Canada Revenue Agency declares living person dead

 

A Canadian elderly woman has been accused of facing great hardship after a serious error by the Canada Revenue Agency. Juna Miller, a 65-year-old Vancouver resident, was declared dead by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). In May 2025, Juna filed her own tax return along with her husband Giorgio's; Giorgio died in September 2024. A few weeks later, when she tried to log into her CRA account, it failed. She was shocked to learn that Juna had been declared dead when she called the agency. The CRA's response caused Juna major problems for the rest of her life.

As a result of being declared dead, she lost her pension, social insurance number and access to her bank account. A company offered to hire her, but said it couldn't hire her because she didn't have a SIN. Juna said it didn't take them even five seconds to tell her she was dead without even asking for a death certificate. But Juna says they told her it would take six months to prove she was alive. After a month-long legal battle and other ordeals, Juna's pension and social insurance number were later restored.