If grocery bills have been wearing you down, there’s a bit of federal relief hitting bank accounts this week, and for most people it works out to a nice chunk of change.
The money arrives on July 3, and it’s the first proper payment from the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB), a new program that permanently takes over from the GST/HST credit in order to help modest-income Canadians manage the rising cost of living. More than 12 million Canadians are expected to get it.
If you already saw a deposit back on June 5, that wasn’t the new benefit itself. That was a one-time bridge payment meant to smooth the switchover. Friday’s deposit is the real start of the program.
How much you can get
The amounts are based on your 2025 tax return, and here’s what eligible Canadians can receive for the July 2026 to June 2027 period:
- Up to $679 for a single person
- Up to $890 for married or common-law couples
- $234 for each eligible child under 19
What you actually get comes down to your adjusted family net income, your marital status and how many kids you have. The CRA will send a notice, either through your online account or by mail, laying out your annual total and payment schedule.
What’s actually changing
For the most part, this works just like the GST/HST credit did. The name is new, but eligibility is the same, the payments still come quarterly, and you’re still considered automatically when you file your taxes.
Starting this month, the CGEB pays out 25% more than the old GST/HST credit did, and that bump is locked in for five years, through 2031. The other change is that your payment is now calculated off your 2025 return rather than your 2024 one, so your amount could shift depending on how your income moved last year.
When the payments arrive
The first one goes out July 3, and the next is scheduled for October 5, 2026. After that, payments come four times a year, with each cycle running from July through the following June.
If your quarterly amount comes to less than $50, the CRA won’t break it into installments. You’ll get the full annual amount in a single July payment instead.
Who qualifies
The rules haven’t changed from the GST/HST credit. You need to be at least 19, a Canadian resident for tax purposes, and within the income thresholds the CRA sets. If you’re under 19, you can still qualify if you have or had a spouse or common-law partner, or if you’re a parent living with your child.
For shared custody, each parent can claim half the benefit for that child. And if you already get the Canada Child Benefit for a kid, they’re automatically counted in your CGEB total.
Do you need to apply?
No. As long as you filed your 2025 taxes, the CRA sorts out your eligibility on its own, with nothing extra to submit. File late and you may have to wait until your return is assessed before anything comes through, though any missed payments get issued retroactively in the next deposit.
The CGEB is completely tax-free, so it doesn’t count as income and doesn’t go on your return. To see your expected amount and schedule, sign into your CRA account and check under Benefits and Credits.