Child Care Benefit and how to apply for it.
Canada is certainly a socialist welfare state housed in a somewhat capitalism driven economy. As a result taxation rates are certainly high but you get a wide variety of social welfare schemes apart from free healthcare and education based on your eligibility. The Canada child benefit (CCB) is a tax-free monthly payment made to the eligible legal guardian to help them with the cost of raising children under 18 years of age. CCB is indexed to inflation measures and gets revised every year. From July 2019 to June 2020, a legal guardian can get a maximum of $6,639 per year for each eligible child under six and $5,602 for each eligible child aged 6 to 17. These payments are tax free. If you have more than a single child, your eligible amount gets adjusted.
Eligibility for Child Care Benefit
If you are a permanent resident who has recently immigrated with a child, you are certainly eligible for it. For exhaustive eligibility conditions, please refer the official site.
How much would you get?
It depends on several factors like your adjusted family net income for the previous year, marital status, age of children, number of children, child’s eligibility for disability benefits. You can quickly determine the amount that you are eligible for using this official Child and family benefits calculator. There are two phase out brackets where your eligibility gets reduced as per your household income. The first slab is $0 – $30,000 and if your adjusted net family income for last year was less than $30,000 with a single child, you would be eligible for the full amount of $6,639- split into monthly payments. First phase out starts at $30,000 – $ 65,000 meaning to say that your eligibility will start reducing above $30,000 with the second phaseout happening for $65,000 and above. If you are interested to know exactly how this phaseout happens, please have a look at the video below:
How to apply for it?
For children born in Canada, there is a fairly simple Automated Benefits Application where you will be able to apply for Child Care Benefit when you register the birth of your newborn. For a child born in Ontario, it is a very simple process called 4-in-1 Newborn bundle. It is a very simple online application where you just have to fill a couple of details to apply for the Birth Certificate, Child Care Benefit among other things in one go. It is certainly a very convenient process. You would need the Social Insurance Number of your baby, which would typically be provided by the designated hospital where your child was born.
For children born outside Canada, you need to apply using ‘My Account‘. It is a online service offered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) that allows you to file for income taxes and other benefits.
Please read more about the detailed steps and documents required to apply for CCB.
For new immigrants without a history of filing an income tax return in Canada, you may have to apply by filling certain forms and supporting documents like proof of immigration and proof of birth of your child. You may refer to this official link to understand more.
When and how do you receive the benefits?
Payments are typically made around the 20th of every month be it through mail or direct deposit. You can check out the exact dates here. If you have a Canadian bank account, you can register yourself for this service where your benefits shall be directly credited into your account.
If you have any questions, please read the detailed FAQs on the official site.
