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Baby Expenses

Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB)

Another government program that is available for parents in Canada is called the Canada Child Tax Benefit. This particular benefit is one of the few income-tested programs that actually has reasonable income limits so you can be fairly middle class and still get some cash out of this.

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Eligibility for CCTB

  • Child must be under 18 years of age.
  • Primary caregiver must be a Canadian resident.
  • You must live with the child.
  • Family net income must be less than approximately $102,000. Keep in mind that net income is AFTER any deductions such as RRSP contributions.
  • Check out the government of Canada website for more information.

How to apply for the CCTB

The form for this benefit is called Form RC66 – Canada Child Benefits Application and can be downloaded from www.cra.gc.ca/forms or call 1-800-959-2221. Keep in mind that this application is the same one as for the UCCB (Universal child care benefit) so you only have to fill out this form once for both benefits.

Do I need proof of income to apply for the CCTB?

No you don’t. However the exception is if one of the parents became a new resident or returned as a resident of Canada in the last 2 years – or if you became a Canadian citizen in the last 12 months.

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Do I need proof of birth to apply for the CCTB?

No, unless the child was born outside of Canada or was born in Canada and is one year of age or older.

How much will I get from CCTB?

Check out the CRA’s online calculator to find out how much your benefit will be. The benefit is a sliding scale so the more net family income you have, the smaller the benefit will be.

 

204 replies on “Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB)”

Hi, I am a Canadian citizen. I was born in Canada in 1982 . Due to family issues, my parents moved overseas. When I became of legal age, (18) i decided to come back here.
My question is i never got any child benefit all my life. Would I be able to claim all the child benefit that I did not get?

I have a canadian passport, had a property in canada, condo, worked for a good company, now i am back in india. will be here for a few years (in india for 5 yeards now). Can i get child tax benefit for my 2 kids . how do i apply..do i call them and tell them i do not live in canada.My husband is in india too.

hello,

I was receiving a tax benefit of 200$ per month. however, i left the country for 2 years and now that i am back, i have like 1500$ in checks from the gov.
so my Qs is.. can i still collect these checks even though 2 years have passed from the date on them.?

thanks for your help

Hi there,i was woundering acouple questions! i am on assistance from the gov and get 1200.00 a month for our 3 children thats with universal benifit as well..childrens ages are 7,6,4.so i dont get the 100 for my 2 oldest.we had a new baby whos almost 10 months.how much will i get for all 4..how much do they deduct the more kids you have?most of all i just filed for my 10 month olds how much around would i get back….thanks so much.and sorry for the spelling….ps i cant figure it out on the web site so thats why i need ur help…even if its only a rough amount.thanks again ๐Ÿ™‚

I’m turning 18 on the 8th of November, will I still get cctb for that month? CCTB is usually on the 20th..

I need to know what my options are here because the government seems to be reluctant on helping me out. I will try hard to only give you the short story so bare with me…I moved to a new place on July 24 2010…this being only a few months ago…when I got my canada child tax benefit payment for july ( direct deposited) I got online right away and changed my address to my new residence…then in August I got about 190 in my account and I had no clue as to why I was issued this money…speaking about it with my neighbor she told me that it was the ontario sales tax credit…so I called them to ask more about it and to see if it was basically the same as the Universal child care benefit…I wanted to know if I was going to have to pay this back when I did my income taxes…the lady that I had spoken to told me that I needed to change my address since it has on file that I still lived in my previous address…so on the phone with her I changed my address…thought that everything was “hunky dory” as usual I got my child tax benefit for august, september and october…now we were supposed to be issued another ontario child tax credit on November 10th…I overspent a bit knowing that this money would be in my account…so on november 10th I check the account and sure enough there was nothing there…I called and I talked to a gentlemen and he told me that there is nothing that can be done until after the 25th…I told him that, that was not good enough due to the fact that I have to get food and diapers…he again said that there is nothing that can be done and the reason for the non payment is due to the fact that I had a red flag on my file because of returned mail stating that I didn’t live at the address anymore…I told him that I moved in July and before I moved I changed my address online and then changed it again in August because they said that it was still the old address…he then changed it for the THIRD time…but seemed to be very unhelpful…I hung up the phone with him and called back right away and spoke to a different individual…he apologised about the mistakes that were made on there part and told me that I would have the money in my account no later then friday morning…today is friday…no money…I called once again and I talked to an individual who told me that he has no idea as to why the last gentlemen even told me that since I would not be recieving another payment from them until febuary when they issue the next cheque…then he goes on to tell me to contact the canada child tax benefit for they also now have a red flag on my file…and so I do…it’s only the 12th and they don’t issue the payment until the 19th…so I called…sure enough another red flag for the very same reason…so then the lady that I was speaking to went on to tell me that I would not be recieving novembers cheque and I will get both of the cheques in december…I got very irate with her and explained to her that I needed that money and was not able to wait that long…again I was told there was nothing that could be done…so therefore I asked to speak to a supervisor… they had a supervisor call me back and once again I was told that I would not be recieving anything until the next dates of the issued cheques…

my question is this i received backpay for my son in october 1400 app and i thought that was from me sending my papers to apply for it and i did that 1week before the cctb came out.now for november i got 2300?i only got 2kids under 18 now the question im asking is when you do the online birth registration is your child automatically registered for cctb?because my son was mason james but i changed his name and hes legally now maxwell james….could cctb have made a mistake and think i have 3 children?and if so what happens nextt?

Hi,
I have been separated since 2006 and have been receiving CCTB even though my boys were living with me one week on and one week off. Although this was the arrangements I their MOM has been the primary parent and have been involved and paid things even when they are with their Dad. We are one mile apart. I have been the one to get them clothes, take them to their appt. school supplies, lessons, etc etc etc. I would even go and take the youngest one to school while he was on the week at his Dad’s as his Dad would be gone to work by 6am.
Here is what is happening. I just received a letter from CCTB that says that my Ex has filed for half of the CCTB because the boys were half time with me and half with him. I am so sad because of this and have filled in the forms of this. They did want a copy of the Separation Papers and since my re-marriage of 2009 my ex has stopped paying child support in which I never went after because both my boys are working part-time and are able to have some money on their own.
Will the Government ask me to pay a portion back to him because of our arrangements? I make 20 thousand and he makes 60 thousand.
Thanks for your time in answering my question.

Hi Mike, my question is me , my wife , daughter and son are Canadian citizens. Currently we are temporarily outside Canada for 6 years for family reasons. My son was born outside Canada, is he eligible for Child benefit taxes now or when we go back to Canada we will be able to get the money as lum somb.

I really want to speak with the R. Harris that signs the forms for the CCTB. I feel as though I have extinguished every other means to finding out what is going on in my situation and that this is the last resort. If anyone can tell me how I am able to get a hold of the higher ups other then the 800 numbers I would really appreciate it, thanks!

Hi. I have a question. I live in NL. I was recieving child tax bebefit every month, when I did not qualify for it anymore. I filled out my income tax forms properly, so this was the governments fault. What will happen now once they realize that I have been overpaid? Can they take me to court to get me to repay the money? What is their process ?
Thanks so much

Hi,
Me and my family (3) entered canada 18 months ago and applied for child tax benefit and after a month we went back to USA. Now, I am back after 18 months alone without my husband and my 2 yrs old son and planning to live here for forever. My husband will come after 2 months and baby will come after 3 years. The baby was born in USA. I havenot regestered my income tax file yet coz i was not here. The question is, can i still get the CCTB or i need to reapply coz i had applied 18 months ago.

Hi,

I am Canadian and have two children a 6 year old born in Canada ( she goes to school in the US), and a 1 year old born in the US. I live in both Canada and the US ( I can’t stay away from Canada for too long I get home sick ๐Ÿ™ and I can’t stay in Canada because my husband needs to see his son ) I was wondering if my son will be elgible for CCTB. I filed for his Canadian Citizenship last summer when I was in Canada and got confirmation that it was being proccessed. I do not work ( domestic caregive) , just baby sitting once in a while, and relying on my husband (American) and Parents (while I am in Canada). Can I still file taxes and recieve CCTB for both children or does my huband have to file? What should I do? I am from Alberta.
GO CANADA!!!!

my question I have is I have 2 kids and I just found out I have been receiving more cctb and uccb since november and reason is my son was registered as mason james hughes but then I changed his name to maxwell james roy giving him his dads name and I never applied online for cctb I only applied for sin and registration so I sent the appication for my cctb and uccb for maxwell then I got backpay wich I thought was normal until for the last few months I was becoming suspicious that they think I have 3kids when I only have 2 I need help as to what I can do in this situation??I don’t want to be commiting frauid or going to jail pleasssee I’m a good person and a excellent mother so what do I do also I’ve been with my bf for almost 2years on and off do I change my status to commonlaw or does it stay single and also going back to my first question will they cancel my payments until the extra money they gave me is given back to them?

@TARA
You need to call revenue canada 18003871193 as it was their mistake and you spent the money you will owe them whatever amount they overpaid you, if you wait to call that will just make it alot more money you owe back to them say for instance its 3grand they will take half your baby bonus each month, your gst and all your income tax refund until its paid so i suggest you call them NOW to save yourself alot of money with lil ones losing half of what ever you get kinda suck

FOR B.M

Try calling your member in parlament, to help you .
I had problems getting my daughters birth certificate from toronto the wait was over a year but my member of parliment called on my behalf and also gave me personal numbers no 1800 numbers.

Eligibility for CCTB

Child must be under 18 years of age.

Primary caregiver must be a Canadian resident.

You must live with the child.

Family net income must be less than approximately $102,000. Keep in mind that net income is AFTER any deductions such as RRSP contributions.

hi what is going to happend if i cannot prove my resident status before last two years i can prove only last two years but iconnot prove before that becouse i dont have any document older than two years.
the cctb asked me to prove last six years so does that mean i am not iligible any cctb anymore

thanks

hi
my question is that in order to get my retroactive payment from UCCB i have to give atleast 3 proof that my kids used to live with me.
my doctor and the health nurse who gave them the vacination refused to give me any thing so what other stuff can i send them to prove that they used to live with me for that period.
thnx

hi..

i am currently recieving my daughter’s CCTB and were planning to go on vacation in the philippines for about 4months.. will my daughter’s child benefits continue while away from canada for 4 months or it will stop for while were away? please help me im confused

Hi, I just turned 18 last month. But I’ve been living on my own for the past year on assistance, will I be eligible for back pay? ..Or will I not receive anything because I wasn’t living with a parent?

zel – it shouldnt matter if you are on vacation, if you are still a resident of canada and none of your banking information or adress has changed then you should be fine.

amy – the cctb is to help with the costs of raising a chld. it is made for the parent, not the child. to be eligable the parent must have the child living with them. you cannot recieve it yourself and they should not recieve it if you have not been living with them.

Hey quick question. Does the universal or ontario childtax credit get help until you do you taxes in the new year. I have yet to recieve them. Normally I do. I havent done taxes yet and instead of spending 3 hours on the phone I was wondering if anyone here would know.

hi there, i just wanna ask if it is possible for me to know the processing status of the cctb of my 5months old daughter were in i just had her application submitted last february 28, 2011. She was born here in canada October 9, 2011..

hi there, i just wanna ask is it possible to get the cctb of my 5month old child even if i just submitted her application for cctb last february 28, 2011? because we are planning to go to philippines this coming june 15 and we need her money support to purchase a ticket back home? she was born here in canada last year 2010 october 9..

KATHLEEN~

i had my baby girl january 12th, applied at the end of january and recieved my cctb plus backpay for february in march. i called them and you get it a month late. should arrive for you this month. ๐Ÿ™‚

krista –

so i have to call the canada revenue agency and ask them if i could receive now the cctb of my baby girl? were i never had it 5months ago since i gave birth, its hard for me because i dont have work and of course i need to buy her weekly diapers and formula milk..

Kathleen~

No, im saying if you only applied in February you should be recieving your payment this month ( April 20th to be exact ) as well as backpay. They do not give CCTB for the month the child is born so you will not receive a payment for Oct. You should however receive a lump sum for the months of Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar and Apr. I was saying i only know about the not getting CCTB for one month because recently i was in a similar situation and had called them myself. I hope you have a safe trip in June, best of luck.

i see, do have any idea if once i had the cctb i may also receive the universal tax benefit also @ the same time?

i cant believe this !! i got a review for my eligability for the benefit .. i was born and raised here as were my parents and my children .. i am a single mother with 3 young girls ..i recently got a ‘review’ for the cctb for the last 3 yrs ..i was late getting in all my info BUT have turned in every thing they asked plus more as to me being single and low income .. its been two months now since i have recieved my benefit.. ive called my mp and explained my dependncy on that benefit to pay rent and feed my children .. still nothing ..i have been so upset as to why this is so long and complicated. I clearly have 3 children and they clearly live with me and have lived with ONLY ME for there whole lives. i sent in daycare letters , school letters .. court ordered child suport agreements for the father rent reciepts hydro reciepts everything and anything gpoin beyhond what they have asked of me … so frustraded . has anyone been thru this and what do i do????

stacy-
are you not getting as much as you would like to? or did they stop giving it to you all together? they give you enough to cover some child care, diapers, clothes etc. not to cover your rent. if you do not change your address with them or claim certain things, they will stop payments and then it may take some a few months until your payments start up again. when was the last time you called them?

I’m not saying I dnt get enuff I’m sayin they stopped payment all together. And I’m not saying I want it to cover all my rent I’m simply saying I count on that benefit as does a huge majority of families .. I haven’t received anything in 2 months and am still waiting .. I do have my MP involved.. I dnt know why I’m being reviewed all they said was it random..?? Well fine but maybe they should concentrate on the ppl that aren’t even living here or canadian .. I do my taxes and wrk and raise my kids alll alone .. This was a huge stress on me and my kids .. Tying to come up with $ that I am not receiving that I depended on .. I thought this was to help low income parent not make there life hell while they take there sweet time .. What do I do ??

thats crappy ๐Ÿ™ well all i can say is keep calling everyday, keep asking when you will receive your benefits again.

Hi everyone, I and my husband been separated for over a year but the cctb cant update my marital status coz i didnt send the separation letter yet with my husbandรจs signature and that is because i think he wants to give me more hard time . I am unemployed and I have an 18 month son. On the other hand, I want to know who will get the full custody of him ( I had been looking after him eversince) , my husband is in disability program. pls help me and I would like to know whats the best situation for me as I am unemployed due to my baby have reflux and needs special care. thanks and really appreciate answers!

~Marissa~

If your husband will not sign the papers I think you may just have to wait until tax season of next year. during that time you will file as separated and the main caregiver ( if that is the case ). have you called revenue canada to see what other actions you can take? As for who will get full custody no one can answer that here. It all depends on whether or not he wants to fight you for custody, and if he does then thats a matter for the courts to decide. A little off topic, i also have a 3 month old who has had severe reflux since she was 2 weeks. ask your doctor about prevacid.

I hope everything works out, take care and good luck.

well i got achild since last yera october and i filled cctb application forms through online , but contemporarly i have been calling ,. what crappy ,. upto today , i have no jobs and no bucks to buy for baby daipers what should i do ??

hi! im still new here in Canada and I gave birth to my son here. I applied for a CCTB and UCTB and the gov’t gives me a very helpful amount. But I was planning to visit the Philippines for 6months. My mother said that my baby wont receive anything if we go to the Philippines even for vacation. Is this true? And it is just a vacation not live there, is there a difference? i need the answers because I really want to know. Hope someone answers this.

Hi, I didn’t file my 2009 tax on time, therefore, causing my daughter’s CCTB to be stopped last July 2010. I now filed my 2009 tax along with my 2010 taxes last month. I am just wondering if I’ll be able to get the lump sum of the payments that I missed since July up til today. Also, I have a defaulted student loan. Will they touch my daughter’s CCTB and UCTB also? Coz they took all my 2010 refund. I would appreciate any comments and answers regarding this matter. Thanks

They will submit a lump sum and retro the payment, but I believe only up to 1 year back owed. I do not think they will touch the defaulted st. loan, but then again you never know. I have been awarded CCTB, then my ex called on it, I got audited, retro’d me $19,000 that I had to pay back, I submitted all my paperwork, they recredited me all of it but $5,000 and then stopped my payments suddently again this month stating they were sorry they couldn’t go back on their decision and I have to resubmit paper work from last May that I have already submitted twice!!!!! So, you will get the backowed from one year, but DON’T underestimate or think that they may not touch it to pay defaulted St. Loan. Just the name of the game and it’s a pain in the butt!

I am married to the father of 2 children ages 10 & 13….the mother of the children has been claiming this credit the whole time..and keeping all the money (even though they had total 50/50 joint custody – which is also why there was no child support payments made.

my husband’s 13 year old has decided to come and live with us full time, but the 10 year old is continuing going back and forth exactly half the time..

so I have 2 questions…should my husband file to receive the CCTB for the son who is now living with us??? (because right now, the mom is getting the money for both kids) AND…with us still having the 10 year old exactly half the time…can the mom file for child support payments for her ??(she might try if she’s mad) It has been 7 years since they have not been together

My children and I are canadian citizen. I have a property in canada, townhouse.i am planning to go back in China. We will be here for a few years .Can i get child tax benefit for my kids . how do i apply..do i call them and tell them i do not live in canada.My husband is in China too.

Hello… I want to ask one question that i am planning to send my daughter back home and my parent will taking care of my daughter. I am resident of canada but my parent are not. I parent doesn’t have any income in india. I am sending them money every month. so if my daughter will go there should i still continue with my child tax benefit or i should stop it as my daughter is not in canada?

kindly reply me….

Thanks you so much mike. Shall we do it online or we have to call them to stop?

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