Do you have children? The new Canada child benefit may affect your family

Budget 2016 gives Canadian families more money to help with the high cost of raising their children, by replacing the current child benefit system with the new Canada Child Benefit. The introduction of the Canada Child Benefit represents the most significant social policy innovation in a generation.

You will see changes to your child benefits starting in July 2016. Below you’ll find some information to help you understand these changes.

What is the Canada Child Benefit (CCB)?

The Canada child benefit is a monthly tax-free payment for families with children under the age of 18. It will replace the Canada child tax benefit (CCTB), national child benefit supplement (NCBS), and the universal child care benefit (UCCB).

Who can receive the CCB?

If you have children under 18 you are most likely eligible to receive the CCB.

Do you need to apply to get the CCB?

If you already received the CCTB or UCCB, you don’t need to apply. However, both you and your partner must file your 2015 tax return.

How much CCB will you get?

The amount of money you receive depends on two things:

• the number of children in your care; and
• your family net income

You can get up to:

• $6,400 per year ($533 per month) for each child under the age of 6
• $5,400 per year ($450 per month) for each child aged 6 to 17
• an additional $2,730 per year if your child qualifies for the disability amount

Families with less than $30,000 in family net income will receive the maximum benefit.

As adjusted family net income increases, the benefit is gradually reduced until it reaches zero.

Check out our benefits calculator to get an estimate of how much your CCB will be: cra.gc.ca/benefits-calculator.

When will you get your first CCB payment?

The first CCB payments will be made on July 20, 2016. After that, payments will be made on the 20^th of each month.

When will you get your last regular CCTB and UCCB payments?

You will receive your last regular CCTB and UCCB payment(s) on June 20, 2016.

Will the CRA use your direct deposit information for your CCB payments?

Yes. If you currently receive your payments by direct deposit, this will continue. To sign up for direct deposit, visit our direct deposit page. Direct deposit is the fastest way to get benefit and credit payments.

Can you get your CCB notice electronically?

Yes. Once you register for My Account, and sign up for online mail, you will receive email notifications when there is a benefit notice ready for you to read.

You can also view your CCB information conveniently on your mobile device. Go to www.cra.gc.ca/mobileapps and select our new MyBenefits CRA app.

Need more information?

For more information about CCB, go to canada.ca/canada-child-benefit.

You can also follow the conversation on Twitter using the following hashtags: #CanadaChildBenefit, #SupportingFamilies and #CCB.