Social Insurance Number

A social insurance number card. Note the date of expiration; this implies that the holder is neither a permanent resident, nor a Canadian citizen.

A social insurance number (SIN) is a number issued in Canada to administer various government programs. The SIN was created in 1964 to serve as a client account number in the administration of the Canada Pension Plan and Canada's varied employment insurance programs. In 1967, Revenue Canada (now the Canada Revenue Agency) started using the SIN for tax reporting purposes. SINs are issued by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (previously Human Resources Development Canada).

The SIN is formatted as three groups of three digits (e.g., 123-456-789).

Functionality

Through functionality creep, the SIN has become a national identification number, in much the same way that the Social Security Number has in the United States. However, unlike in the US, in Canada there are specific legislated purposes for which a SIN can be requested. Unless an organization can demonstrate that the reason they are requesting a person's SIN is specifically permitted by law, or that no alternative identifiers would suffice to complete the transaction, they cannot deny or refuse a product or service on the grounds of a refusal to provide a SIN. Examples of organizations that legitimately require a SIN include employers, banks and investment companies, and federal government agencies. Giving a SIN when applying for consumer credit, such as buying a car or electronics, or allowing it to be used as a general purpose identification number, such as by your cable company, is strongly discouraged.

The Canadian military used the SIN as a form of unique identifier from the 1960s until the 1980s, when service numbers were reintroduced. Military identification, including ID cards and identity discs were marked with the SIN during this period.

Organization

Social Insurance Numbers that begin with the number "9" are issued to temporary residents who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents (e.g., foreign students, individuals on work visas). These individuals must have an employment authorization in order to work in Canada. SINs beginning with a "9" are different from SINs assigned to citizens and permanent residents, because they have an expiry date (which usually coincides with the expiration of the holder's work authorization). These SINs are invalid unless there is an expiry date listed on the card and the date has not passed.

Validation

Social Insurance Numbers use the Luhn algorithm to determine the last "check" digit.

Geography

The first digit of a SIN indicates the province in which it was registered:

1: Atlantic Provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador (this may also cover overseas residents).

2-3: Québec

4-5: Ontario (#4 includes overseas forces)

6: Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta), Northwest Territories, and Nunavut

7: Pacific Region (British Columbia and Yukon)

8: Not used

9: Temporary resident

0: Not used (Canada Revenue may assign fictitious SIN numbers beginning with zero to taxpayers who do not have SINs)

Note: While the first digit usually identifies the location of registration, the government has found it necessary in the past to supply certain regions with SIN numbers assigned to other regions.

See also

• Canada Revenue Agency
• Government of Canada
• Death Master File, a database of deaths maintained by the Social Security Administration in the U.S.
• Service number (formerly used by the U.S. armed forces, which now use the Social Security number)
• National identification number

External links

• Social Insurance Number FAQ Page
• SIN Privacy FAQ, from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

• Swiss Social Insurance (In German).

• Swiss Social Insurance (In French).