Quick answer: If a T4 or another tax slip is missing, ask the employer or other issuer for a copy. If the issuer sent it to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), you may also find it in your CRA account. If you still cannot get it in time to file, CRA explains how to estimate the income from your records and what note to include with your return.
What this means: A missing slip does not erase income you received. The issuer creates the slip; CRA cannot give you a copy until the issuer has sent it to CRA.
What to do next: Check with the issuer, then look in your CRA account. If the slip remains unavailable, collect pay stubs or financial statements and follow CRA’s missing-slip instructions for your filing method.
Who issues the slip?
Your employer, payer, plan administrator or financial institution issues the slip for income it paid you. CRA receives the information after the issuer submits it; it cannot make a missing employer slip appear in your account. Start with the organization that paid you, not with an assumption that CRA has a copy.
CRA says most T4, T4A and T5 slips are sent by the end of February. NR4, T3 and T5013 slips may not be issued until the end of March. These are different slip types, so check which one you are expecting before deciding that it is late. The CRA tax-slip page lists the current instructions.
Checking With the Issuer and the CRA
Ask the issuer for a copy and confirm the tax year and slip type. If it says the slip has been sent to CRA, check your CRA account as well. A current or prior-year slip may be available there after submission. If it is not there, do not treat the empty screen as proof that no income needs to be reported.
Keep a short record of whom you contacted and when. That gives you the information CRA asks for if you later need to file using an estimate. For CPP, OAS or EI slips, use the separate Service Canada route below.
Estimating Income If the Slip Is Not Available
If the slip is still unavailable when you need to file, CRA says you can estimate the income from pay stubs or financial statements. Gather complete records for the relevant year and use them to support the amount you report. An estimate is not a replacement for checking the eventual slip; if the two differ, review the filed return and use CRA’s correction route when needed.
CRA also says to include a note with the return. Give the issuer’s name and address, the type of income, and what you are doing to obtain the slip. Keep the explanation factual: which slip is missing, which records you used, and how you sought a copy. Do not send your records to Canadian Money Help.
Electronic Filing Versus Paper Filing Evidence
For an electronic return, CRA says to keep the supporting documents in case it asks to see them later. Follow the filing software and CRA instructions for the note that explains the missing slip. Do not assume that a later CRA request has already been satisfied merely because you entered an estimate.
For a paper return, CRA says to attach copies of pay stubs or statements and your note, while keeping the originals. That is a different document-handling step from electronic filing. Check the official missing-slip instructions when preparing the return because the filing route matters.
Service Canada Slips for CPP, OAS, and EI
CRA directs readers to My Service Canada Account for Old Age Security (OAS), Employment Insurance (EI) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) slips. That is a different sign-in from a CRA account. If you cannot access the slip there, follow Service Canada’s current contact instructions for the program.
Using the right agency matters when a deadline is close. CRA may display a copy once an issuer has submitted it, but the organization responsible for issuing or correcting a slip remains the starting point for a missing or incorrect document.
Example: a T4 is still missing
Suppose your employer has not supplied a T4 and it is not visible in your CRA account. You ask payroll for a copy and keep the reply. If you cannot obtain the slip in time to file, you use your pay stubs to estimate the income, include the note CRA describes, and retain the records required for your filing method. When the slip arrives, compare it with the amount you reported. This is a checking sequence, not a promise about how CRA will assess the return.
Frequently asked questions
- Can CRA give me a copy of my T4?
- CRA may have a copy after your employer sends it to the agency. If it has not been submitted, ask the employer for the slip; CRA cannot supply a copy it has not received.
- What if the slip is still missing when I need to file?
- CRA says you can estimate the income from pay stubs or financial statements and include a note explaining the issuer, income type and steps to obtain the slip. Follow the document instructions for electronic or paper filing.
- Do I attach pay stubs to an electronic return?
- CRA says to keep the supporting documents when you file electronically in case it asks to see them later. For a paper return, attach copies of the records and the note, and keep your originals.
- Where do I find CPP, OAS or EI slips?
- Use My Service Canada Account, as CRA directs readers there for these slips. It is separate from the CRA account used for most other slip copies.
- What if the slip arrives after I file?
- Compare it with the amount on your filed return. If you reported an incorrect amount, use CRA’s separate return-change process after assessment.
Related guides
If the eventual slip differs from what you filed, see how to change a tax return after filing. That process begins after CRA assesses the return; it is not a substitute for reporting the income on the original filing.
Rules and process basis
CRA’s missing-slip instructions control the issuer-first, CRA-account and estimate routes described here. Its basic-return guidance says income must still be reported without a slip. The official instructions for the return and its filing method control how you provide the explanatory note and retain documents; Canadian Money Help cannot assess an individual return.