Reactivate 'dormant' SIN

[princessofdiamonds]

Hi,

I have been out of the country for a while (6 years since last tax return) and I went into Service Canada to ask about if my SIN was dormant, and if it was, if I could reactivate.

I presented my expired PR card and she said she couldn't even tell me if it was dormant due to it being expired.

Anyone who has had this issue can help me around this please?

I'm currently applying for jobs and obviously if I give them my SIN number and it's dormant, it's going to cause me all sorts of problems

Many thanks

 

[spyfy]

While any kind of SIN can be dormant, usually only the SINs of temporary workers can expire.
The last SIN you had (and the one you asked about), does it start with a 9 or another digit?

 

[zardoz]

Hi,

I have been out of the country for a while (6 years since last tax return) and I went into Service Canada to ask about if my SIN was dormant, and if it was, if I could reactivate.

I presented my expired PR card and she said she couldn't even tell me if it was dormant due to it being expired.

Anyone who has had this issue can help me around this please?

I'm currently applying for jobs and obviously if I give them my SIN number and it's dormant, it's going to cause me all sorts of problems

Many thanks

You will need to provide alternative documentation in that case. See http://www.esdc.gc.ca/en/sin/before_applying.page

 

[princessofdiamonds]

Hi guys I have another question,

I've been working and got paid today ... Nothing has come up regarding my sin number . I just gave them the one I had ( not knowing if it was dormant or not - I assumed it was as been out of country for more than 5 years ) and there's been no problem?

The lady at service canada told me employers won't hire me if I don't have an active sin and I've read other posts on here where people have encountered problems with their sin before they started their job.

Does this mean that mine wasn't made dormant ? Or does it cause problems in the new tax year ??

Can someone help please ? I've been going out of my mind not sure if I'd get into trouble somehow .

Just to clarify mine was always a permanent sin, not temporary and I hadn't used it for 8 years so I assumed it was flagged as dormant

 

[robfis]

I'm trying to understand the situation: did you give your original SIN number to service Canada and they did not find a record for it?

 

[princessofdiamonds]

I gave them my original sin number and asked if it was dormant as I had been gone for a while , and she said she couldn't tell me if it was dormant or not because I had an expired Pr card. I assumed it was dormant because that's what everyone else on This forum has said - that if there is inactivity for over 5 years it goes dormant and can't be used for work.

Because the lady couldn't tell me ( even though the info was right Ifront of her ) I asked what would happen if I got a job and my sin was dormant - she said employers won't hire you as it would be an invalid sin.

Skip forward two weeks - I took the risk and got a job , gave them my sin number .. And I got paid no problems ....

Very confused

 

[robfis]

I believe payroll can verify sin numbers here:
https://www.payroll.ca/CPA/resources/Tools/SIN/en/Disclaimer.aspx

You can verify it yourself too, however I'm not sure whether the verification includes the active status, or just if it's a legal sin number.

Were you asked for the PR card, or you volunteered to present it? Could you maybe go back and present a Canadian driver license or ID instead?

 

[Tee76]

I believe payroll can verify sin numbers here:
https://www.payroll.ca/CPA/resources/Tools/SIN/en/Disclaimer.aspx

You can verify it yourself too, however I'm not sure whether the verification includes the active status, or just if it's a legal sin number.

Were you asked for the PR card, or you volunteered to present it? Could you maybe go back and present a Canadian driver license or ID instead?

I just checked mine and all it says is "VALID SIN" nothing about it being active or not. I've been out of Canada since 2006.

 

[robinGermany]

Old thread but I'm going through the exact same issue now. My wife and I left Canada in 1999 and now hitting retirement age we're looking at our pensions. Now here is where it gets really strange. I am able to go online and get my CPP information no problem but when my wife tries it says that her service Canada privileges have been revoked. We called and sure enough her SIN is dormant. They gave her a number to call but we're having a hell of time getting through. I don't have a landline anymore (just Skype).

I'll update this as we go on

 

[steaky]

Old thread but I'm going through the exact same issue now. My wife and I left Canada in 1999 and now hitting retirement age we're looking at our pensions. Now here is where it gets really strange. I am able to go online and get my CPP information no problem but when my wife tries it says that her service Canada privileges have been revoked. We called and sure enough her SIN is dormant. They gave her a number to call but we're having a hell of time getting through. I don't have a landline anymore (just Skype).

I'll update this as we go on

Some telephone numbers are work in Canada. Might be the problem.

 

[robinGermany]

What

Some telephone numbers are work in Canada. Might be the problem.

What happened was when I called (on skype) the non 800 number I got an error message but the 800 number I could get through. We got through all the menu options and then nothing? i did evenually get connected to the non 800 number but I got message saying they were overloaded and call next week.

I can call direct on my cell phone but that gets really expensive fast

 

[robinGermany]

OK I got through, must have been a skype issue. Anyways Canadians are sooooo friendly, wow I miss that sometimes. Anyways the lady explained that needed to be done. Turned out that the issue was the SIN was issued in her maiden name and never updated.

 

[KENQ]

We've been gone from Canada for 18 years. We returned April 2018. My SIN is fine; my wife's appears to be dormant. Thanks for the info on reactivating!

 

[robinGermany]

Quick update, her SIN is now active. She was able to access her CPP via services canada.

 

[Tubsmagee]

I haven’t used my SIN in 9 years or so, but it shows as valid. Thanks for link.