Canadians Are Sitting on $2 Billion in Uncashed Government Cheques (Yes, Really)

Published February 3, 2026

If money could sigh loudly from inside a filing cabinet, it would be doing it right now.

According to newly released documents, Canadians have managed to leave more than $2 billion completely untouched by not cashing millions of paper cheques mailed out by the federal government.

That’s billion with a “B.” As in, “I could really use that right now.”

These forgotten cheques include tax refunds, pension payments, and various benefit cheques issued by the Canada Revenue Agency and other federal departments.

In other words, this isn’t Monopoly money.

This is real cash that was mailed, ignored, misplaced, or emotionally filed under I’ll deal with this later.

One particularly painful stat: Canadians failed to deposit roughly $141 million in Canada Carbon Rebate cheques alone.

That’s a lot of grocery money sitting in drawers, glove compartments, and that one junk folder labelled “Important Stuff???”

Even though some rebate programs have ended, there’s good news: government cheques never expire. Ever.

They don’t age, they don’t rot, and they don’t passive-aggressively disappear.

If a cheque was lost, damaged, or accidentally recycled during a spring-cleaning rage, it can be replaced.

If you’re now wondering whether Past You accidentally ignored free money, you can check.

Taxpayers can log into their CRA account to see if any cheques were issued and never cashed, or they can call the agency directly if they enjoy phone menus and hold music that tests your spirit.

So yes, while we’re all complaining about the cost of living, it turns out billions of dollars are just… vibing somewhere in Canada.

Moral of the story: check your mail. Check your drawers. Check that random envelope you’ve been meaning to open since 2017. You might be richer than you think. 🍁💸

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