What is the difference between a T4 and T4A?

A T4 slip reports employment income — wages, salary, bonuses, and CPP/EI deductions made by your employer. A T4A is a "Statement of Pension, Retirement, Annuity, and Other Income" — it covers everything else: self-employment income paid by a payer, pension income, RESP withdrawals (EAPs), scholarship income, CERB/CRB payments, and other miscellaneous income. If you receive both, enter each on the appropriate line of your T1 return.

A T5 slip (Statement of Investment Income) reports interest, dividends, and certain royalties earned outside registered accounts. You receive one from your bank for savings account interest above $50, and from your brokerage for Canadian dividends and foreign investment income in your non-registered (taxable) account. No T5 is issued for income inside TFSA, RRSP, or RESP — that income is sheltered.

A T3 (Statement of Trust Income Allocations and Designations) reports distributions from mutual funds, ETFs, REITs, and other trusts held in non-registered accounts. T3 slips are often issued weeks later than T4/T5 slips — sometimes in late March or April — because trusts must finalize their year-end allocations first. If you hold ETFs in a taxable account, you will receive T3 slips and should wait for them before filing.

What is a T2200 form and who needs it?

Form T2200 (Declaration of Conditions of Employment) is signed by your employer to confirm that you were required to work from home or incur employment expenses as a condition of your employment. You need it to claim employment expenses on your T1 return (work-space-in-the-home, vehicle, meals). The employer signs T2200 at your request — it does not get filed with your return but must be available if the CRA asks. T2200S is a simplified version from COVID-era provisions.

What is the T1135 form and who must file it?

Form T1135 (Foreign Income Verification Statement) must be filed if you own specified foreign property with a total cost of $100,000 CAD or more at any time during the year. This includes foreign stocks, bonds, real estate (not personal use), bank accounts at foreign institutions, and shares in foreign private companies. Penalties for failing to file T1135 are severe ($25/day up to $2,500 minimum plus 5% of the highest cost of foreign property). RRSP/TFSA holdings of foreign assets are excluded.

Canadian Tax Slips & Documents Explained 2026

Canadian tax slips can be confusing — dozens of different forms, multiple slips from different sources, and each one maps to a specific line on your T1 return. This hub explains every slip you’re likely to receive and what to do with it.

Tax slip summary table

Slip	What It Reports	Where It Goes on T1
T4	Employment income, CPP/EI deductions	Line 10100 and pension/CPP deductions
T4A	Pensions, annuities, self-employment, RESP EAPs	Various lines by income type
T4E	Employment Insurance benefits	Line 11900
T5	Investment income (interest, dividends)	Lines 12000, 12010, 12100
T3	Trust income (ETFs, mutual funds, REITs)	Lines 12000, 12010, 12100, 12700
T4RSP	RRSP withdrawals	Line 12900
T4RIF	RRIF withdrawals	Line 11500 (pension income)
TFHSA (T4FHSA)	FHSA contributions and withdrawals	Lines 12905+, Schedule 15
T5008	Securities transactions	Schedule 3 (capital gains/losses)
T2202	Tuition fees	Schedule 11
RL-1	Employment income (Quebec residents)	Quebec provincial return

When to expect your slips

Slip	Deadline for Employer/Payer to Issue
T4	Last day of February
T4A	Last day of February
T5	Last day of February
T3	March 31 (often later — allow until April)
T4RSP/T4RIF	Last day of February
T5008	Last day of February
T2202	February 28
RL-1 (QC)	Last day of February

Tip: If you haven’t received a slip by mid-March, check CRA My Account — many slips are uploaded electronically before the paper copy arrives.

Tax slips & documents articles

Employment slips

Investment slips

Retirement & registered accounts

Education & forms

Foreign income forms

T1135 Foreign Property Guide

General documents

Practical filing workflow for slips

Most filing errors happen when slips are entered out of order or duplicate values are imported without review. A clean process reduces reassessment risk.

Gather all employment and pension slips first (T4, T4A, T4RSP, T4RIF).
Enter investment slips next (T5, T3, T5008) and verify account-level totals.
Reconcile education and deduction forms (T2202, T2200, RRSP receipts).
Cross-check CRA My Account slip list against your files before submission.

If numbers do not match your broker or payroll records, pause and correct before filing rather than amending after assessment.