How long to keep tax documents in Canada
Short answer: six years, for almost every document. There is no separate rule for slips, statements, donation receipts or investment paperwork. The part that catches people is when the six years start: not the date printed on the document, but the end of the last tax year that document can still affect.
There is only one rule
The CRA does not publish a table of retention periods by document type, because there isn't one. The obligation attaches to records, not to categories of paper. The Income Tax Act requires records and books of account, together with every account and voucher necessary to verify the information in them, to be kept until six years from the end of the last taxation year to which they relate (Income Tax Act, section 230). GST/HST records fall under a different statute with the same six years, and payroll records under another again. The CRA confirms the rules are similar across all of them.
So the useful question is never "how long do I keep a T4". It is "what is the last tax year this document could still change a number on a return".
The counting trap
This is the part almost every published guide gets wrong, and it is the reason so many people shred too early. The CRA states that the retention period is generally determined by the last tax year when a record may be required, and not the year when the transaction occurred and the record was created (CRA, IC78-10R5, paragraph 29).
Read that twice, because it dissolves most of the apparent exceptions. An RRSP receipt for a contribution you carry forward and deduct seven years later is not governed by a special RRSP rule. It is governed by the ordinary rule, counted from the year you finally deducted it. Same for a donation you carry forward, a tuition amount you bank until you have income, and a renovation invoice that only matters in the year you sell the house. One rule. Different starting lines.
How long to keep it, by document
Every row below is six years unless marked otherwise. The right column is the one to read. Where the CRA imposes no retention period at all, the table says so rather than inventing one.
| Document | Keep | Six years counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Filed returns, and slips (T4, T4A, T5, T3, T5008) | 6 years | End of the tax year the return covers. If filed late, from the date you filed |
| Business receipts and invoices | 6 years | End of the last tax year the records relate to |
| GST/HST records | 6 years | End of the year the records relate to (Excise Tax Act) |
| Payroll records | 6 years | End of the calendar year, even if your fiscal year differs |
| Rental property records (T776) | 6 years | End of the tax year they relate to |
| Employee home office (T2200 or T2200S, plus receipts) | 6 years | End of the tax year you claimed the expenses for |
| Childcare receipts | 6 years | End of the year the care was provided (these cannot be carried forward) |
| Bank and credit card statements | 6 years, or no rule | Six years if anything on them supports your return. If the account backs nothing you reported, no CRA rule applies |
| Medical expense receipts | 6 years | End of the tax year of the return you claimed them on, which is often not the year on the receipt |
| Donation receipts (your copy) | 6 years | End of the last year you claimed any part of it. Unused amounts carry forward up to five years |
| RRSP, PRPP and SPP contribution receipts | 6 years | End of the year you actually deducted it, which can be years after you contributed |
| Tuition certificates (T2202) | 6 years | End of the year the amount is finally claimed or transferred, not the school year |
| Moving expense receipts | 6 years | End of the last year the expenses were deducted, which can be after the year you moved |
| Investment and brokerage records | 6 years after you sell | End of the year of the sale. In practice the purchase paperwork has to survive the whole holding period first |
| Property purchase, improvement and sale records | 6 years after you sell | End of the year of the sale, so a renovation invoice can stay live for decades |
| Principal residence records | 6 years after you sell | End of the year of the sale. The sale must be reported even when the gain is fully exempt |
| Vehicle logbook used as a base year | 6 years | End of the tax year it was last used to establish business use, which can be long after it was written |
| Records of someone who has died | Until the clearance certificate is issued | Not counted from a year end at all. This period can end sooner than six years |
| Utility bills | 6 years, or no rule | Six years if claimed. Never claimed means no CRA rule |
| Your own TFSA records | No CRA rule | Nothing here supports a deduction, so no period is published. Keeping them is your call |
The two real exceptions
Almost everything above is the same rule with a different starting line. Two rows are genuinely different, and they are worth knowing because they cut in opposite directions.
The vehicle logbook. The CRA acknowledges the general six years and then carves this out by name: a full logbook used to establish a base year for business use must be kept for six years from the end of the tax year for which it is last used to establish that business use (CRA, motor vehicle records). A logbook written in 2026 and still supporting your business-use percentage in 2031 is live until the end of 2037.
Records of a person who has died. This is the one common case where the period can end early. The retention period for a deceased taxpayer's records ends on the day the CRA issues a clearance certificate, which is an event rather than a year end, and can arrive well before six years are up (Income Tax Regulations, section 5800).
When the CRA has no rule at all
The obligation attaches to records that support something on a return. If a document supports nothing you reported, the record-keeping rules do not reach it. That covers a utility bill you never claimed, a personal bank statement backing nothing on your return, and your own TFSA contribution paperwork.
This is not a loophole and it is not an instruction to throw those documents out. It just means the decision is yours rather than the CRA's, and you should make it knowing that if you later decide to claim something, the supporting paper needs to exist.
Three years is not the retention rule
A lot of Canadian advice blurs two different numbers. The three year figure is the normal reassessment period, which limits how long the CRA generally has to reassess a return. It is a restriction on the CRA, not permission for you to shred, and the Income Tax Act contains many situations that extend it. The retention requirement stays at six years regardless.
If you need the space back sooner
Destroying records before the period ends requires the CRA's written permission, requested on Form T137. The route most people actually want is imaging: replace the paper with a legible electronic copy that meets the CRA's standard, which is not early destruction at all. Our guides on whether the CRA accepts photos and throwing out paper after scanning walk through what a compliant image has to look like.
The takeaway
Six years, for practically everything, counted from the end of the last tax year the document can still affect. When you are unsure about a specific document, do not ask how old it is. Ask when it stops being able to change a number on a return, and count from the end of that year. For receipts specifically, including what happens when you cannot produce them, see how long to keep receipts in Canada.
Common questions
How long do you have to keep tax documents in Canada?
Six years, for almost every document. The Income Tax Act requires records and books of account, together with every account and voucher necessary to verify them, to be kept until six years from the end of the last taxation year to which they relate. The same six years applies to GST/HST records under the Excise Tax Act and to payroll records.
Do the six years run from the date on the document?
No, and this is where most published advice goes wrong. The clock runs from the end of the last tax year the record can still affect, not the year it was created. The CRA states that the retention period is generally determined by the last tax year when a record may be required, and not the year when the transaction occurred and the record was created.
Can I throw out tax records after three years?
No. The three year figure is the normal reassessment period, which limits how long the CRA generally has to reassess a return. It is a limit on the CRA, not permission to destroy records, and there are many situations that extend it. The retention requirement remains six years.
Are there documents with no CRA retention rule at all?
Yes. The requirement attaches to records that support something on a return. A utility bill you never claimed, a personal bank statement backing nothing you reported, and your own TFSA contribution records are not covered by a CRA retention period, because nothing on them supports a claim. Keeping them is your call rather than a legal requirement.
Can I destroy tax records early if I run out of space?
Only with written permission. Destroying records before the retention period ends requires the CRA's approval, which is requested using Form T137. Imaging the paper and keeping a legible electronic copy is the usual route to clearing physical space without asking permission.
Six years is a long time for paper
Bagging is a free iPhone app: photograph a receipt once, on-device text recognition reads the vendor, total and date, and the image stays filed and exportable for as long as you need it. Thermal paper rarely lasts the retention period on its own.