Apply for a child’s Social Insurance Number

Where to begin

1. Choose the newborn-registration option if it applies; otherwise apply through Service Canada online, by mail or in person.
2. Prepare the child’s primary status document and the parent or guardian’s own required identity documents. For a Canadian-born citizen, the child’s provincial or territorial birth certificate is a primary document.
3. Use Service Canada’s parent or legal guardian selector for the document checklist. Add proof of legal guardianship if you are the guardian, and documents linking any changed names.
4. Apply online with clear digital copies, or bring original documents to a Service Canada Centre. The mail route uses the signed SIN application form and original documents.

Before you open the official service

• The child’s status in Canada and whether the birth is already registered
• The child’s primary document, the applying adult’s identity documents, and any guardianship or name-change evidence

Keep your actual documents and account details off this website. Use the official service’s current checklist before applying.

What to check for your situation

The child and the applying adult have different document requirements. Do not apply the adult secondary-ID requirement to a minor.

Fees, processing times and document rules can change. This page helps you navigate; it does not confirm eligibility or replace the government’s instructions.

Forms and checklists

• sin-nas.canada.ca · Official formApply for a SIN onlineService Canada’s online SIN application.Checked Nov 2, 2026

Official sources

• canada.ca · Official websiteService Canada — SIN applications for children and newbornsA parent or legal guardian may apply for a child under the age of majority. Anyone aged 12 or older can apply for their own SIN. If a child is under 1 year old and their birth is not registered, the provincial Newborn Registration Service can include a SIN application. This is available in the provinces, not the territories. The parent/guardian selector distinguishes the adult’s own primary and secondary documents from the child’s primary document. The secondary identity document requirement applies at the age of majority, not to minor children. A Canadian-born citizen child can use a provincial or territorial birth certificate as the primary document. Legal guardians need proof of guardianship; changed names need supporting links. Online, mail and in-person routes are available. Online uses digital copies, while mail and in-person use originals. The mail route uses a completed signed SIN form. Applying for a SIN is free.Checked Nov 2, 2026

Prepared by Active K Digital from the linked public guidance. Read our source approach.

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