They say there’s no such thing as money for free. And that might be true, but I have come as close as you can to finding it.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) says it’s sitting on a ton of money in uncashed cheques that never expire – about $1.4 billion as of last year.

At the start of 2023, I got an email from the agency, saying there was a GST/HSTC notice that “may require” my attention waiting for me in my CRA account inbox.

I logged into my CRA account, which I created in October 2020 after losing my job during the early days of the pandemic, and checked my mailbox. My GST/HSTC notice was pretty boring and did not require my attention, it turns out.

But I started clicking around in my account anyway, and under “Accounts and Payments,” there’s a section called “Uncashed Cheques.”

I thought, “Wouldn’t that be funny if I had money in there?” So I clicked on it. Sure enough, there were two uncashed climate action tax credit cheques waiting for me, and I was missing out on a free $288.87.

One was from 2015 and was probably mailed to my house after I moved to Vietnam. Another was from 2021, from around the time I moved apartments.

It’s not as easy as just a click to get the money, however. Since I don’t have those cheques, I have to ask for a duplicate payment from the CRA.

How to get your uncashed cheques from the CRA

• Log into your CRA account
• Navigate to Accounts and Payments
• Click on Uncashed Cheques

If you have uncashed cheques, you can get that money by:

• Clicking on and printing out the form
• Filling it out
• Getting it witnessed by someone who is not a family member
• Scanning or mailing it to the CRA

After you give the CRA six weeks for processing, it will issue the payment.

Having gone through this process myself, I have some advice for folks interested in seeing if they, too, have uncashed cheques from the CRA.

My advice is to make sure you have a CRA account set up and add your direct deposit information. If you have any big life changes like moving or getting married, be sure to update it in your CRA profile as soon as you can.

After all, it’s free money!