How Long Does a Tax Refund Take in Canada?

How long does a tax refund take in Canada?

Most people who file a tax return online get their tax refund in Canada within about two weeks, as long as the CRA receives the return by the filing due date. Paper returns are slower, usually up to 12 weeks. Returns that need a closer review, extra documents or a non-resident assessment take longer still.

The CRA's own pages give slightly different figures for paper returns, so plan on the longer end. The 2 and 16 week timelines come from the CRA refunds page. Our guide to the tax filing deadline in Canada covers the due dates that these timelines depend on.

Figures checked October 2026; confirm current processing times with the CRA's refunds and processing times pages.

When will I get my tax refund? A worked example

You will get your tax refund once the CRA assesses your return, so the date depends on when you file and how. A refund simply means more tax was taken from your pay during the year than you owed. The example below shows where the number comes from and when it might land.

1. Your employer deducted $9,800 of income tax from your pay in 2025, shown on your T4.
2. After deductions and credits, your return shows total tax payable of $8,600.
3. The difference is your refund: $9,800 minus $8,600 is $1,200.
4. You file online with direct deposit on March 10, 2026. Within 2 weeks puts the deposit around March 24.
5. Had you mailed a paper return the same day, the 12 week window would run to about June 2.

If you are curious why the refund was so large, the income tax calculator for Canada shows the tax on any income. A big refund every year usually means too much tax is being withheld, which you can adjust by updating your TD1 form with your employer or asking the CRA to reduce tax deducted at source.

The amounts and dates in this example are illustrative.

Does the CRA pay interest on late refunds?

Yes. The CRA may pay compound daily interest on a 2025 refund. Interest starts from the latest of three dates: May 30, 2026, the 30th day after you filed, or the day you overpaid. In practice, interest only applies when an on-time refund takes longer than usual, or when a reassessment increases your refund.

Refunds of $2 or less are generally not paid. If the processing time has passed and nothing has arrived, check the status in My Account first.

What to do with your tax refund

A refund feels like a windfall, but it is your own money returned late. Deciding where it goes before it arrives stops it disappearing into everyday spending. A simple split works for many people: some for high-interest debt, some for savings, a little for something you enjoy.

Using the $1,200 example, that could mean $600 toward a credit card balance, $400 into an emergency fund and $200 for yourself. If you have no debt, a TFSA deposit is a common choice; see the TFSA limit for 2026. EMOH Pay, free on iPhone, Android and the web, lets you log the refund as income and assign it to savings goals in a couple of taps.