New citizen: which documents to keep?

[Mr. Preppy]

I'm new proud Canadian citizen. My journey started many years ago when I came here as a refugee. As a result I have many documents including visa, refugee claim, pr, rtd, taxes, citizenship - related documents and copies of application forms, I have almost ten folders of papers.

My question: Can I destroy all documents/papers, except Citizenship ceritifcate and CoPR (for pension)? What else is crucial for a citizen except those two documents? I'm asking because I'm moving soon to another apartment and I want to start a new life of Canadian citizen and forget about all sufferings and struggles I had on my way.

Thanks!

 

[tenacioustopanga]

I think that's kind of a personal decision on what you want to keep. If it was me, I would keep all government issued documents forever, even if expired. You never know when it might come in handy, but I would destroy all copies of applications, etc that I collected over the years.

 

[sns204]

Taxes are supposed to be kept for a period of time in case you are audited. It used to be 5 or 7 years of documents. I keep 7 years back, myself.

 

[Mr. Preppy]

I think that's kind of a personal decision on what you want to keep. If it was me, I would keep all government issued documents forever, even if expired. You never know when it might come in handy, but I would destroy all copies of applications, etc that I collected over the years.

Thats right, its very personal decision, my question was mainly on the legal side of the issue - what is mandatory to keep and what we can destroy? as I know even CoPR could be retrieved in case of lost and not so crucial.

 

[Mr. Preppy]

Taxes are supposed to be kept for a period of time in case you are audited. It used to be 5 or 7 years of documents. I keep 7 years back, myself.

Can we just keep soft-copies (official pdf from online declaration and some scanned copies)?

 

[canvis2006]

just keep COPR and Citizenship Certificate.
Keep last 4-5 yrs of tax assessment......generally....
Shred everything else
Take good care of your Canadian passport.....always keep a copy in email or a USB stick, etc

Congratulations.

 

[sns204]

Can we just keep soft-copies (official pdf from online declaration and some scanned copies)?

I keep all of my supporting documentation (receipts, t-slips, etc.) for taxes in case of an audit.