Permanent Resident back to Canada without SIN

[Rgauduchon]

Dear All,

I am new to this forum but the quality of responses received to the many enquiries seems to confirm this is the right place to post my question.

I am a PR ( confirmed 2003) with an expired PR card and cannot get/remember my SIN.

I have submitted a PR renewal to IRCC NS based on the past 7 years spent abroad with my Canadian Spouse ( and Canadian kid).

We came back to Canada for many reasons including taking up a senior executive job with a Canadian company based in Montreal. I fully understand and accept the PR renewal card process delay (though seems quite long) for I was not able to renew my PR card on time.

I went to a Canada service asking in a bid to retrieve my SIN number but it got denied due to PR card expired.

My question is as follows:

Is there a way that I can legally take my new job while my PR card is being renewed and without a SIN.

It is mentioned that " “the legislation does not prevent people from working in insurable employment before they receive their Social Insurance Number”.

The IRCC will likely give a positive answer to my PR renewal request but in “x” months. Meanwhile, I need to financially sustain our family.

Any feedback is welcome as it seems IRCC NS never took into consideration the “urgent processing” status of my application.

Thanks

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your situation and question with us and for your kind words and feedback about the Settlement.Org Discussion Forum.

We can appreciate that you would be interested in this type of information and what your options are.

When you went to Service Canada, did they provide any additional options in terms any other primary documents you can present?

According to the Service Canada website in the Lost or stolen SIN information section, it suggests that if you don’t remember your SIN, you can refer to your income tax return where your SIN can be found or you can request a confirmation of your SIN. Here is an excerpt,

Lost or stolen SIN

If your confirmation of SIN letter or SIN card was lost or stolen, Service Canada will not issue a new SIN. If you don’t remember your SIN, you can refer to your income tax return where your SIN can be found or you can request a confirmation of your SIN. For more information on how to obtain a confirmation of your SIN, refer to Section 3: What you need before you apply.

You can also find some additional suggestions on the Service Canada website in the Requesting your SIN information section. Here is an excerpt,

Requesting your SIN information

To obtain a confirmation of your SIN, simply gather all the required original documents and take them to the nearest Service Canada office. If everything is in order, you will get your SIN during your visit and you will not need to part with your documents.

On the Service Canada website it states that among the Primary Documents required:

Permanent residents must provide an original of one of the following:

• Permanent resident card issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).- Confirmation of Permanent Residence issued by IRCC, accompanied by either a travel document (for example, a foreign passport) or an alternate photo identification issued by a provincial/territorial authority (for example, a driver’s licence). Note: The Confirmation of Permanent Residence is acceptable if used within one year of the date you became a permanent resident. The permanent resident card is required after this period.- Record of Landing issued by IRCC before June 28, 2002.- Verification of Landing issued by IRCC. This document is provided when an original Record of Landing or the Confirmation of permanent residence is not available (if it has been lost, for example). This document is only acceptable to amend a SIN record or to obtain a confirmation of an existing SIN.- Status Verification or Verification of Status issued by IRCC. This document is only acceptable to amend a SIN record or to obtain a confirmation of an existing SIN.

You may want to try and contact them directly by telephone to see what the options are in your situation.

You can contact them here:

Canada Toll-free: 1-800-206-7218 (select option “3”)
Canada TTY: 1-800-926-9105
Hours of operation: Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time
Closed statutory holidays.

Outside Canada: 1-506-548-7961 (long-distance charges apply)
TTY: 1-800-926-9105
Hours of operation: Monday 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Atlantic time
Closed statutory holidays.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

=====
Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org

[Rgauduchon]

Dear Anna,

First of all thank you for your prompt and comprehensive feedback which confirms again the level of professionalism of this forum and the dedication of its team.

When I went to service Canada I did explain my situation, presented the COPR and the expired PR card including my application for renewal.

The answer was that since my COPR is over one year old, they cannot do anything to retrieve my SIN number until IRCC NS processed my PR renewal which could take months… .

Next is to fill under lost or stolen then but again I cannot remember my SIN neither I am in possession of a document bearing the SiN number. Best

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello there,

We really appreciate your kind words and feedback regarding our website/forum and the Settlement.Org Team.

Thank you for sharing the steps you have already taken and this additional information you received from Service Canada.

You mentioned something about working before receiving confirmation of your SIN, the Service Canada website states in the The Social Insurance Number Code of Practice Section 2 - SIN holders’ responsibilities section:

If you do not already have a SIN when you start working, you must apply for a SIN, provide proof to your employer that you have applied, and inform your employer of your SIN within three (3) days after the day you receive it.

We have contacted Service Canada to see if they could provide any further explanation regarding this process.

According to them, in the case that you have already been hired, the alternative is that the employer and the employer’s payroll department contact Service Canada on your behalf regarding your SIN and go through a validation process of your SIN with Service Canada.

They stated that this is a process available to employers and that through this process the payroll department should be allowed to verify your SIN for payroll purposes.

They also suggested that once you receive your PR card, that you directly to Service Canada to get your paper confirmation of SIN so that you can show it to your employer.

We suggest that you may want to try and contact Service Canada directly to verify and confirm this information.

We were able to contact them by dialing the Contact Social Insurance Number here:

Canada Toll-free: 1-800-206-7218 (select option “3”)
Canada TTY: 1-800-926-9105
Hours of operation: Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time
Closed statutory holidays.

Outside Canada: 1-506-548-7961 (long-distance charges apply)
TTY: 1-800-926-9105
Hours of operation: Monday 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Atlantic time
Closed statutory holidays.

Once you dial this number, listen to the options and select the option for “Lost or Stolen SIN”, then select “0” to speak to a representative.

We can appreciate that you would like to start your new position as soon as possible and that you would like to resolve this as soon as possible. We really hope this is a solution to this situation.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

=====
Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org

[Rgauduchon]

Dear Anna,

Thanks again for your prompt input. I was in Canada in 1998 and 2003 for education purposes and I did not have the chance to work for a salary per se. Is the process to retrieve the SIN number the same?

Thanks and best long weekend

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello,

Thank you for your additional information.

You mentioned you received your PR in 2003, when you were here for education purposes, did you have a temporary SIN?

When you received your PR did you apply for SIN?

That is something that would likely have to be clarified.

In terms of the employer’s validation process, it does not seem as though the issue of not working for a salary previously would be what they were looking for. It seems as though they would be looking to validate that in fact you have a SIN and that it belongs to you and that they can use it for your current and future payroll purposes.

We suggest that you may want to try and contact Service Canada directly to verify and confirm this information.

We were able to contact them by dialing the Contact Social Insurance Number here:

Canada Toll-free: 1-800-206-7218 (select option “3”)
Canada TTY: 1-800-926-9105
Hours of operation: Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time
Closed statutory holidays.

Outside Canada: 1-506-548-7961 (long-distance charges apply)
TTY: 1-800-926-9105
Hours of operation: Monday 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Atlantic time
Closed statutory holidays.

Once you dial this number, listen to the options and select the option for “Lost or Stolen SIN”, then select “0” to speak to a representative.

I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.

=====
Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org

[Rgauduchon]

Dear Anna,

Me again.

I have reached out to my “employer” asking him to enquire directly with Canada Service but the latter confirmed quoting “Indeed an employer may validate the SIN number when the employee supplies the actual number and therefore able to validate it vis a vis Service Canada”. So I am in an administrative “cul-de-sac” unable to retrieve directly my SIN with Canada Service and/or through my Employer. It seems I have no option but to wait another “x” weeks/months to have my PR card renewed by IRCC Nova Scotia then go to (re)apply for a SIN.

Best

Romain

[PMM]

Hi

@Rgauduchon

Dear Anna,

Me again.

I have reached out to my “employer” asking him to enquire directly with Canada Service but the latter confirmed quoting “Indeed an employer may validate the SIN number when the employee supplies the actual number and therefore able to validate it vis a vis Service Canada”. So I am in an administrative “cul-de-sac” unable to retrieve directly my SIN with Canada Service and/or through my Employer. It seems I have no option but to wait another “x” weeks/months to have my PR card renewed by IRCC Nova Scotia then go to (re)apply for a SIN.

Best

Romain

1. Did you ever file an income tax in Canada? If so your SIN number is on it.

[Rgauduchon]

No I never had the chance to fill in an income tax as I was there on training only. I wrote to Canada service to retrieve my SIN details but I guess to no avail. Thx

[SettlementOrgMod]

Hello,

Thank you for updating us on your situation.

We can appreciate that you would be frustrated with this situation.

We are very sorry that this type of situation exists. We can appreciate that these restrictions are likely to protect information related to SIN and to protect the use of everyone’s SIN related information.

We will update you if we find any additional information related to this type of situation.

We really hope that this is resolved shortly for you.

Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your situation.

=====
Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org