Setting up a My Service Canada account

Last month I wrote about the CRA My Account. If you acted on that article, you now have an account set up and can look up all sorts of useful information, get status updates, and upload documents when the CRA asks for them. If you haven’t registered yet, this can serve as your reminder.

Since we’re on the subject of government platforms, did you know they have another useful login? The My Service Canada Account (MSCA) allows you to access details about your Employment Insurance (EI), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), and much more. Here again, I strongly encourage you to register for an account if you haven’t already. You can register and sign in at www.canada.ca/msca.

Have you ever wondered what you are likely to collect from the CPP when you retire? 

Many years ago, the federal government “fixed” the CPP by treating it as a true pension with segregated assets and actuarial reporting. At one point they promised to send each Canadian a regular summary of their benefits – a promise that was never really fulfilled. If I recall correctly, it only ever happened one year. With the lack of reporting, many Canadians are left wondering what their benefits are. It’s no wonder I hear many Canadians express a view that CPP won’t be there for them when they retire. In my opinion, Service Canada was (and maybe still is) one of the worst-run departments in the federal government. I think a large part of the blame for the lack of faith in the CPP can be put down simply to the poor reporting done by Service Canada. 

The CPP is in great shape. You can reasonably expect it to be there for you. But how can you find out what you should expect? Service Canada no longer even tries to mail out annual statements. Fortunately, the internet has now made it easy to disseminate information – you just need to be signed up to see it in this case. Registering for the MSCA gives you access to lots of other personal data. For me, the CPP estimate is the most valuable, but there is much more. For example, you can also see what your CPP contributions have been in the past so you can dispute any issues if they’ve missed any years of income. 

Once you log in, this info can be a bit difficult to find. Selecting the ‘CPP’ button and then the ‘Contributions’ link will bring you to another button that says ‘Estimated monthly CPP benefits’. From there you can see if you are already eligible to collect and what you would receive if you chose to start your CPP retirement pension next month, at age 65, or at age 70. 

Sadly, while the Levites in the Bible verse below retired at age 50, that isn’t an eligible CPP option. Although, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Check out Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones on Netflix to learn why.

One small caveat about the estimates. On the website, Service Canada is quick to warn: “the amounts in this section are estimates only. Benefit estimates may not reflect recent changes to the CPP, or take into account future earnings, contributions, and CPP provisions that could affect your benefits. The actual amount of your benefit can only be calculated when we process your application.” The good news is that this usually means you will get a bit more than the estimate.

Now that you’ve established both your CRA My Account and your My Service Canada Account, the next time your financial planner or banker asks you for any government-related financial information about yourself, you should be in the perfect position to impress them by pulling out your smartphone, logging in to the appropriate site, and providing them with the info they need right then and there instead of telling them you’ll get back to them. 

Update on a previous article…

A few months ago, I warned you about the new trust reporting rules. 

The good news is that the federal government changed their mind at the last minute. The onerous bare trust reporting rules will not be enforced for the 2023 tax year. 

The bad news is that the federal government changed their mind at the last minute. I’m guessing they received millions of trust returns over the last few months. This means that the extra reporting for those individuals was an absolute waste of time and (in many cases) money spent on accountants to prepare the reports on time. 

We’ll have to wait and see what happens with it now. Will they reintroduce the reporting rules with changes? Or try again as is? Or simply give up? Only time will tell.

Fortunately, it sounds as though many accountants have decided to eat the cost of filing those returns (not fair to them – they worked hard to prepare those reports), but I’m guessing that many accountants feel bad charging their clients for something that’s of no value now. If your accountant wasn’t one of those, show them this article and ask them if they’d be willing to waive their fees. You never know. It may change their mind.

“…but at the age of fifty, they must retire from their regular service and work no longer.” 

– Numbers 8:25 (NIV)

Arnold Machel lives, works, and worships in the White Rock/South Surrey area. He holds the Certified Financial Planner® designation, is the Founder of Visionvest Financial Planning & Services, and sits on the board of Abundance Canada. Visionvest (his firm) has been voted Best Investment/Financial Advisor by Peace Arch News readers for the past three years in a row.

Questions and comments can be directed to him at dr.rrsp@visionvest.ca. Please note that all comments are of a general nature and should not be relied upon as individual advice. While every attempt is made to ensure accuracy, facts and figures are not guaranteed.