Decide which payment record needs changing
List the payments you expect and who issues each one. A CRA benefit or tax refund uses CRA's direct-deposit record. EI uses Service Canada's record. Changing the account with your bank, an employer, CRA or another payer does not prove that every other payer's instruction changed. Keep a private note for each payer:
- Payer: CRA or Service Canada (EI).
- Bank nickname: old or new account; full account numbers are not needed here.
- Change requested: date and official channel used.
- Confirmation received: what the agency actually confirmed.
- First deposit observed: date and account nickname.
Do not send bank details to Romii or put them in a worksheet you share.
If you are unsure who pays a benefit, look at the official program account or a prior payment record before choosing a change route. This guide covers CRA individual direct deposit and EI. It does not claim one setting controls every federal benefit.
Change the CRA instruction
From the CRA's official direct-deposit page, sign in to your Individual account and use Profile → Direct deposit → Edit. CRA also lists a registration route through supported Canadian banks and credit unions. Use only a bank's verified channel if you choose that route. CRA says it no longer makes these changes over the telephone; a call can help with access or questions, but it is not the change method.
After submitting, check the CRA account's displayed details and save a confirmation or date. A saved new instruction does not prove a payment already issued will be rerouted. If you are waiting for a particular refund or benefit, check that payment's status separately. CRA offers a mailed form if you cannot use the online routes, but allow extra time and verify the current form and mailing instructions on the official page before sending personal information. CRA's direct-deposit instructions describe the options.
Change the EI instruction through Service Canada
The MSCA EI page provides claim information and, for online or telephone reporters, payment information, but the personal-information page says EI banking changes currently require Service Canada assistance. Service availability checked October 17, 2026: use the callback, in-person or call-centre routes linked there, and confirm the current procedure before sharing bank details. Do not follow an OAS or CDCP self-service path and assume it applies to EI.
When contacting Service Canada, say that you need to change EI direct deposit, identify the record using only the official secure process and ask how to confirm the effective instruction. You can ask: “Which direct-deposit instruction is recorded for my EI claim? Has the next payment already been issued? How can I confirm the change?” The agent may need to establish your identity; Romii cannot receive or submit the banking information for you.
Track payments during the account change
CRA explicitly warns against closing the old account before the first payment reaches the new one. If you can keep it open, do not close it until you observe the first CRA payment in the new account. For EI, asking Service Canada about the transition and any payment already in progress is a practical precaution, not a guarantee about routing. If the old account is already closed, tell the paying agency and ask how to trace any issued payment; a profile update does not itself retrieve a returned deposit. A confirmation that a profile changed and an observed deposit are two separate checkpoints.
If an expected payment is missing, record its payer, period, official payment status and which account you checked. For EI, our payment-after-report guide helps distinguish a report, an issued payment and a bank deposit. For a missing CRA benefit, use the program's own record; our CCB payment guide covers that specific benefit. Avoid repeatedly changing both profiles while tracing a single payment: first ask the paying agency which instruction was used.