Strapped for cash during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the economic slowdown? You might have unclaimed money from your past that could help pay the bills — perhaps from a dormant bank account or a lost cheque.
Or maybe a rich relative died without a will and — unbeknownst to you — you’re entitled to their money. A $1.9 million inheritance is currently sitting idle in B.C., waiting for the next of kin to claim.
To find out if you’re a millionaire or if you have any other unclaimed funds, here are some free, simple ways to launch your treasure hunt.
Uncashed CRA cheques
The Canada Revenue Agency is sitting on about $1 billion from cheques for tax refunds and benefits that taxpayers never cashed.
In some cases, the recipient may have lost the cheque or neglected to tell the CRA that they had moved, so it was mailed to the wrong address.
In February, the CRA added a new online feature to help unite taxpayers with their uncashed cheques — which never expire.
In February, the Canada Revenue Agency added an online feature allowing taxpayers to search for uncashed cheques when they log into their account. (CRA)
After logging onto your CRA account online, click on the “uncashed cheques” link. That will prompt a list of any CRA cheques in your name that have remained uncashed for at least six months.
To claim your money, fill out a form provided online and send it to the agency.
The CRA reports that between Feb. 10 — when it launched the new feature — and the end of May, Canadians redeemed more than 260,000 uncashed cheques totalling $63.7 million.
In April, Dave Hurley of Vancouver discovered he had a CRA cheque that remained uncashed since 2007. (Submitted by Dave Hurley)
Dave Hurley of Vancouver clicked on the “uncashed cheques” link in April and was surprised to discover he had a $88.50 cheque for a 2007 GST/HST credit.
He said he made a claim and the CRA deposited the money into his account about a month later.
“An extra 88 bucks was good — it was great to have,” said Hurley, who used the money to splurge on a high-end bottle of Scotch whisky.
“I felt I deserved it.”
Central bank has $888 million in unclaimed funds
The Bank of Canada can also help you locate forgotten cash. When federally regulated banks have unclaimed customer funds — such as bank deposits, GICs and money orders — they wind up at the Bank of Canada after a 10-year period.
The bank calls the forgotten money “unclaimed balances,” and you can search its online database to find out if any of it belongs to you. To stake a claim, you must fill out a claim form provided online and mail it to the bank with proof of ownership.
The Bank of Canada said it paid out $8.5 million last year to Canadians who submitted claims for unclaimed money it has in its coffers. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
The Bank of Canada said it paid out $8.5 million last year to Canadians who submitted claims.
And it has plenty more to dole out. The bank reports it was sitting on $888 million in unclaimed balances at the close of 2019. Its single-largest holding totals more than $800,000.
Rightful owners have ample time to claim their cash. The bank will hold unclaimed balances of less than $1,000 for 30 years and amounts of $1,000 or more for 100 years.
Forgotten EI cheques
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), which oversees federal social programs, may also have cash for you. The government department reports that as of Sept. 30, 2019, it was sitting on $133 million from more than 300,000 cheques issued to Canadians that — for some reason — were never cashed.
The majority of the cheques belong to people who have at some point collected Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance or Old Age Security payments.
ESDC doesn’t have an online search tool, but you can call Service Canada if you believe you have a forgotten cheque. If it turns out you do and you’re able to validate your identity, the department will reissue the cheque.
Unclaimed property programs
If you have ever lived in B.C., Alberta or Quebec, you can dig for forgotten money by searching online databases provided by unclaimed property programs in each of the three provinces.
The programs collect funds from provincially regulated companies, organizations and financial institutions. Depending on the province, collected funds could include wages, insurance and pension fund payments, as well as accounts from credit unions.
All three programs collect unclaimed inheritances left by people who died and no rightful heir can be found.
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B.C., Alberta and Quebec‘s unclaimed property programs each have slightly different rules but share the same goal: to unite people with their long-lost money.
“You can’t believe what people forget [about] and for what dollars,” said Alena Levitz, executive director of the BC Unclaimed Property Society (BCUPS).
The BCUPS reports it returned $2,744,595 in unclaimed cash last year to verified owners. It currently has more than $164 million in its coffers waiting to be claimed.
The total includes that $1.9 million left by someone who died in B.C. without a will.
“Somebody was a good saver all their life and just didn’t have [close] family and unfortunately, probably didn’t think to do a will,” Levitz said. She couldn’t divulge more details about the case for privacy reasons.
BCUPS imposes no time limit to make a claim and has cash still waiting for its rightful owners dating back to the 1800s.
Levitz encourages other provinces to establish an unclaimed property program. Currently, residents of provinces without one must make inquiries to individual businesses and organizations to seek out forgotten cash.
“It should be easy for folks to find money that belongs to them,” she said.
New Brunswick has an unclaimed property program in the works.
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. trimmed its financial guidance as it reported its second-quarter revenue fell compared with a year ago.
The luxury clothing company says revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 29 totalled $267.8 million, down from $281.1 million in the same quarter last year.
Net income attributable to shareholders amounted to $5.4 million or six cents per diluted share, up from $3.9 million or four cents per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, Canada Goose says it earned five cents per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 16 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
In its outlook, Canada Goose says it now expects total revenue for its full financial year to show a low-single-digit percentage decrease to low-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a low-single-digit increase.
It also says it now expects its adjusted net income per diluted share to show a mid-single-digit percentage increase compared with earlier guidance for a percentage increase in the mid-teens.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
