Social Insurance Number Under the Employment Insurance Act, every person working in Canada is required to have a Social Insurance Number (SIN) and as an employer, you must ask to see the SIN card of all new employees when they are hired. You must also ensure that the employee is setup in payroll with the same name and SIN as they appear on the card.
If you are unable to ascertain the SIN of an employee, you should be able to show that you made a reasonable effort to obtain it. If an employee does not have a SIN card, you must refer them to a Service Canada Centre within 3 days. If you do not make a reasonable effort to obtain a SIN, you may be subject to a penalty of $100 for each failure. Employees also have an obligation to provide you their SIN. If an employee does not do this, the employee may be subject to a penalty of $100 for each failure.