate tax, so Quebec residents file a separate provincial return.
Where do I see my notice of assessment?
In your CRA account. It can show a reassessment before the paper copy arrives.
Who issues my SIN?
Service Canada, not the CRA.
What was the 2025 return deadline?
30 April 2026 for most people, and 15 June 2026 for the self-employed, who still had to pay by 30 April.
- Dealing with the CRA: letters, audits and payments
Dealing with the CRA: what to do when a letter arrives, how a review differs from an audit, how My Account helps, and what to do if you can't pay