August’s Canada Child Benefit payment goes out this week and amounts are bigger than before

Another month, another Canada Child Benefit deposit for Canadian families, and this one carries the bump that kicked in back in July.

The CCB is a monthly, tax-free payment issued by the Canada Revenue Agency to help parents manage the cost of raising kids, things like groceries, daycare, and school supplies. It’s been around since 2016, when it replaced the old Universal Child Care Benefit, and today it’s one of the most heavily relied-on federal supports for families across the country. Payments go out to parents of children under 18, with the exact amount shaped by household income, how many kids are in the family, and their ages.

How much families can expect this month

The 2026-2027 benefit year, which began this past July, brought the maximum monthly payment to $679.75 for a child under 6 and $573.58 for a child between 6 and 17. Add that up over a full year, and the ceiling comes to $8,157 per younger child and $6,883 per older one, roughly $160 and $135 more per child than what families were getting the year before.

Not every household qualifies for that full amount. It’s reserved for families with an adjusted net income at or below $38,237. Beyond that threshold, the payment doesn’t cut off outright, but it does shrink as income rises, and the drop-off happens more quickly in households with several kids.

A separate top-up exists for families raising a child with an approved Disability Tax Credit. The Child Disability Benefit adds another $284.25 a month per qualifying child, though that extra amount starts shrinking once a household’s income crosses $81,222.

Depending on where a family lives, provincial or territorial programs can tack on as much as $300 more per child each month. Because the CRA rolls all of this into a single monthly deposit, the number that shows up in an account isn’t always just the federal share.

Who’s eligible

Two things need to be true to collect the CCB: being the main caregiver responsible for at least one child under 18, and qualifying as a Canadian resident for tax purposes. That last part covers citizens, permanent residents, protected persons, people who’ve held temporary resident status for 18 months or longer, and those registered under the Indian Act. Parents splitting custody can each claim half of what a full-custody parent would receive, based on their own individual income.

There’s no fixed income ceiling that knocks a family out of the program entirely. Instead, the payment winds down gradually as earnings increase, so exactly when it disappears depends on each household’s own numbers.

Applying for the CCB

For new parents, the simplest route is through birth registration, since most provinces and territories let you pass a newborn’s information straight to the CRA at that point, kicking off the benefit automatically.

Missed that window? CRA My Account offers the quickest way to apply after the fact, or a completed Form RC66 can be mailed in to the nearest tax centre instead. Once approved for the CCB, the CRA also checks automatically whether a family qualifies for any provincial or territorial child benefits on top of it.

Regardless of how someone applies, both parents need to keep filing tax returns every year, even with no taxes owed, or the deposits will stop.

When August’s deposit arrives

This month’s payment goes out Thursday, August 20, sticking to the program’s usual pattern of paying out on the 20th of each month, or the nearest earlier business day if that date lands on a weekend or holiday.

Figuring out your own CCB amount

Anyone who wants a precise figure rather than the general maximums can plug their numbers into the CRA’s child and family benefits calculator, which weighs income, the number and ages of kids, and any disability credits, then spits out an estimate covering both federal and provincial or territorial amounts.

As always, none of this counts as taxable income. It doesn’t need to appear on a tax return, and it has zero bearing on a refund or balance owed at filing time.

More info on CCB payments is available on Canada.ca.

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