RC66 Form – How to Apply for Canada Child Benefit (CCB)

What is the Canada child benefit?

The Canada child benefit is a tax-free monthly payment you or your spouse or common-law partner may receive from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) if you are raising a child under the age of 18. The benefit is intended to help families provide for their children.

Your monthly payment amount will depend on your net family income after your tax return is reviewed. The higher your income, the less money you will receive. You will get a certain amount for each child. However, a child under age 6 is eligible for more money than an older child. If your child only lives with you part-time, this will also affect your monthly payment amount.

What is the RC66 Form?

Form RC66 (the child tax benefit application) is the CRA form you need to fill out to apply for the Canada child benefit. This form also lets you apply for other child benefit programs, like the goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) and the climate action incentive payment (CAIP). Both benefits are covered with this single form. You can download the form and complete the fillable PDF, or you can print it and fill it out by hand. You don’t need to complete this form if you apply online through your CRA My Account.

If you’re a permanent resident or a newcomer to Canada, you may still qualify for the childcare benefit, but you’ll need to complete a different form to apply. Permanent residents and other newcomers must also include the additional Form RC66SCH when applying for the CCB.

When should I apply for the Canada child benefit?

The sooner you apply for the CCB, the quicker you’ll receive your first payments. If you don’t currently meet the eligibility requirements, you can apply as soon as you meet them. You only need to apply once. You should apply for the CCB as soon as any of the following situations happen:

• Your child is born, your child starts to live with you, or your child returns to live with you after a temporary period with someone else.
• You begin, end, or change a shared custody arrangement.
• You get custody of a child.
• You or your spouse or common-law partner meet the eligibility conditions.
• If the child started living with you more than 11 months ago, you will need to provide additional documents.

You don’t need to apply separately for related provincial and territorial programs. The CRA will determine your eligibility when you apply for the CCB.

How do I apply for the Canada child benefit?

If you’re curious about how to claim the CCB, we’ve got you covered. There are a few ways to fill out your CCB application, but they all include filling out and submitting the RC66 Form. There are a few different ways to do this, depending on your preferences. (Remember: you only need to apply once, and you’ll be reassessed automatically every year.)

1. Apply for CCB at birth

First, you can complete your child tax benefit application by filling out Form RC66 when registering your child’s birth with your province or territory. In some provinces, this can only be done by filling out a paper application at the hospital. But you can also apply online in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta.

To apply at birth, you’ll need to provide consent to the Vital Statistics Agency of your province or territory to share the birth registration information with the CRA. If you don’t provide consent, your information won’t be sent to the CRA, and you’ll need to apply for the CCB another way.

2. Complete your CCB application and send it by mail

You can complete your child tax benefit application by filling out the RC66 form and mailing it to your tax centre. It usually takes around 11 weeks to process your application if you send it by mail.

3. Apply for CCB through your CRA My Account

Alternatively, you can complete Form RC66 online through your CRA My Account. 

Who should apply for the CCB?

Only the parent primarily responsible for the child’s care should apply for the CCB, as there is only one monthly payment per family. The primary caregiver is the person who:

• cares for the child daily, supervises their activities, and makes sure their needs are met.
• makes sure the child’s medical needs are taken care of.
• arranges for child care when necessary.

If the child lives with a female parent in the home, that parent is usually assumed to be the primary parent. If the non-birthing parent is primarily responsible for all of the children in the home, they can apply. You will need to attach a letter to your application signed by the female parent, affirming that the other parent is primarily responsible. If the child lives with same-sex parents, only one parent should apply for all the children in the home. The spouse or common-law partner who does not apply for the benefit must also sign the RC66 form to confirm the information is accurate. Requiring both parents to sign the form ensures that the correct parent is applying for the CCB.

Sometimes, the parent primarily responsible for the child’s care will not make an income. In this case, they must still complete a tax return to get benefit payments. Filing an income tax return lets you confirm with the CRA that you did not earn an income. While you may not make an income, your spouse or common-law partner’s income will still be accounted for when determining the amount of your Canada child tax benefit, which is the net adjusted family income.

How do I fill out the Canada child benefit application?

Form RC66 is a relatively straightforward tax form. To start, you must provide information about yourself, including your social insurance number (SIN), marital status, and date of birth. You must also include information about your spouse or common-law partner.

Then, you need to fill out some information about your child or children, including name, date of birth, city, and province or territory of birth. You must include the country if they were born outside of Canada. Your children do not need a social insurance number for you to be able to fill out this form.

If you have more than four children, you will need to attach an additional form to list them. Use form RC66-1 for this purpose and ensure it is attached to form RC66.

Also, if you are in a shared custody situation, you must include the date when you began to share custody.

Do I need to provide any additional documents?

You may need to provide supporting documents if your child is under a year old, began living with you 11 months ago, or you’re a newcomer to Canada. Here are some supporting documents you may be asked to provide:

• Schedule RC66SCH: If you or your spouse or common-law partner are newcomers or returning residents to Canada, you’ll need to add the form Schedule RC66SCH to your application.
• Proof of birth: If the CRA has never paid benefits for this child or you are applying for the CCB through CRA My Account, you’ll need to provide the birth certificate.
• Signed letter from the female parent: The female parent is usually assumed to be primarily responsible for your child and will receive the CCB benefit by default. For the other parent to receive the benefit, the female parent must provide a signed letter saying they are not the primary caregiver.
• Citizenship status, proof of address: If you are applying for a child who started living with you more than 11 months ago, you need to provide more support documents, including proof of citizenship, proof you live in Canada, proof of birth, and proof you are primarily responsible for the child.

How much Canada child benefit will I receive?

You can use an online calculator to determine how much CCB you will likely receive. Your benefit payment is recalculated every July based on your family income from the previous year.

In a shared custody situation, if you and your child’s other parent share custody approximately equally, you will share the benefit equally. You do not need to sign each other’s forms. Plus, the government will divide the payments for you. If one parent has significantly more responsibility for the care and upbringing of the child, they receive the full benefit, and the other parent will not.

You can expect your CCB payments to start between 8 and 11 weeks after you submit your application. As long as you qualify for the CCB, you’ll continue to receive your benefits.

CCB benefits will end in June, and if you are still eligible, the following year’s benefits will begin in July. There’s no break in benefits, assuming you apply and qualify and your children are still young enough to be eligible.