An Overview

Raising a family can be very expensive. With a significant portion of your take-home income being spent on child care, programs or medical expenses, every dollar counts, which is why the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) wants parents to be made aware of the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), and we want you to be able to receive everything that you are eligible for.

What is the CCB?

The Canada Child Benefit (CCB) is a tax-free monthly payment made to eligible families to help with the cost of raising children under 18 years of age. The CCB might include the child disability benefit and any related provincial and territorial programs.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) uses information from your T1 General – (personal income tax and benefit return) to calculate how much your CCB payments will be. To get the CCB, you have to file your return every year, even if you did not have income in the year. If you have a spouse or common-law partner, they also have to file a return every year.

Benefits are paid over a 12-month period from July of one year to June of the next year.

Your benefit payments will be recalculated every July based on information from you and your spouse’s (if applicable) income tax and benefit returns from the previous year and if there are changes to any of the information, the CRA will recalculate your benefit the month after the change occurs.

Eligibility: You must file to be eligible

  • Keep all of your receipts and records.
  • File your tax return on time.

To get the CCB you must meet the eligibility requirements. If a child does not live with you all the time, see Do you share custody of a child?

You must meet all of the following conditions:

  • You must live with the child, and the child must be under 18 years of age.
  • You must be the person primarily responsible for the care and upbringing of the child.
  • You must be a resident of Canada for tax purposes.
  • You or your spouse or common-law partner must be any of the following
  • a Canadian citizen
  • a permanent resident (as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act)
  • a protected person (as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act)
  • a temporary resident (as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act) who has lived in Canada throughout the previous 18 months
  • an Indian as defined in the Indian Act

Canada Child Benefit Payment Dates 2021

  • January 20, 2021
  • February 19, 2021
  • March 19, 2021
  • April 20, 2021
  • May 20, 2021
  • June 18, 2021
  • July 20, 2021
  • August 20, 2021
  • September 20, 2021
  • October 20, 2021
  • November 19, 2021
  • December 13, 2021

For the latest information, visit the CRA website for benefit payment dates.

If you want to know how much your next CCB payment will be and when you’ll get it, log into the CRA’s My Account or go to mobile apps and select “MyBenefits CRA”. If you prefer an email reminder, you can subscribe to the CRA’s electronic mailing list and they will send you an email reminder before they issue each payment.

Related CRA services and information

Use the applicable TurboTax product to ensure that you are filed fast, easily and on time.  You can visit our product selector @ TurboTax.ca and let us help you figure out which product will work the best for you.