The Canada Child Benefit is one of the most generous government benefits in Canada and it just increased! Unlike many government benefits, the Canada Child Benefit is available to low, moderate, and also some high income families.
The amount you receive from the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) depends on a few factors, one is the taxable net income for the family (line 23600 on your tax return), another is the number of children in the family, and the final factor is the age of each child.
The Canada Child Benefit is an “income tested” government benefit. The higher your taxable net income is, the lower your Canada Child Benefit will be. For some high income families, at a certain level of income the Canada Child Benefit will be reduced to $0. Anyone with income above that income level will not receive any benefit. The tricky thing is that this income level is different depending on the number of children and their ages.
The Canada Child Benefit also changes every year. New benefits start in July and are based on prior years tax return (the first payment of the updated benefit is July 20th).
The Canada Child Benefit also increases with inflation. The new 2026 Canada Child Benefit has increased by 2.4% versus 2021.
So how much Canada Child Benefit can you expect in July? We’ve got a table below that shows the Canada Child Benefit based on family taxable net income (line 23600) in $10,000 increments, so you can figure out generally how much you can expect in July.
What Are The New CCB Amounts?
The Canada Child Benefit starts at a maximum amount depending on the number of children and the children’s ages. This amount then gets reduced based on the family’s income level.
The new CCB amounts are in the table below. These amounts are the maximum a family would receive for each child if they had taxable net income below $32,797 in 2026.
In 2026 the maximum Canada Child Benefit for children age 0-5 is $6,997 per year or $583.08 per month and for children age 6-17 the maximum amount is $5,903 per year or $491.92 per month. This then gets reduced by the “clawbacks” explained below.
How Does CCB Work?
The Canada Child Benefit is an “income tested” government benefit. This means the benefit is reduced as income increases, but how does this work exactly?
As a family’s taxable net income increases the Canada Child Benefit gets “clawed back” at a certain rate. This rate depends on the family’s income level. Below a certain income level there is no clawback but as income increases that clawback rate changes. The table below shows the different clawback rates.
But what does this clawback mean? The clawback reduces the Canada Child Benefit as income increases. Here are two examples…
Example 1: For a family with two children over 6-years old the maximum annual benefit they would receive is $11,806. If they earned $80,000 in 2021 then they would receive $6,131 from CCB from July 2026 to June 2026. They start with the maximum but then this gets reduced based on their income. The first reduction is at a rate of 13.5% for income between $32,797 and $71,060 ($71,060 – $32,797 = $38,263 x 13.5% = $5,166 clawback). The second reduction is at a rate of 5.7% for income between $71,060 and $80,000 ($80,000 – $71,060 = $8,940 x 5.7% = $510 clawback).
Example 2: For a family with three children under 6-years old the maximum annual benefit they would receive is $20,991. If they earned $80,000 in 2021 then they would receive $13,006 from CCB from July 2026 to June 2026. They start with the maximum but then this gets reduced based on their income. The first reduction is at a rate of 19.0% for income between $32,797 and $71,060 ($71,060 – $32,797 = $38,263 x 19.0% = $7,270 clawback). The second reduction is at a rate of 8.0% for income between $71,060 and $80,000 ($80,000 – $71,060 = $8,940 x 8.0% = $715 clawback).
Want more info on how the Canada Child Benefit works? Check out this post.
What Are The Canada Child Benefit Payment Dates In 2026?
The Canada Child Benefit gets paid on a monthly basis, around the 20th of each month. The payment dates will vary slightly depending on weekends and holidays but this is when you can expect to receive your Canada Child Benefit payment in 2026…
- January 20, 2026
- February 18, 2026
- March 18, 2026
- April 20, 2026
- May 20, 2026
- June 20, 2026
- July 20, 2026
- August 19, 2026
- September 20, 2026
- October 20, 2026
- November 18, 2026
- December 13, 2026
How Much CCB Could You Expect?
We can expand the math above and look at all sorts of different family scenarios. To help you estimate how much CCB you can expect in 2026 we’ve created the table below. This table is based on line 23600 of your tax return. For a couple you will need to add both you and your partner’s line 23600 to figure out your total family income.