> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.coalesc.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Electronic signatures: what Revenu Québec and the CRA require
> The accepted signature types, the condition attached to each, the forms covered, and what Coalesc does about every requirement. With the official sources.
This page exists for one question: your client asks whether a signature applied in Coalesc is valid. It collects what **Revenu Québec** and the **Canada Revenue Agency** publish on the subject, links every source, and states what Coalesc does about each requirement.
Coalesc holds no certification and claims none. This page reports published policy; it is not legal advice. Validating any tool for your practice remains yours to do — which is also the Ordre des CPA du Québec's stated position.
Quotations are kept in the language each regulator published them in. Revenu Québec writes in French, the CRA in English; translating either would weaken the quote.
## There is no approved-provider list
This comes first, because the opposite belief is widespread.
Neither Revenu Québec nor the CRA publishes a list of approved electronic signature **vendors**. What exists federally — and what this is usually confused with — is the list of **EFILE-certified software**, an unrelated matter, and a list of **forms** on which an electronic signature is accepted.
The CRA states it plainly:
> *Electronic filers can also offer signature solutions of their choice that operate or function independently of EFILE software.*
The requirement is on the **method**, never on the vendor.
## Revenu Québec: four accepted types
RQ accepts four types of electronic signature ([source](https://www.revenuquebec.ca/fr/une-mission-des-actions/simplifier-ladministration-fiscale/signature-electronique/)):
| Type | Attached condition |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------- |
| Digital signature backed by a certificate | — |
| **Handwritten signature applied with a technological device** — stylus, touchscreen, mouse | no further condition |
| Scanned image of a handwritten signature | — |
| Typed signature | must travel by a secure channel or secure email |
**Coalesc uses the second type.** The client signs with a finger, stylus or mouse, directly on the page. It is the type RQ describes without attaching any additional condition.
### When you are the one submitting the form
RQ attaches a specific condition when a form is submitted by a third party or a representative — that is, by you, on your client's behalf:
> *Si le formulaire est transmis par une autre personne que vous \[...], la signature dactylographiée n'est acceptée que si un **certificat d'authenticité** est fourni avec le formulaire. \[...] Ce certificat comprend des renseignements comme la date, l'heure et les détails de la signature du formulaire.*
*(A form submitted by someone other than the taxpayer requires a certificate of authenticity carrying the date, time and details of the signature.)*
**What Coalesc does:** every signed document carries an *Electronic signature record* added **inside the PDF**, not as a separate attachment. It holds each signer's identity, a timestamp for every event — request created, link sent, document opened, signature applied — plus the IP address and browser used.
It is bound into the document because an evidence file that travels separately stops being evidence the first time somebody saves the attachment on its own.
## The integrity obligation
This is the only obligation RQ attaches to **every** signature type, and it is the important one:
> *Vous devez prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires afin d'assurer et de maintenir l'**intégrité du formulaire**, et ce, tout au long de son cycle de vie. Nous nous réservons le droit d'exiger le formulaire technologique original dûment signé.*
*(You must take every necessary measure to ensure and maintain the integrity of the form throughout its lifecycle. RQ reserves the right to require the original signed technology-based document.)*
It is the administrative echo of section 39 of Quebec's *Act to establish a legal framework for information technology*, whose second paragraph conditions a document's enforceability on its integrity being assured.
**What Coalesc does:** the record carries the **SHA-256 fingerprint** of the document as it was presented for signature. The finished signed file has its own fingerprint too, kept with the request.
In practice: you can recompute the fingerprint on the copy you hold and compare it to the one printed on the record.
```
shasum -a 256 your-signed-document.pdf
```
A fingerprint demonstrates that a file has been altered; it does not make a document tamper-proof. It is worth exactly as much as the trust placed in the record of that fingerprint. A trusted third-party timestamp or a document-signing certificate removes that dependency — Coalesc uses neither today, and does not pretend otherwise.
## The forms covered
RQ marks this **form by form**: open the form number in [the list of forms](https://www.revenuquebec.ca/en/online-services/forms-and-publications/) and look for the electronic signature note.
The CRA instead publishes a closed list. Eleven forms appear on it ([source](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/electronic-signatures.html), modified 19 May 2026):
| Form | Title |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| CPT30 | Election to Stop Contributing to the Canada Pension Plan, or Revocation of a Prior Election |
| **T183** | Information Return for Electronic Filing of an Individual's Income Tax and Benefit Return |
| **T183CORP** | Information Return for Corporations Filing Electronically |
| T183TRUST | Information Return for the Electronic Filing of a Trust Return |
| T2183 | Information Return for Electronic Filing of Special Elections |
| T2200 | Declaration of Conditions of Employment |
| T1223 | Clergy Residence Deduction |
| RC71 | Statement of Discounting Transaction |
| RC72 | Notice of the Actual Amount of the Refund of Tax |
| T183-GMT | Authorization to Electronically File a Return or Notification for the Global Minimum Tax |
| UHT-183 | Authorization to Electronically File the Underused Housing Tax Return and Election Form |
Coalesc recognises these forms and names them correctly when they appear inside a return.
## The CRA's conditions on the method
The CRA expects identity verification by the party receiving the signed form, then one of three routes:
* the signature is applied **in person**, in the presence of the other party, *"using methods such as a stylus or finger on a tablet"*;
* or the form is sent to the electronic address most recently provided for that purpose;
* or through **an access controlled, secured electronic location** that is accessible to the individual only because the other party granted that access.
**What Coalesc does:** each signer receives their own link, valid for 30 days, known only to them. Signing is done with a finger or a stylus — the CRA's own example.
The CRA separately **recommends** masking the first five digits of the SIN when a form is printed or generated. That is a recommendation rather than a requirement, and it applies to the SIN only.
## What this page does not say
* It does not say Coalesc is approved, certified or endorsed. None of those exist for a vendor.
* It does not say a signed document is tamper-proof.
* It does not replace your own validation, nor legal advice.
## Sources
* Revenu Québec — [Signature électronique](https://www.revenuquebec.ca/fr/une-mission-des-actions/simplifier-ladministration-fiscale/signature-electronique/)
* Revenu Québec — [Forms and publications](https://www.revenuquebec.ca/en/online-services/forms-and-publications/)
* Canada Revenue Agency — [Using electronic signatures](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/electronic-signatures.html) (modified 2026-05-19)