How much is the Canada Child Benefit in 2023?
Parents, check your bank accounts—starting this July, your CCB payments are going up. Find out how much more you’ll receive.
Parents, check your bank accounts—starting this July, your CCB payments are going up. Find out how much more you’ll receive.
Some people refer to the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) as a child tax benefit, but it’s a tax-free monthly payment to help parents cover the cost of raising children. And if your family receives the CCB, you may notice a bump in the payment amount this month. Each July, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recalculates how much eligible Canadian families will receive in CCB payments, based on your adjusted family net income from the previous year (for this year, that’s 2022). The CCB is also indexed to inflation, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.
This year’s recalculation means that families could receive an additional $440 per child under 6, and $372 per child aged 6 to 17, compared to the 2022–23 period.
“For the 2023–24 benefit year, families most in need can receive up to $7,437 per child under the age of 6 and $6,275 per child aged 6 through 17,” the government stated in a news release issued by Employment and Social Development Canada. “This represents an increase of 6.3% from the previous year.”
The Canada Child Benefit is a non-taxable monthly payment the CRA sends to eligible families with kids under age 18. It’s intended to help low-income and middle-income families cover child-rearing expenses. The CCB was introduced in 2016, and it has been indexed to inflation since 2018.
CCB payments may include the Child Disability Benefit (CDB), and some provinces and territories offer additional assistance (for example, the Ontario Child Benefit, or OCB).
“The Canada Child Benefit is meant to indirectly help cover the costs of raising a family for parents whose incomes are below the applicable thresholds,” says Jason Heath, Certified Financial Planner at Objective Financial Partners Inc. in Toronto, and MoneySense columnist. “The more kids you have, the higher your benefit entitlement, and the higher the income means-testing limit will be for you. Best of all, it is a tax-free benefit, so you do not report the income on your tax return.”
For the period of July 2023 to June 2024, the maximum annual benefit per child under age 6 is $7,437 ($619.75 per month), and the maximum annual benefit for children aged 6 to 17 is $6,275 ($522.91 per month).
The total amount you’ll get for CCB payments depends on:
If your adjusted family net income in 2022 was below $34,863, you will get the maximum amount for each child. Above $34,863, CCB payments gradually decrease with higher adjusted family net incomes. See sample calculations on the CRA website, and use the CRA’s CCB calculator to figure out how much you can receive.
If you share custody of a child, you get 50% of what you would have received if you had full custody. The payment amount is based on your adjusted family net income.
To apply for CCB payments, you must live with and be primarily responsible for the care and upbringing of at least one child under 18. You must also be a resident of Canada for tax purposes. In addition, you or your spouse or common-law partner must be any of the following:
Read more about eligibility for the CCB.
These are the CCB payment dates for the second half of 2023:
If you don’t receive a payment on the dates above, wait five business days before you contact the CRA for assistance, according to its website. But do follow up: “A parent who may have been entitled to the CCB but was not registered may still be in luck,” says Heath. “You can request retroactive payment of the benefit going back up to 10 years.”
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