Young and Frederick - ScotiaMcLeod Whitby

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is warning taxpayers to beware of a recent scam where some Canadians are receiving a letter fraudulently identified as coming from the CRA and asking for personal information. The letter is not from the CRA. A PDF version of the letter is available on the CRA Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/alert.

The letter claims that there is “insufficient information” for the individual’s tax return and that in order to receive any “claims,” they will have to update their records. The letter attaches a form specifically requesting the individual’s personal information in writing, via fax or email, including information on bank accounts and passports. This letter is not from the CRA and Canadians should not provide their personal information to the sender.

All taxpayers should be vigilant when divulging any confidential information to third parties. The CRA has well established practices to protect the confidentiality of taxpayers’ information. 

The CRA has notified the proper law enforcement authorities of this scam.

For information about this and other similar scams, or to report deceptive telemarketing activity, visit www.phonebusters.com, send an email to  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or call 1-888-495-8501.

For more information, go to www.cra-arc.gc.ca

Globe and Mail Update

Canada's economy expanded for a third straight month in November, as mining, energy and wholesale trade helped pull the country further out of recession.

The 0.4-per-cent growth in the month, reported Friday by Statistics Canada, was more than economists expected. The federal statistics gathering agency also revised October's growth figure up to 0.3 per cent, from the initially reported 0.2 pert cent. September's reading was also revised up a tenth of a percentage point.

November's data indicates the economy – which grew just 0.4 per cent in the third quarter – is on track to meet or exceed the Bank of Canada's 3.3 per cent growth estimate for the final three months of 2009, economists said.

“It's certainly an indication that the economy picked up a lot of steam in the last quarter,” said Millan Mulraine, an economics strategist at TD Securities in Toronto. “We didn't see it coming; we never thought it would be at this level so early.''