Your CRA Notice of Assessment (NOA) is the receipt for your tax return. It tells you what CRA actually agreed to, what they changed, and three numbers that matter all year: your refund or balance owing, your RRSP deduction limit for next year, and your TFSA contribution room as of January 1. This guide walks through every section you'll see on the 2026 NOA, and what to do about each one.

This guide follows the layout of the NOA as it appears in CRA My Account. The structure is the same for every filer — only the numbers change — so you can read this with your own notice open beside it.

Page 1 — the summary box

The first thing CRA shows you is a single summary line: "Refund $X" or "Balance owing $X" or, occasionally, "Nil — no refund or balance owing." This is the bottom line after CRA matched every T-slip, applied every credit, and netted any old balances.

If your refund is smaller than your tax software predicted, the most common culprits are:

• A missed T-slip — usually a T5 or T4A CRA had on file that didn't make it into your return
• An old balance owing from a prior year that CRA quietly applied first
• Instalment interest because last year's tax was over $3,000 and you didn't pay quarterly
• A clawback on the Canada Workers Benefit, GST/HST credit, or a provincial top-up

Every dollar of difference between what you filed and what CRA assessed shows up further down in the Explanation of changes section. Don't argue with the summary — argue with the line item that caused it.

Page 1 — account summary

Below the headline number, the account summary shows: previous balance, payments and credits applied, this year's assessed result, and your current balance. Negative numbers (in parentheses, CRA-style) mean money owed to you. Positive numbers mean money you owe.

If you see "Previous balance" greater than zero and you don't remember owing CRA anything, two possibilities: (1) you owe instalment interest from last year, or (2) a prior reassessment changed an earlier return. Check CRA My Account → Accounts and payments → View statement of account.

Page 2 — explanation of changes

This is where CRA explains what they changed versus what you filed. Each change is dollar-for-dollar with a one-line reason. Common changes include:

• "We added $X for missed T5 from [bank]" — a bank reported interest income you didn't include
• "We adjusted your spouse's eligible dependant claim" — both partners tried to claim the same child
• "We disallowed $X in moving expenses" — the move didn't meet the 40 km test
• "We adjusted your medical expense claim" — receipts didn't match the 3% AGI threshold

If a change looks wrong, you have two options: file a T1 Adjustment (form T1-ADJ, fast, usually accepted within 8 weeks) or file a Notice of Objection (form T400A, slower but a formal dispute that preserves your appeal rights). We cover both in our NOA dispute guide.

Page 2 — RRSP deduction limit

Halfway down page 2 is the RRSP deduction limit statement. This box shows three numbers that decide your retirement-saving room for the next 12 months:

1. Unused RRSP deduction room from prior years — what you didn't use up
2. Plus 18% of your earned income for 2025 (max $32,490 for 2026) — your annual top-up
3. Minus your 2025 pension adjustment — if your employer pension already counts

The result is your 2026 RRSP deduction limit. Use the RRSP calculator to estimate your tax savings before contributing. We dig into this section in detail in RRSP deduction limit on your NOA.

Page 2 — TFSA contribution room

Just below the RRSP section is your TFSA contribution room as of January 1, 2026. This number is wrong half the time. CRA's TFSA tracking lags the issuer reporting cycle — January 1 is a snapshot, but contributions and withdrawals you made in November and December may not yet be reflected.

The safe move: track your own TFSA activity all year, use CRA My Account as a sanity check rather than the source of truth, and run our TFSA calculator against your actual statements. Full breakdown in why CRA's TFSA number is wrong.

Page 3 — carryforwards

Page 3 lists every amount you can carry forward to future years:

• Capital losses — net capital losses applicable to future years (no expiry)
• Non-capital losses — usually from self-employment (20-year carryforward)
• Tuition / education amounts — unused federal and provincial
• Donations — five-year carryforward window
• Home Buyers' Plan repayments — what you owe back into your RRSP per year
• Lifelong Learning Plan repayments — same idea, education edition

Save this page. These are the numbers your tax software will ask you for next April.

What to actually do after your NOA arrives

1. If you have a refund: direct deposit usually lands within 5–10 business days of the NOA date. Cheques take 3–4 weeks. See how long CRA refunds take in 2026.
2. If you have a balance owing: the deadline to pay without interest was April 30, 2026 (or June 15 if self-employed, but interest started April 30 either way). Pay through online banking, CRA My Payment, or pre-authorized debit. See balance owing on your NOA.
3. If something looks wrong: don't ignore it — you have 90 days to file a Notice of Objection, but CRA generally accepts T1 adjustments within 10 years.
4. If you got a "review letter" with your NOA: that's separate from a reassessment. See review letter vs audit vs reassessment.

Bottom line

The NOA is not just a receipt — it's the document that sets your contribution limits, carryforwards, and CRA payment schedule for the next 12 months. Save it as a PDF, and re-check the RRSP and TFSA sections before any November–December contribution. The single biggest tax mistake we see Canadians make is over-contributing because they trusted a stale CRA My Account number instead of the NOA in their hand.

Sources: CRA — About your Notice of Assessment, CRA — Contributing to an RRSP, CRA — Tax-Free Savings Account.