Searching for the right mailing address for a GST/HST payment or a payroll remittance is one of those tasks that sounds trivial and turns out to be surprisingly confusing. Different CRA programs have different rules, some returns can no longer be filed on paper without a penalty, and the address depends on what exactly you are sending. This guide walks through how paying and filing by mail works, based on the CRA's own published instructions, and shows you exactly where to confirm the current details before you seal the envelope.
Two important notes up front. First, CRA mailing addresses and procedures can change, so always confirm against the official pages linked below before mailing anything; this article reflects the CRA's published instructions at the time of writing. Second, this is general information, not tax advice.
Before covering the mail route: the CRA strongly encourages paying electronically, and for most businesses that is genuinely the safer option. Electronic payments through your bank, pre-authorized debit, or the CRA's own online payment options are dated and confirmed in ways a mailed cheque is not. Mailing remains available for most amounts, but if you are choosing it for convenience rather than necessity, it is worth knowing that a mailed payment counts as received on the day it is delivered to the CRA, not the day you post it. Slow mail can literally make your payment late.
If you do pay by mail, the CRA publishes one set of instructions for cheque payments, whether the amount is corporate income tax, GST/HST remittances, or payroll source deductions. As published on the CRA's Pay through the mail page, a cheque should be prepared like this:
Made out to: Receiver General for Canada.
In the memo field: your relevant tax number. For a business, that means your business number and the program account the payment applies to. For an individual, the SIN or equivalent number.
In the envelope: your remittance voucher, which tells the CRA how to apply the payment. If you do not have one, include a copy of the notice requesting payment, or write your full CRA account number and payment details on the cheque memo line or a separate sheet. The CRA warns that a missing account number leads to processing delays.
At the time of writing, the address on that page for mailed cheques is Canada Revenue Agency, PO Box 3800 STN A, Sudbury ON P3A 0C3. Since addresses like this can be updated, confirm it on the page itself before mailing, along with the CRA's Find a CRA address directory for anything other than payments. And never mail cash.
Payments and returns are different mailings with different rules. For GST/HST returns, the biggest surprise for many businesses is that paper filing is now the exception. Most registrants are required to file electronically; according to the CRA's By mail filing page, only charities, selected listed financial institutions, and registrants with an approved exemption can file on paper without a penalty.
If you are one of the businesses that can and does file on paper, the rule for the address is refreshingly simple: mail your return to the address printed on your personalized return. Each GST/HST return package, Form GST34-2, is personalized with your reporting periods, an electronic filing access code, and remittance vouchers, and it carries the return address the CRA wants you to use. This also means you should not photocopy someone else's form or mail in the downloadable working copy, which exists only to help you calculate.
Paper filers also have an in-person option: most can bring the return to a participating financial institution and file and pay there, though this route is not available in certain situations, for example when you are claiming a refund or filing a nil return.
For payroll remittances, the method you can use depends on your remitter type, which the CRA assigns and which you can check through its sign-in services. The details, including options for each remitter type, are on the CRA's How to remit page. Mailed cheques follow the same instructions described above: payable to the Receiver General for Canada, with your payroll program account number and your remittance voucher.
One useful detail for employers with quiet periods: if you have no employees to remit for, you can report a nil remittance electronically or by phone through the CRA's automated TeleReply service instead of mailing anything at all.
The CRA does not accept payments on behalf of every government program, even when the CRA is the one who contacted you about the debt. Customs debts go to the Canada Border Services Agency through its own payment process, and Canada Student Loans payments go through Employment and Social Development Canada. If the payment is not a tax or benefit repayment the CRA administers, check the notice you received for the correct recipient before writing a cheque.
Two timing rules are worth repeating because they cause real penalties. A mailed payment is considered paid when the CRA receives it, which depends on mail delivery time, not on the postmark date. And after the payment arrives, it can take up to 10 business days to appear in your CRA account. If a deadline is close, an electronic payment is the only way to be certain of the date.
Everything above is about sending. But notice how much of the process depends on receiving: the personalized return package with the correct filing address, the remittance vouchers you are supposed to include with payments, notices of assessment, and any letter asking for a payment or more information. Miss one of those and the sending side gets much harder.
That is the half of the problem a virtual mailbox solves. CRA correspondence arrives at a staffed street address, every envelope is logged the day it arrives, and you get a scan you can read from anywhere, so a remittance package or an assessment never sits in an unattended mailbox while a deadline passes. If your business address is changing, or you split time between provinces or countries, this also keeps your CRA correspondence address stable over the years. For the receiving side in more depth, see our guides on CRA mailing address requirements for Canadian businesses and managing CRA documents at tax season.
Before mailing anything to the CRA:
1. Confirm you are allowed to use paper for this filing, especially for GST/HST returns.
2. Use the address printed on your personalized return or voucher whenever one exists.
3. Make cheques payable to the Receiver General for Canada, with your account number in the memo.
4. Include the remittance voucher, or a copy of the notice, or your full account details.
5. Count mail delivery time against your deadline, since delivery date is the payment date.
6. Confirm the current address on the official CRA page linked above on the day you mail.
Requirements and addresses summarized here reflect the CRA's published pages at the time of writing and can change. The canada.ca links above are the authoritative source, and a quick check there before mailing costs seconds and prevents the most expensive kind of surprise.
