If you have registered a new business number, added a GST/HST account, or opened a payroll program account with the Canada Revenue Agency recently, the process changed again this month. As of Tuesday, July 14, 2026, the CRA's Business Registration Online (BRO) service — the tool used to register a business number and most program accounts — is only accessible once you sign in to a CRA account. For Alberta owners, there is a genuinely useful shortcut buried in that change: Alberta is one of only two provinces whose provincial digital ID plugs directly into the CRA's sign-in system.
What changed on July 14
Previously, parts of Business Registration Online could be started without a full CRA sign-in. That is no longer the case. The CRA now requires every user to authenticate first, using one of three credential types: a CRA user ID and password, a Sign-In Partner (bank-based credential), or a provincial partner login.
The CRA frames the change as security-driven: registering a business number, and the GST/HST, payroll, corporate income tax, and import/export accounts that sit under it, exposes enough identifying and financial information that the agency wants a verified sign-in on every session, not just at the point of filing.
This is the second tightening of BRO access in less than a year. Since November 3, 2025, the CRA has no longer accepted business number or program account registrations by phone through its Business Enquiries line — registration has to go through the online BRO portal, full stop.
Together, the two changes close off both of the older, lower-friction paths (unauthenticated online access and phone registration) in favour of a single, sign-in-gated online channel.
Why this is worth a second look for Alberta owners specifically
The CRA's list of accepted sign-in credentials includes a detail that only applies in two provinces: a provincial partner login. Alberta and British Columbia are currently the only provinces whose government digital ID has been integrated as a CRA sign-in partner. For Alberta business owners and the individuals behind them (directors, partners, sole proprietors), that means an Alberta.ca Account can be used to sign in to CRA My Account and, by extension, to Business Registration Online.
Source: Canada Revenue Agency — About provincial partners.
The practical advantage is bigger than it sounds. Someone registering directly with CRA credentials for the first time typically needs to wait for a mailed CRA security code, or complete the CRA's Document Verification Service, before they get full access to My Account. Signing in through a provincial partner skips that step: if you already hold an Alberta.ca Account and can validate your identity with your Social Insurance Number the first time you connect it, you get immediate CRA access with no mailed code and no separate document check. For a business owner who needs to open a payroll account this week, not in two to three weeks once a security code arrives, that is the difference between registering today and registering next month.
What has not changed
Two long-standing BRO rules are unaffected by the July 14 update, and both still trip people up:
- BRO still requires a Social Insurance Number for the registrant. The tool is built around individual identity verification — the owner, a director, or a partner needs a SIN to complete registration. Corporations whose directors are all non-resident, or where no one involved holds a Canadian SIN, still need to register by paper (Form RC1) rather than through BRO or its sign-in gate.
- The information required to register is unchanged: legal and operating names, business activity, fiscal year-end, and the identifying details (name, SIN, date of birth) of the owner or directors initiating the registration.
In other words, July 14 changed how you get into the tool, not what the tool asks for once you're in.
A practical checklist before your next CRA registration
- Confirm you (or whoever handles registrations for your business) already has a CRA account set up, rather than discovering the sign-in requirement mid-registration. If you have never signed in to CRA My Account or My Business Account, do that first — separately from whatever registration you actually need to complete.
- If you're an Alberta resident, set up (or confirm) your Alberta.ca Account ahead of time and link it as your CRA sign-in method. It is worth doing this before you need it, since first-time linking still requires SIN-based identity validation.
- Do not plan on registering a new business number, GST/HST account, or payroll account by phone. That door closed on November 3, 2025; budget the extra 10–15 minutes an online registration through BRO takes instead of assuming a quick call will do it.
- If a director, partner, or owner only holds a temporary SIN, check eligibility before starting — some temporary-SIN holders are directed to the paper RC1 form rather than BRO for certain program accounts, so confirm the right channel before you're partway through an online session.
- If your bookkeeper or accountant registers accounts on your behalf, make sure their access is set up as an authorized representative through Represent a Client, rather than relying on an owner's personal sign-in for every future registration — that separation matters more now that every session requires full authentication.
Where this fits into your broader compliance picture
None of this changes tax rates, deadlines, or what you owe. But it is exactly the kind of quiet administrative shift that costs a business real time if it is discovered at the wrong moment — mid-hire, when a new payroll account is needed on short notice, or mid-expansion, when a new GST/HST account has to be in place before an invoice goes out. Alberta owners who set up their Alberta.ca Account sign-in now, before the next registration is urgent, are the ones who will find this change to be a minor convenience rather than a bottleneck.
Key takeaways
- As of July 14, 2026, the CRA's Business Registration Online tool requires a full CRA sign-in before use — CRA credentials, a Sign-In Partner, or a provincial partner.
- Alberta and British Columbia are the only two provinces whose government digital ID (Alberta.ca Account, in Alberta's case) works as a CRA sign-in partner, giving eligible users instant access without a mailed security code or document verification step.
- Phone-based business number and program account registration ended on November 3, 2025 — registration is now online-only through BRO.
- BRO still requires a SIN for the registering owner, director, or partner; corporations without a Canadian-resident director still need to register on paper.
- Set up your CRA sign-in method — Alberta.ca Account included — before your next registration is time-sensitive, not during it.
If your business needs a new program account set up, your bookkeeper's representative access reviewed, or a broader look at how administrative CRA changes like this affect your compliance workflow, RN Canada works with Alberta owner-managed businesses on exactly this kind of practical, day-to-day tax administration.