Is my TFSA contribution room shown on my notice of assessment?

No. The NOA covers RRSP figures (deduction limit, unused contributions) plus HBP, LLP and carryforward balances. TFSA room appears only in CRA My Account, and that figure can be months out of date because banks report TFSA activity just once a year.

How do I get a copy of an old NOA?

Log in to CRA My Account, where notices of assessment for past years are stored and downloadable. If a lender only needs income verification, the CRA's proof of income statement from the same portal often does the job.

What is a notice of reassessment?

A revised assessment the CRA issues after reviewing your return again, whether from a slip it received, an adjustment you requested or an audit. It replaces the original NOA's figures and starts a fresh 90-day objection window. Reassessments can arrive years after you filed, which is exactly why records should be kept for six years.

Notice of Assessment (NOA)

Avis de cotisation in French

Quick definition

The notice of assessment (NOA) is the CRA's official response after processing your tax return. It confirms your refund or balance owing, and it carries numbers you will need all year, most importantly your RRSP deduction limit for next year.

What the NOA actually is

File a return and the CRA answers with a notice of assessment: its calculation of your taxable income, the tax you owed, what you already paid, and the resulting refund or balance owing. The assessed figures can differ from what you filed, because the CRA corrects math errors and can disallow claims, and the NOA is where you find out.

Treat it as the closing statement of your tax year, then keep it. Banks, lenders and government programs will ask for it long after tax season is over.

Where the gold is: the numbers you need all year

The refund line gets all the attention, but the NOA's lasting value is the running balances the CRA reports back to you.

Your RRSP deduction limit for next year. Your personal RRSP contribution room, freshly calculated from your reported income, and reliable for exactly that reason. Note what is absent: TFSA room never appears on the NOA. It lives only in CRA My Account, where it can be months stale.
Unused RRSP contributions. Amounts you contributed but have not yet deducted, available to deduct in a higher-income year.
HBP and LLP repayment schedules. If you borrowed from your RRSP under the Home Buyers' Plan or Lifelong Learning Plan, the NOA shows your remaining balance and the minimum repayment due for the coming year.
Carryforward amounts. Unused tuition credits, net capital losses and other balances that can shrink a future tax bill are tracked here year over year.

Express NOA or the mail

File through NETFILE-certified software and you can receive an Express NOA within minutes of filing, delivered straight into the software and to CRA My Account. Paper filers wait weeks for the mailed version.

If you disagree, the clock is short

You have 90 days from the date on the NOA to dispute it formally, by filing a notice of objection (form T400A, or online through My Account). Miss the window and you must request an extension, which is not guaranteed. For simple slips an adjustment request is usually faster.

Assessment is not the end of the story either. The CRA can reassess a return, generally within three years and longer in cases like suspected misrepresentation, so keep your receipts and records for six years after filing.

Why your lender asks for it

Mortgage lenders routinely require your most recent NOAs because they prove income the way a job letter cannot: the figure is the CRA's, not your employer's, and the notice also shows whether you owe back taxes. Self-employed borrowers should expect to provide two years of NOAs with any mortgage application.

Québec filers get two

Québec residents file two returns and receive two answers: the CRA's notice of assessment for the federal return and a separate avis de cotisation from Revenu Québec for the provincial one. The two are independent, each with its own refund or balance, its own 90-day objection window and its own records, so check both before considering your tax year settled.

In Canada

The NOA has quietly become Canada's all-purpose proof-of-income document. Beyond mortgages, it is requested for rental applications, immigration sponsorships, student aid, subsidized child care and legal proceedings, largely because it is the one income figure a third party did not write themselves.

Worked example

Naomi files on March 3 through NETFILE software and receives her Express NOA the same day: a $1,240 refund and an RRSP deduction limit of $14,600 for next year (illustrative figures). The NOA sits permanently in CRA My Account, where her mortgage broker will have her fetch it in May.

Reading it closely, she notices the CRA disallowed $600 of moving expenses she claimed. She disagrees, and because the 90-day objection window started on the NOA's date, she files her objection in April with her receipts attached rather than discovering the deadline in the fall.