What to Do When Someone Dies: A Checklist for Canadian Families

When someone dies in Canada, three things come first: the medical certification of the death, registering the death with the province or territory, and getting the death certificate that follows registration. A funeral home usually handles the first two. After that the job splits in two directions, one federal and one provincial. Service Canada has to be told so that Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security payments stop, and the Canada Revenue Agency has to be dealt with before anyone receives a cent of the estate. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The rest of this page is the order it usually happens in. Registering a death, probate and the health card are provincial jobs, and Quebec runs on civil law with its own rules, its own pension plan and its own word for the person in charge, so each point below names the province it comes from and links to that province's own page.

The checklist, in the order things happen

Fourteen steps, roughly in sequence. Most spread across the first few months. Very little has to happen on day one.

1. Let a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner or coroner complete the medical certification of death.
2. Choose a funeral home, which in most provinces registers the death for you.
3. Get the death certificate once the death has been registered, and order several copies.
4. Find the will, and check who it names as executor, or as liquidator in Quebec.
5. Tell Service Canada so that CPP and Old Age Security payments stop.
6. Cancel the provincial health card.
7. Mail the passport back to the Passport Program.
8. Apply for the CPP death benefit, or the QPP death benefit for work done in Quebec.
9. Check whether a surviving spouse or common-law partner and any children qualify for survivor benefits.
10. Ask each bank, registered plan and insurer what they need before they will release anything.
11. Work out whether the estate needs probate, which depends on the province and on the kind of will.
12. File the final tax return by the deadline that applies to the date of death.
13. Ask the CRA for a clearance certificate before you distribute anything.
14. Distribute, keep the receipts, and keep the file.

If you are reading this in the first few days, the only items that matter yet are the first four. Grief is not a scheduling problem. If you or someone close to you is struggling, Health Canada's mental health page says that if you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8, and that help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Registering the death: a provincial job with three different shapes

Nothing financial moves until the death is registered and the certificate exists. Who registers it, and what you get at the end, depends on where the person died.

In Ontario, a funeral director usually oversees the process of registering a death, but a family member can also register the death without using a funeral service provider. Two documents feed into it: a Medical Certificate of Death from the doctor or coroner, and a Statement of Death completed by the funeral director and the informant. Ontario also spells out the sequencing that catches people out: you can apply for a death certificate at any time, but it cannot be issued until a death is registered. (Source: ontario.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

British Columbia splits the job slightly differently. The Medical Certification of Death is completed by a medical practitioner, nurse practitioner or coroner, and the funeral director registers the death once he or she has both that certification and the necessary information about the deceased. In BC the funeral director issues a death certificate and a disposition permit, and certificates can also be ordered from a Vital Statistics Agency or Service BC counter. (Source: gov.bc.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Quebec is different. A death there is declared to the Directeur de l'etat civil, and in general the funeral service business that takes charge of the body of the deceased declares the death. The declaration is to be completed jointly by the declarant of the death and the funeral director. The same sequencing rule applies: only after registration is it possible to process an application for a certificate, a copy of an act or attestation concerning the event. (Source: etatcivil.gouv.qc.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Those are three provinces. The rest each run their own vital statistics office with their own forms, fees and waiting times, so look up your own rather than assuming the Ontario or BC process applies.

Telling the federal government

This is the part people put off, and the part that costs money if it slips. Service Canada needs to hear from you so the payments stop. The benefits that have to be cancelled are the OAS pension, including the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the Allowance and the Allowance for the Survivor, plus the CPP retirement pension, CPP disability benefits, CPP children's benefits and CPP survivor benefits. The rule on timing is short and unforgiving: benefits are payable for the month in which the death occurs, and benefits received after that will have to be repaid. The toll-free number for Canada and the United States is 1-800-277-9914, open 8:30 am to 4:30 pm local time, Monday to Friday. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The social insurance number often looks after itself. Where the death happened in a province, the provincial vital statistics agency will automatically notify the SIN program for you, and you do not need to take any further action. Where the death happened in a territory or outside Canada, you must report it to the SIN program yourself. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The passport goes back. If the individual who died had a passport and it is still valid, you should mail it to the Passport Program, Gatineau QC K1A 0G3, Canada. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The health card is provincial, not federal. In Ontario, to cancel a family member's health card following their death, you visit any ServiceOntario centre. (Source: ontario.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) Other provinces have their own process, so check your own.

Money the family may be able to claim

Three CPP benefits sit behind a death, and each is a separate application.

The death benefit is the lump sum. As at the date this was checked, and effective 1 January 2025, it is a basic amount of $2,500, and a possible top-up of $2,500, with the maximum benefit at $5,000. Service Canada says it takes approximately six to 12 weeks to receive your payment from the date it receives your completed application. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The survivor's pension is the ongoing one, a monthly payment paid to the legal spouse or common-law partner of the deceased contributor. At 65 and over you will receive 60% of the contributor's retirement pension, if you are not receiving other CPP benefits. Under 65 you will receive a flat rate portion and 37.5% of the contributor's retirement pension, on the same condition. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

There is also a monthly payment for a child of the deceased contributor, paid where the contributor made sufficient contributions to the CPP. Children qualify if they are under age 18, or age 18 to 25 and in full-time or part-time attendance at a recognized school or university. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Quebec runs its own plan, so these are the wrong forms there. The CRA states that if you have employees whose province of employment is Quebec, regardless of the employee's province or territory of residence, you have to deduct Quebec Pension Plan contributions instead of CPP contributions. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) Retraite Quebec describes the QPP as a compulsory public insurance plan for workers aged 18 and over, whose purpose is to provide persons who have worked in Quebec and their families with basic financial protection in the event of retirement, death or disability. (Source: retraitequebec.gouv.qc.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) Work done in Quebec runs through it, not through the CPP forms above.

The Quebec numbers differ from the federal ones. As at the date this was checked, the amount of the QPP death benefit is equal to the contributions made, up to a maximum of $2,500, and eligibility requires contributions of at least $500 to the Quebec Pension Plan or the Canada Pension Plan. For survivors' benefits, the deceased must have contributed for 10 years, or for at least one third of his or her contributory period, for a minimum of three years. (Source: retraitequebec.gouv.qc.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

If the person served, check one more. Veterans Affairs Canada says its Death Benefit is paid to a spouse or common-law partner and dependent children if a Canadian Armed Forces member has died as a result of a service-related injury or disease, where the death occurred within 30 days after the injury occurred or the disease was contracted. Beyond 30 days, that support is provided through Disability benefits instead. (Source: veterans.gc.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Who is legally in charge, and whether the estate needs probate

In the common law provinces the will names an executor. In Quebec the role has a different name and a different set of duties.

Quebec calls the role the liquidator. Quebec's guidance describes the liquidator as the person responsible for settling the succession of the deceased and putting their affairs in order, with duties that include closing accounts, filing tax returns, recovering money owed, inventorying assets and debts, and dividing property. Being named does not force you to take it on: a liquidator is not obliged to accept the role unless he or she is the sole heir. There is also a registration step with no equivalent elsewhere in Canada. You must register the liquidator's name in the Register of Personal and Movable Real Rights, known as the RDPRM, and as at the date this was checked the fee was $59. (Source: quebec.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Quebec also changes the probate question at its root. Quebec's guidance is explicit that holograph wills and wills made in the presence of witnesses must be probated after the testator dies, and notarial wills do not need to be probated. (Source: quebec.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) So in Quebec the first question is not how big the estate is, it is what kind of will exists. A notarial will skips the step entirely, which is one reason notaries are so central to estate work there.

Outside Quebec, probate is a provincial court process with a provincial price tag, and the rates are not comparable between provinces. Two examples, both as at the date this was checked.

In Ontario the charge is the Estate Administration Tax. You do not need to pay it if the value of the estate is $50,000 or less, and for estates valued over $50,000 it is calculated as $15 for every $1,000, or part thereof, of the value of the estate. That rate has been in effect since 1 January 2020. (Source: ontario.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

In British Columbia the Probate Fee Act sets no fee if the value of the estate does not exceed $25,000. Above that it is $6 for every $1,000 or part of $1,000 by which the value exceeds $25,000 but is not more than $50,000, plus $14 for every $1,000 or part of $1,000 by which it exceeds $50,000. (Source: bclaws.gov.bc.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Those are Ontario and British Columbia figures. They are not a national rate and they are a poor guide to any other province, because the structures genuinely differ. Look up the province where the estate is being administered, and ask each bank and plan provider what proof they want before you apply for anything.

The two tax deadlines, and the one that depends on the date of death

The final return is the personal one, for the person who died, and the deadline moves with the date of death.

For a death between 1 January and 31 October, the CRA says the due date to file the final return and pay a balance owing is April 30 of the year following the death. For a death between 1 November and 31 December, the due date is 6 months following the death, on the same calendar day as the date of death. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

What the return has to report is the second half of the problem. The CRA explains that when a person dies, they are considered to have sold all their property just prior to death, even though there is no actual disposition or sale. This is called a deemed disposition and may result in a capital gain or capital loss, unless the property or asset is transferred to a spouse or common-law partner or a specific exception applies. It adds that property transferred to a surviving spouse or common-law partner who is a resident of Canada at the time of the death, or a certain trust, may not result in a capital gain or capital loss in the final return. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

That is the biggest reason a final return can produce a tax bill nobody expected. A cottage held for thirty years can carry a large gain that surfaces only on this one return.

RRSPs and TFSAs: the part people get wrong

Registered plans behave differently from each other, and the difference decides who pays the tax.

For an RRSP, the CRA says that generally, it considers a deceased annuitant to have received, immediately before death, an amount equal to the fair market value of all the property of the unmatured plan at the time of death. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) There is a well-defined exception for a spouse or common-law partner. If all of the property held in the RRSP is to be paid to the surviving spouse or common-law partner, and that payment is directly transferred to their RRSP, RRIF, pooled registered pension plan, specified pension plan, or to an issuer to buy the surviving spouse or common-law partner an eligible annuity, before the end of the year following the year of death, a T4RSP slip will not be issued in the deceased's name. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

A TFSA has two quite different outcomes, and which one applies depends on how the person filled in the paperwork years ago.

The first is the successor holder. The CRA defines one as the survivor of the deceased who is named as the new holder of the TFSA in either the TFSA contract or in the will of the deceased holder. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) Its TFSA definitions page is narrower about who that survivor can be: a successor holder is a spouse or common-law partner of the holder at the time of death, named by the deceased as the successor holder of the TFSA. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) Where that applies, the value of the TFSA on the date of death and any income earned after that date are still sheltered from tax under the successor holder, and because the TFSA continues to exist, the deceased holder is not considered to receive an amount from the TFSA upon their death. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The second is the designated beneficiary, and the line falls in a different place. The CRA says a designated beneficiary does not have to pay tax on any amount they receive from a TFSA as long as the total amount is not more than the fair market value of the property held in the TFSA on the date of death. However, any TFSA earnings made after the date of death and before the estate is settled are taxable. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Read those two paragraphs together and the practical point is simple. Under a successor holder the account keeps growing tax free. Under a designated beneficiary only the value frozen at the date of death is tax free, and every dollar of growth after that is taxable. Same account, same family, different form ticked.

One Quebec note on bank accounts, because the rule there is written down and unusual. Quebec's guidance says that in the past, when one of an account's co-holders died, the financial institution did not remit the account's contents to the surviving spouse until a liquidator for the succession has been appointed, and that a special law lets a surviving spouse access their share of the account balance faster. Absent other instructions, the surviving spouse receives half of the account balance. (Source: quebec.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) Outside Quebec, how a joint account is treated on death is a question for the bank and for the province, so ask the bank rather than assuming.

The clearance certificate, and why it protects you personally

If you read one section twice, make it this one. It is the step that stands between a legal representative and their own bank account.

The CRA says that having a clearance certificate confirms that an estate of a person who died, trust, or corporation has paid all amounts of income tax and GST/HST, interest, and penalties it owed at the time the certificate was issued, or that the Minister of National Revenue has accepted security for the payment. The form is TX19, Asking for a Clearance Certificate. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The consequence of skipping it is set out just as plainly. The CRA says that if the legal representative does not get a clearance certificate before they distribute assets and there are any tax amounts owing under the Income Tax Act or Part IX of the Excise Tax Act to the CRA, they are personally liable for unpaid amounts, up to the value of the amount of assets distributed. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

In plain terms: pay the beneficiaries first, and an unpaid tax bill can land on you rather than on the estate. It is the strongest argument there is for not letting family pressure set the timetable.

What actually makes this slow, and the part you can fix now

Almost none of it is the law. It is the hunting.

Every step above assumes somebody can answer a question. Which bank. Which insurer. Whether the TFSA has a successor holder or a designated beneficiary on it. Whether the will is notarial or witnessed. Who the accountant was. Most families cannot, because the answers lived in one person's head and in a drawer nobody has opened, and each unanswered question turns into a phone call, a form and a wait.

A lawyer or a notary is genuinely worth paying for the legal corner, the will itself and a contested estate especially. The rest of it, the map of where everything is, is a kitchen table job that costs a fraction of what guided help costs.

If you are handling an estate right now, the free Executor Toolkit lays the first twelve months out as a roadmap. If you are reading this because someone close to you has not written any of it down yet, The Estate Organiser is the book they fill it in. It is completed on your own computer or printed and written by hand, so the account numbers and the wishes stay with the family instead of sitting on a company's server.

Common questions about what to do when someone dies in Canada

Who do you notify when someone dies in Canada?

Start with Service Canada, so that the OAS pension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the Allowance, the Allowance for the Survivor, the CPP retirement pension, CPP disability benefits, CPP children's benefits and CPP survivor benefits are cancelled. Benefits are payable for the month in which the death occurs, and benefits received after that will have to be repaid. The toll-free number is 1-800-277-9914, open 8:30 am to 4:30 pm local time, Monday to Friday. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The social insurance number is often handled for you: where the death happened in a province, the provincial vital statistics agency will automatically notify the SIN program. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) A valid passport goes to the Passport Program, Gatineau QC K1A 0G3, Canada. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) The health card is provincial, and Ontario asks you to visit any ServiceOntario centre. (Source: ontario.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

How much is the CPP death benefit?

As at the date this was checked, and effective 1 January 2025, the CPP death benefit is a basic amount of $2,500, and a possible top-up of $2,500, with the maximum benefit at $5,000. Service Canada says it takes approximately six to 12 weeks to receive your payment from the date it receives your completed application. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

For work performed in Quebec the plan is different. Retraite Quebec says the amount of the QPP death benefit is equal to the contributions made, up to a maximum of $2,500, and that eligibility requires contributions of at least $500 to the Quebec Pension Plan or the Canada Pension Plan. (Source: retraitequebec.gouv.qc.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

When is the final tax return due for someone who died?

It depends on the date of death. For a death between 1 January and 31 October, the CRA says the due date to file the final return and pay a balance owing is April 30 of the year following the death. For a death between 1 November and 31 December, the due date is 6 months following the death, on the same calendar day as the date of death. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

What is a clearance certificate and do you need one?

The CRA says a clearance certificate confirms that an estate of a person who died, trust, or corporation has paid all amounts of income tax and GST/HST, interest, and penalties it owed at the time the certificate was issued. It is requested on form TX19. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

The reason it matters is personal. The CRA says that if the legal representative does not get a clearance certificate before they distribute assets and there are any tax amounts owing under the Income Tax Act or Part IX of the Excise Tax Act to the CRA, they are personally liable for unpaid amounts, up to the value of the amount of assets distributed. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

What happens to a TFSA when the holder dies?

It depends whether a successor holder or a designated beneficiary was named. The CRA's TFSA definitions page says a successor holder is a spouse or common-law partner of the holder at the time of death, named by the deceased as the successor holder of the TFSA. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) Where that applies, the value of the TFSA on the date of death and any income earned after that date are still sheltered from tax under the successor holder, and because the TFSA continues to exist, the deceased holder is not considered to receive an amount from the TFSA upon their death. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

For a designated beneficiary the CRA draws the line at the date of death. A designated beneficiary does not have to pay tax on any amount they receive from a TFSA as long as the total amount is not more than the fair market value of the property held in the TFSA on the date of death, and any TFSA earnings made after the date of death and before the estate is settled are taxable. (Source: canada.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Does every estate in Canada need probate?

No, and the answer turns on the province and, in Quebec, on the kind of will. Quebec's guidance says holograph wills and wills made in the presence of witnesses must be probated after the testator dies, and notarial wills do not need to be probated. (Source: quebec.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Where probate does apply, the cost is provincial and the structures differ. As at the date this was checked, Ontario charges no Estate Administration Tax if the value of the estate is $50,000 or less, and $15 for every $1,000, or part thereof, above that. (Source: ontario.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) British Columbia's Probate Fee Act charges no fee up to $25,000, then $6 per $1,000 or part of $1,000 between $25,000 and $50,000, plus $14 per $1,000 or part of $1,000 above $50,000. (Source: bclaws.gov.bc.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026) Those are two provinces, not a national rate, so check the one where the estate is being administered.

What is a liquidator in Quebec?

It is Quebec's equivalent of the executor, and the duties are set out in Quebec's own guidance: the liquidator is the person responsible for settling the succession of the deceased and putting their affairs in order, including closing accounts, filing tax returns, recovering money owed, inventorying assets and debts, and dividing property. (Source: quebec.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Two things differ from the rest of Canada. A liquidator is not obliged to accept the role unless he or she is the sole heir, and once appointed you must register the liquidator's name in the Register of Personal and Movable Real Rights, the RDPRM, which carried a $59 fee as at the date this was checked. (Source: quebec.ca, checked 26 Sep 2026)

Related guides

• Executor first steps: what to do in the first few weeks
• Probate in Canada: what it is and who needs it
• What does an executor do in Canada?
• What happens to your RRSP when you die?

Educational content only. This is general information, not legal, financial or tax advice. Estate laws vary from province to province. Please speak to a qualified lawyer, notary or advisor about your situation.

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