Lesson 17 — Activity 1: Completing an Application for a Social Insurance Number (SIN)

   
When you are looking for a job, you need a Social Insurance Number, also referred to as a SIN. Everyone needs this number (given on a credit-card sized card) to be sure contributions to the Canada Pension Plan are credited correctly and to help each person file an income tax return. It allows the Canadian government to keep track of citizens and residents and their employment. Employers need to know this number before they can give us our paycheques!

You can apply for a Social Insurance Number by mail or by going to a Human Resources Development Canada office, if there is one in your community. Either way, you need to fill out an application form neatly and accurately. Be sure that you understand what information you are being asked to include on the form.



Image courtesy of www.commons.wikimedia.org CC BY-SA 3.0. Labels added.

Click here to view an application form for a Social Insurance Number. You may refer to this form as you continue with this activity page.




Here are the sections of the application form. Begin with Section 1.
The first section is where you show why you are applying for a Social Insurance Number:

APPLICATION FOR A:

  • FIRST SOCIAL INSURANCE NUMBER CARD (fee not required) — Check this box if you have never had a social insurance number card. It is free the first time you apply.
  • REPLACEMENT CARD ($10.00 fee required) — Check this box if you lost your card and need a new one. You will have to pay $10.00.
  • CHANGE OF NAME(S) ON CARD (fee may be required) — Check this box if your name is different than the name on your card because of adoption, marriage, divorce, or legal name change. You will have to include proof of the name change with your application.
  • CHANGE OF STATUS (fee not required) — Check this box if something has changed about your citizenship (see # 11 in Section 2 to know what "Status" refers to).
  • UPDATE TO RECORD (no card will be issued; fee not required) — Check this box if you already have a card and some of your information, such as your address or phone number, has changed. This is only for information that does not change the information on the card, so you will not receive a new card if you check this box.
The next section asks you to fill in information about yourself so the government is sure it is giving a card to the right person.

INFORMATION CONCERNING THE APPLICANT

PRINT CLEARLY IN BLUE OR BLACK INK — Use a blue or black pen and print neatly to make reading your information easier.

1. NAME TO BE SHOWN ON CARD — Fill in your legal name in the order shown.
  • First Given Name — Use your official name, not nicknames or short forms of your name.
  • Other Given Names (if wanted on card) —  If you want your middle name or middle names on the card, fill them in. You do not have to put them on the card.
  • Family Name — Fill in your  legal last name (surname).

2. DATE OF BIRTH — Fill in your birthday in the order shown.
  • Day — Fill in the number of the date of your birth, such as 23 or 31.
  • Month — Fill in the month you were born. You can use either name of the month or the number (January = 01, February = 02, and so on).
  • Year — Fill in the year you were born. Include all 4 numbers (1999, 2000, etc.)

3. SEX — Check the box to show whether you are Male or Female. If you are twin, triplet, quadruplet, etc., check that box too.

4. MOTHER'S NAME (at birth) — Fill in the name your mother was born with in the order shown:
  • Given Name(s) — Fill in your mother's first and middle names.
  • Family Name — Fill in your mother's name when she was born, before she may have changed it for marriage or other reasons.

5. FATHER'S NAME — Fill in your father's:
  • Given Name(s) — first and middle names
  • Family Name (last name)

6. APPLICANT'S PLACE OF BIRTH  — Fill in the name of the place you were born as shown.

  • City, Town, or Village — Fill in the name of the community where you were born.
  • Province — Fill in the name of the province or state where you were born.
  • Country — Fill in the name of the country where you were born.
    
7. FAMILY NAME AT BIRTH  — Fill in your last name when you were born.

8. OTHER FAMILY NAME(S) PREVIOUSLY USED — Fill in any other last names you may have used.

9. HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SOCIAL INSURANCE NUMBER? — Check the "No" box if you checked the first box at the top of the form for FIRST SOCIAL INSURANCE NUMBER APPLICATION (fee not required).

10. IF "YES," WRITE YOUR NUMBER HERE — If you want to replace your card, fill in the Social Insurance Number you already have in order, using one space for each of the nine digits.

11. STATUS IN CANADA — Check the appropriate box and include the document proving your status when you apply for your SIN.

  • Canadian Citizen — Check here if you have a birth certificate showing that you were born in Canada or a Certificate of Canadian Citizenship.
  • Registered Indian — Check here if you have a Certificate of Indian Status and you want to show that on your SIN.
  • Permanent Resident — Check here if you have a Permanent Resident Card or a Record of Landing and Returning Resident Permit.
  • Other — Check here if you have a Work Permit or Employment Authorization, Temporary Resident Permit, or Permit to Come into or Remain in Canada, or an extension to one of those permits.

12. HOME TELEPHONE NUMBER — Fill in your phone number at home, putting the area code in brackets first: (780) for areas in Alberta north of Ponoka, (403) for areas from Ponoka south.
     
  • DAYTIME TELEPHONE NUMBER — Fill in your phone number where you can be reached during the day.

13. MAILING ADDRESS (where you want your card to be sent) — Fill in the address where you want your card to be sent in the order shown.

  • In care of — Fill in your name or the name of the person who will get your mail for you.
  • Number and Street — Fill in your mailing address.
  • Apartment No. — Fill in your apartment number if you live in an apartment.
  • City, Town, or Village  — Fill in the community name.
  • Province — Print the name of your province.
  • Postal Code — Fill in the postal code. (If you do not know it, you can find your postal code by looking up your street address in the front section of the telephone book.)
    
14. APPLICANT'S SIGNATURE — Sign your form as you usually sign your name.

  • Date —  Fill in the date, including the year, when you signed the form.

The rest of the form is for the government agency — Human Resources Development Canada — that is in charge of SIN applications, so you do not need to fill in anything else.