Can CRA garnish my wages directly from my employer to collect unpaid taxes?

Yes. CRA can issue a requirement to pay directly to your employer, effectively garnisheeing your wages to collect an unpaid tax debt, using the same basic administrative tool it can use against a bank. Once issued, your employer is legally required to redirect the specified amount from your pay to CRA instead of paying it to you, and this doesn't require CRA to first obtain a court judgment against you the way most other creditors generally would need to.

This is a genuinely powerful collection tool, and it can affect your take-home pay directly and immediately once your employer receives the requirement. Because this happens at the administrative level rather than through a court process you'd necessarily see coming through a lawsuit, it can catch people off guard, especially if they weren't actively tracking where an unresolved tax debt stood. If you owe CRA money and are worried about this kind of collection action, dealing with the debt proactively, whether through a payment arrangement, a relief request, or otherwise, before CRA takes this step is considerably better than trying to respond after your employer has already been contacted.