Notice of assessment (NOA)
A notice of assessment is the CRA’s formal statement of how it assessed your return, showing any changes it made, your balance, and your remaining RRSP room.
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Key facts
| Category | Returns & filing |
|---|---|
| Also known as | NOA |
| Issued by | The CRA after processing a return; Revenu Québec issues its own |
| Confirms | Assessed income, tax, balance owing or refund |
| Records | RRSP room, unused tuition, capital and non-capital loss carry-forwards, HBP balance |
| Starts the clock for | A notice of objection |
| Authority | Canada Revenue Agency; Revenu Québec |
What it means in practice
The NOA arrives after your return is processed and is the document that starts the clock: you generally have 90 days from its date to file a notice of objection if you disagree. It also carries figures you need for the following year — RRSP deduction limit, unused tuition, capital loss carryforwards, and your instalment requirement. An NOA that differs from the return you filed means the CRA changed something. That is worth reading rather than filing away, because the 90-day objection window does not restart.
It is a record, not just a receipt
The notice is the authoritative statement of the balances that carry forward: RRSP contribution room, unused tuition, capital and non-capital losses, and Home Buyers' Plan repayments outstanding. Those figures are what the next year's return is built on, so an error left uncorrected propagates. An assessment that differs from the return as filed is worth reading closely rather than filing away. A changed figure usually means a slip the CRA holds that you did not report, a credit recalculated, or an amount disallowed — and each has a different response. Québec residents receive two notices, one from each authority, and they do not always agree. A federal adjustment normally has to be mirrored provincially, and Revenu Québec does not always make the change on its own.
FAQ
The assessment disagrees with my return. What should I do?
Is a reassessment the same thing?
Need this applied to your situation?
A definition only gets you so far. Talk to a Montréal CPA about what this means for your return — in English or French.