The Canada Child Benefit (CCB) is a benefit scheme by the Canada government for Canadian citizens and permanent residents. The CCB provides money to CCB eligible families and helps them with costs required for raising children. The CCB provides monthly and non-taxable payments to families administered by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

In order to avail this benefit, you need to be eligible to apply for CCB.

Are You Eligible for Canada Child Benefit (CCB)?

The eligibility for Canada Child Benefit (CCB) is as follows:

• You must live with a child who is below the age of 18
• You must be responsible for upbringing the child
• You must be Canadian resident for tax purposes

You or your spouse should be:

• A Canadian citizen
• Canadian Permanent Resident
• A protected person in Canada
• A temporary resident in Canada for the previous 18 months and has a valid visa permit for the 19th month
• An Indian within the Indian Act

When Should You Apply For Canada Child Benefit (CCB)?

You should apply for Canada Child Benefit as soon as possible after:

• Your child is born
• A child starts living with you
• When you or your spouse meet the CCB eligibility criteria

You will be made CCB payments after the month you became eligible for the scheme.

You are advised to apply for CCB even if:

• You share custody of your child
• Your child lives with you for a temporary period of time
• Your current family income is high and you do not wish to apply for CCB, you still should apply for CCB as it might come with other benefits too

Who Should Apply for Canada Child Benefit?

Individuals who are primarily in charge of upbringing the child can apply for Canada Child Benefit.

You are responsible for the child and upbringing the child if:

• You supervise the child’s daily activities and needs
• You make sure that the child meets the medical requirements
• Arrange childcare whenever necessary

When a male and female parent stay together in the same house, the female is generally considered primarily responsible for the child. If the male parent decides to be primarily responsible for the child, he must include a note with the application of the female parent.

The note must state that the male parent is primarily responsible for all of the children in the household. If parents of the same sex live in a household with the child, one of the parents can apply for CCB for all children in the household.

You are not responsible if the child is legal, physically and financially supported by a child welfare agency.

How to Apply for Canada Child Benefit (CCB)

Here are the steps on how you should apply for Canada Child Benefit (CCB):

• Find if you are eligible for CCB
• Apply for Canada Child Benefit
• Update your information timely

The Eligibility Criteria for Child Care Benefits are:

• You must live with a child who is below the age of 18
• You must be responsible for taking care of the child and upbringing the child
• You must be Canadian resident for tax purposes
• You or your spouse should be:
  • A Canadian citizen
  • Canadian Permanent Resident
  • A protected person in Canada
  • A temporary resident in Canada for the previous 18 months and has a valid visa permit for the 19th month
  • An Indian within the Indian Act

Apply for CCB

You can apply for CCB in one of the following conditions:

1. Automated Benefits Applications: The Automated Benefits Applications is a partnership between the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the vital statistical agency of the participating province.
2. My Account: You can use My Account if the mentioned situations apply to you:
3. Your child is born
4. A child starts living with you

You did not already apply for Automated Benefits Applications

Form RC66, Canada Child Benefits Application: You can use the RC66 form if:

1. If your child is born
2. A child starts living with you
3. You are new resident in Canada
4. You did not already apply for Automated Benefits Applications

Documents You Need to Provide for CCB

Here is the list of documents you will need to provide to avail CCB:

• Proof of birth of each child
• Proof of citizenship (if applicable)
• Proof that you lived in Canada
• Proof that you were primarily responsible for the child’s care and upbringing of the child

Keep Your Information Updated

To continue availing the Canada Child benefits and payments, you should make sure that your information is updated timely.

The information that you need to keep updating if they undergo a change:

• Your marital status
• You change in address
• You want to start, change or stop direct deposit
• The number of children you are primarily responsible for
• You stop sharing the custody of child with the individual of one or more children
• A death has occurred
• You or your spouse’s residency status has changed
• You notice shows an outdated information

Sharing Custody of Child

An individual is said to share custody of the child if:

• The child lives with one person for four days and live with another person for three days
• The child lives for one week with one person and the other week with another person
• The child lives in alternating cycle

In this case, both individuals should be primarily responsible for the child’s care and upbringing the child when the child lives with them. 50% of payment will be made to each individual of the CCB payment.

If you have recently entered the sharing custody of child situation, you should immediately apply for CCB.