Lesson 16 — Activity 2: Your Social Insurance Number

The Social Insurance Number (SIN) application form is necessary when you are applying for a job. In this activity, you will review the SIN application form and learn how to protect your SIN once you receive it.

In Canada, you need a Social Insurance Number to work and to deal with various government programs, such as employment insurance and income tax. Although you cannot use your SIN as a form of identification, this information is used by the government to be sure that people are entitled to such social programs as Employment Insurance benefits, income tax refunds, Canada Pension Plan payments, GST rebates, and benefits.

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

If you want to work in Canada, you will need a SIN. It is an important document to help the Canadian government keep track of us and our employment, and our employers will need to know this number for issuing our paycheques. Therefore, you will need to fill out an application form to apply for a Social Insurance Number.

As well as obtaining the application form, you must be able to prove your identity and status in Canada with specific documents. You will need one of the following documents to complete the application form:

• Birth Certificate (if you were born in Canada)
• Certificate of Canadian Citizenship (if you were born outside of Canada) or Certificate of Birth Abroad
• Permanent Resident Card (if that is your status) — some other cards may also be accepted
• Work Permits, if you are currently labelled as a "Temporary Resident"

How to Protect Your Social Insurance Number

You know that having a Social Insurance Number is very important to your participation in the workforce. Therefore, it must be protected in order to prevent misuse.

Through your Social Insurance Number, government departments and banks can identify you and keep track of your income. This means that your SIN contains access to a lot of important information about you. Unfortunately, that also means that someone could take advantage of you and use your Social Insurance Number to get a job or to get credit for themselves. When a person takes on your identity or pretends to be you, it is called identity theft.

Image courtesy of Getty

Service Canada gives the following advice to help us protect ourselves from such possibilities:

1. The only people or agencies who have the right to ask for our SIN are:
   • employers
   • anyone who prepares income tax information for you
   • banks or any other financial institution where you earn an income or interest
2. Do not give your SIN to any person or business, other than those listed above, even if they ask for it. Your SIN is not the same type of identification as a birth certificate. Its purpose is to assist the government in keeping track of your earnings and benefits.
3. You should not carry your SIN card with you (except if you need to show it to a new employer). Otherwise, it should be kept it in a safe place, like a safety deposit box at a bank.
4. Contact the following agencies if you think someone is using your Social Insurance Number:
   • police
   • Service Canada Centre
   • bank