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The CRA is set to roll out its second round of the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit payments. Find how much you'll receive.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is set to issue the second regular quarterly payment of the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB) on October 5, 2026.
Eligible recipients who already have direct deposit set up should see the money in their bank account. Cheques, however, can take longer to arrive by mail.
The CGEB is the federal government’s rebranded and enhanced version of the GST/HST credit.
According to the government, the GST/HST credit was a tax-free quarterly payment meant to help Canadians with low and modest incomes cover the cost of groceries and other essentials. The CRA states that the GST/HST credit “has been renamed the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB) as of July 2026,” with the same underlying eligibility rules and calculation method carried over from the old program.
“If you filed a tax return each year, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) automatically determined if you were entitled to the GST/HST credit,” reads the CRA website. “If you have been receiving the GST/HST credit and your situation has not changed, you are likely to be eligible for the CGEB since the eligibility criteria are the same.”
The last payment issued under the old GST/HST credit name went out April 2, 2026. Before the switch to CGEB took effect, the government also sent a one-time top-up payment on June 5, 2026, worth 50% of a recipient’s 2025-26 GST/HST credit amount, to bridge the gap before the enhanced benefit began.
The CGEB name became official with the first payment under the new program on July 3, 2026, and October 5 is the payment that follows it in the quarterly cycle.
The remaining 2026-27 payments are scheduled for January and April.
Alongside the rebrand, the government increased the benefit by 25%, a boost the Department of Finance Canada says will hold for five years, through 2031.
Officials said the increase is a response to affordability pressures on groceries and household essentials, and that it extends the benefit to roughly 500,000 additional individuals and families who weren’t previously eligible, on top of the more than 12 million Canadians already receiving it.
For the current benefit year (July 2026 through June 2027, based on your 2025 tax return), the CRA’s maximum annual amounts are:
Single individuals without children may also qualify for an extra $234 on top of the base amount, provided their income is below $11,564; that additional amount then gets clawed back as income rises.
For everyone, the benefit itself starts to phase out once adjusted family net income passes $46,432, so higher earners will see a smaller cheque, or none at all. Each quarterly payment is roughly one-quarter of your annual entitlement, so the October 5 deposit should mirror what you received on July 3, unless your circumstances have changed.
The CRA confirms that when you file your income tax return, you’re automatically considered for the CGEB; there’s no separate application. Newcomers to Canada who haven’t yet filed a return need to apply directly with the CRA. If you already received the GST/HST credit and your situation hasn’t changed, the agency says you’re likely eligible for the CGEB under the same rules.
To qualify, you generally need to be a Canadian resident for tax purposes both in the month before the payment and at the start of the payment month, and be 19 or older (or younger, if you have or had a spouse/common-law partner, or are a parent living with your child). If you receive the Canada Child Benefit for a child, that child is automatically factored into your CGEB calculation; in shared-custody situations, each parent may receive half the child’s portion.
Several provincial and territorial credits are combined with the federal CGEB payment and arrive the same day for eligible residents, including:
Quebec residents receive a separate but same-day payment: the Solidarity Tax Credit, paid by Revenu Québec on October 5, 2026 as well.
Unlike the above, Ontario sales tax credit payments aren’t combined with your CGEB, but are part of the Ontario Trillium Benefit instead. Those payments typically go out on the 10th day of each month.
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