Staff and students are encouraged to file their 2020 taxes as soon as possible to take advantage of the increased Child Care Benefit if you have already applied. If you have not applied, follow the steps below:

Who can apply? You must meet all of the following:

• You live with the child who is under 18 years of age
• You are primarily responsible for the care of the child (for children living in households with both parents, the female parent is generally considered the primary caregiver)
• You are a resident of Canada
• You or your spouse must be either:
  • A Canadian citizen
  • A permanent resident
  • A temporary resident that has lived in Canada for at least 18 months
  • An indigenous person

How to apply?

1. If you didn’t apply for the Child Care Benefit when you registered the birth of your newborn, you can apply online using My Account (your personal CRA account – will need to sign up for this).
   1. Log in to My Account https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/e-services-individuals/account-individuals.html
   2. Go to “Apply for child benefits”
   3. Confirm your contact information, your marital status and your citizenship
   4. Add your child’s name, gender, date and place of birth
   5. Review and submit your application
   6. If you’re asked to submit additional documents, go to “Submit documents” in My Account
   7. Benefits are expected to be received within 8 weeks
2. Fill out and sign Form RC66, Canada Child Benefits Application https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/rc66.html
   1. Include any additional documents needed (see the CRA page for information on this)
   2. Mail the form to your tax center (see the CRA page for the correct tax center)
   3. Benefits are expected to be received within 11 weeks

How much do you get? 

The amount is based upon the net income of you and your spouse and the number of children in the household. If your family net income is less than $31,120, you are eligible to receive the maximum benefit of $6,639 per child (under 6 years old) and $5,602 per child (between 6-17 years old). The Federal Government has increased this benefit by $300 per child in response to COVID-19.

Information link: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/canada-child-benefit-overview.html

GST/HST Credit

Staff and students are encouraged to file their 2020 taxes as soon as possible to take advantage of the increased GST/HST credit.

Who can apply? 

• Individuals over the age of 19
• You have (or had) a spouse or common-law partner
• You are (or were) a parent and live (or lived) with your child (parents in shared custody situations may be eligible for half the credit)

Currently, the maximum benefits (benefits are dependent on family net income) are as follows:

• $443 if you are single
• $580 if you are married or living common-law
• $153 for each child under the age of 19

The Federal Government announced that these benefits would double (i.e. $886 for a single person) to assist low-medium income families as part of the relief package.

New residents to Canada (i.e. international students who have not filed a tax return before) will need to apply for this credit. See the following link for this application: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/rc151.html

Individuals that are applying to get the benefit for their child will automatically receive the credit if they applied for the Child Care Benefit. If they haven’t applied for the Child Care Benefit, apply using the same information in the section above. 

Information link: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/goods-services-tax-harmonized-sales-tax-gst-hst-credit.html