What is a Canadian Social Insurance Number?

A Canadian Social Insurance Number (SIN) is a unique nine-digit number issued by Service Canada to individuals for various purposes, including taxation, employment, and accessing government programs and benefits.

Format of a Social Insurance Number

A valid SIN follows this specific format:

Where:

• \(X\) represents a digit from 0 to 9
• The first digit indicates the province or territory of registration
• The last digit is a check digit

Components of a SIN

1. Province Code: The first digit, indicating the province or territory of registration
2. Random Digits: The next seven digits, randomly assigned
3. Check Digit: The last digit, calculated using the Luhn algorithm

Example Calculation

Let's generate a sample SIN:

1. Choose a province code: 5 (Ontario)
2. Generate random digits: 23 456 78
3. Calculate check digit: 9

Combining these elements:

Visual Representation

Remember, the SIN generator on this page creates random, valid-format numbers for testing purposes only. These should never be used as real Social Insurance Numbers.