Resolve an identity conflict on your profile

Overview

Every person can have only one Wealthsimple profile. If you start a new sign-up using personal details that already belong to a Wealthsimple profile, we'll stop the sign-up and show you a message that says You already have an account. This is called an identity conflict.

An identity conflict isn't a sign that anything is wrong with your accounts, and it isn't a restriction on your money. It means we need to confirm who you are and get you back into the profile you already have, so that all of your accounts, contributions, and tax documents stay in one place.

Why identity conflicts happen

The most common reasons are:

• You already signed up before and forgot. This is by far the most common reason. It's easy to forget a profile you opened years ago, funded once, or never funded at all.
• You signed up with a different email address. Your profile is tied to your identity, not to your email address. Signing up with a new email address creates a second, duplicate profile rather than giving you a fresh start. If you want to use a different email address, update it on your existing profile instead of signing up again.
• You used a work or school email address you no longer have access to. Your original profile still exists even though the email address is gone. You don't need to create a new profile, because we can update the email address on the one you already have.
• A detail was entered incorrectly. A typo in a Social Insurance Number (SIN) or date of birth on either sign-up can cause your details to line up with an existing profile.
• You're opening a business account. Business accounts are opened from your personal profile. Creating a separate profile for your business will cause an identity conflict. Learn more about opening a Business account.

Which profile you'll keep

In nearly all cases, you'll keep your original profile, and the newer duplicate profile will be closed. We do this because your original profile holds your account history, contribution records, and tax documents, and those can't be moved to a different profile.

We can't merge two profiles together. There's no way to combine accounts, balances, or records from one profile into another.

If the newer profile is the one holding your money, or you've already started a transfer into it, contact our support team before you send us anything else. We'll review your situation and tell you what to expect.

Download your documents before your duplicate profile closes

If your duplicate profile was ever funded, download these before you upload your documents:

• Tax slips for every year the profile was open
• Account statements
• Any custom or performance statements you may need

You can learn how to find these in Download your tax documents and Request a custom statement.

If your duplicate profile was never funded, there's nothing to download.

Get back into your original profile

If you know your original email address and can still receive email there, you don't need our help. Follow these steps:

If you can't receive email at that address

This happens most often with old work and school addresses. Contact our support team and let us know you can't receive emails to the email address on your original profile. We'll verify your identity and then help you change it.

If you can't complete two-step verification

If your original profile has two-step verification turned on and it's tied to a phone number you no longer use, you won't be able to finish logging in even with the right password. Contact our support team and we'll help you reset it. Learn more in Two-step verification.

Documents we'll ask you for

To confirm that both profiles belong to you, we'll ask you to upload:

• A selfie
• A government-issued photo ID. Any ID listed in Verify your identity works. It can't be expired, and the name on it must match the name on your profile.
• A document showing your full Social Insurance Number (SIN). Any one of the following works:
  • A clear picture of your SIN card or SIN certification (with all four corners shown)
  • An original PDF copy of your T4 or another tax document with full SIN included (downloaded directly from your employer's portal or the CRA website)
  • A PDF copy of the Social Insurance Number section of your My Service Canada (MSCA) main page. For this document to be deemed valid, you'll have to print the webpage, then from the printer options, select Save as PDF. Learn how to access your SIN on MSCA.

We ask for the SIN document because your SIN is what ties your registered accounts to the Canada Revenue Agency. Confirming it is how we make sure we keep the right profile.

How to upload your documents

Full instructions are in Upload documents to your profile. In short:

1. Log in to your Wealthsimple profile on your computer
2. Select the Profile icon in the bottom-left corner
3. Select Documents from the menu
4. On the left-hand side, select Add document
5. Drag and drop or browse files to upload your document from your device
6. Select Upload

If we need a selfie and photo ID, we'll prompt you in the Wealthsimple app, because that verification step can only be completed there. See Verify your identity.

If you don't recognize the other profile

If we tell you a profile already exists and you're confident you never opened it, treat it as urgent. Someone may have used your personal information to sign up.

Contact our support team right away and tell us you don't recognize the profile. We'll investigate before we close or change anything. Don't complete the sign-up in the meantime.

You can also read What to do if your Wealthsimple account is compromised.

Frequently asked questions