The Canada Revenue Agency is holding millions of uncashed cheques. The Bank of Canada is holding dormant bank accounts. Alberta runs a registry of its own with hundreds of thousands of unclaimed items in it.
All three are free to search, and so is the fourth. None of them will contact you first.
Where to check | What you might find | Cost |
|---|---|---|
Alberta Unclaimed Property | Property reported to Alberta by businesses | Free |
CRA My Account | Uncashed tax and benefit cheques | Free |
Bank of Canada | Dormant bank balances, matured GICs, uncashed drafts | Free |
My Service Canada Account | CPP, OAS and EI payment information | Free |
1. Alberta's unclaimed property registry
The Alberta Unclaimed Property Program is administered by Treasury Board and Finance through Tax and Revenue Administration.
Businesses holding abandoned property are required by law to hand it over to the province. That covers traveller's cheques, money orders, RRSPs, RESPs, and personal property left behind by dissolved corporations, societies and cooperatives.
The registry held roughly 347,582 unclaimed items when the province last publicized the figure in 2024.
"Who doesn't like free money?" then finance minister Nate Horner said at the time. "Alberta's unclaimed property registry is free and easy to check, and a quick search of the registry could help reunite someone with money that they may not even know they were entitled to."
Search at unclaimedproperty.alberta.ca. The search covers the Alberta registry only, and results are displayed through MissingMoney.com, a portal shared by Alberta and other North American jurisdictions.
There's no charge to submit a claim, though you may be asked to cover administration costs such as storage or holder fees.
One thing to know about timing: TRA holds property in trust for up to 10 years, after which it transfers to the province's general revenue fund to help pay for programs and services. That's a reason not to leave a search for later.
2. The CRA, where the biggest pile sits
The Canada Revenue Agency reported 10.279 million uncashed cheques worth approximately $1.752 billion as of October 2025, averaging around $170 each.
That total has grown every year since the agency launched its online tool in February 2020, when it stood at about $1 billion.
These are tax refunds, GST/HST credits, Canada Child Benefit instalments and benefit top-ups that were issued and never deposited. Government of Canada cheques don't go stale-dated, so they sit in CRA records indefinitely.
Sign in to CRA My Account and select "Uncashed cheques," either on the Overview page or under Accounts and payments. It takes about two minutes.
If a cheque appears and you still have the original, take it to your bank. Some institutions place a hold on older cheques, but they remain valid.
If you don't have it, you'll need Form PWGSC 535, submitted through the CRA's Submit documents portal or mailed to the Sudbury Tax Centre.
One caveat before you plan the money: the CRA applies any reissued payment against outstanding tax debt first and sends you the remainder.
3. The Bank of Canada, for dormant accounts
Under the Bank Act, federally regulated banks and trust companies must transfer Canadian-dollar accounts inactive for 10 years to the Bank of Canada's Unclaimed Properties Office.
Your bank is required to write to you at two years, five years and nine years of inactivity before that happens. If you moved, those letters went to the old address.
Search at unclaimedproperties.bankofcanada.ca. Free, name only, no account needed.
The holding periods here are long. Balances under $1,000 are held for 30 years. Balances of $1,000 or more are held for 100 years. Claims take roughly 120 days to process on average, and anything over $5,000 has to be mailed rather than filed online.
Matured GICs that were never redeemed end up here, along with uncashed bank drafts and money orders.
4. Service Canada, for CPP, OAS and EI
Check My Service Canada Account for unclaimed Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security or Employment Insurance payments.
This one catches people who retired, moved, or changed banking information partway through a claim.
One search people forget: deceased relatives
If you're administering an estate, check the deceased person's name as well. Search the Alberta registry and the Bank of Canada database using their full legal name and any previous names.
Do the same for yourself. Try maiden names, previous married names, middle initials, and any other version of your name that may have appeared on an old account.
What you'll need to actually claim it
Finding the money is the easy part. Every one of these programs requires you to prove you're the person named.
Government-issued photo ID, current and unexpired.
Proof of the address connected to the property. This is where claims stall. If an account went dormant while you lived somewhere you left fifteen years ago, you need something tying you to that address. Old tax returns, an expired licence, a utility bill or a land title search can all work.
Documentation connecting you to the original account. An account number, an old statement, a policy number. If you have none of it the claim is harder but not impossible, and each registry will tell you what alternatives it accepts.
For an estate: the death certificate, the will or letters of administration, and proof you're the executor or administrator.
Two practical rules. Don't mail original documents unless you're specifically asked to, and never send identity documents by email. The Bank of Canada has a secure upload tool and Alberta has an online claim system, both safer than attaching a scan of your passport to a message.
Nobody legitimate calls you about this
Every one of these searches is free and starts with you.
If someone phones or emails saying they've found money in your name and need personal information to release it, that's a scam. Hang up and check the registries yourself.
If you do use a locator service, Alberta caps what they can charge. The fee cannot exceed 10 per cent of the property's value, and the province advises getting the arrangement in writing before anything else happens.
The one thing that stops it happening again
Set up direct deposit with the CRA.
Most uncashed cheques exist because a paper cheque went to an address someone had left. Direct deposit removes the failure point, and it takes a few minutes inside CRA My Account.
While you're there, confirm your mailing address is current. That single step is what puts most of this money back where it belongs.
Sources
Unclaimed property — Government of Alberta
Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, Tax and Revenue Administration, Information Circulars UP-1R4 and UP-3R3
Canada Revenue Agency, uncashed cheques data, October 2025
Bank of Canada, Unclaimed Properties Office
Comments from Nate Horner as reported in a Government of Alberta release, July 2024.
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