How to apply for Canada Child Benefit for my first newborn child?

Question

Five months after my first child was born, i didn't know that i could claim for the Canada Child Benefit program. I always had the notion that if my family income was high in the tax bracket, i would not qualify for the child benefits. Someone had told me this before and i believed them without checking it out myself. Just a few weeks ago, one of my relatives advised me to try claiming for the Canada Child Benefits even though my family combined income is quite high. Has anyone had experience in filing for the Canada Child Benefits? How do we know if we are eligible or not and how do we calculate, how much we could possibly be getting from the Canada Child Benefits program?

Answer 1

Canada Child Benefit is a tax-free monthly payment given to eligible family, usually to lower income family to help them with the cost of raising a child or children. This payment is carried out until the child reaches 18 years of age and then the payment will be stopped. Even if you and your spouse may be earning high income, you should apply as well because you might just be able to get something even if a small amount monthly from this Canada Child Benefit Program.

The Canada Revenue Agency uses information from your previous year income tax return to calculate the amount of Canada Child Benefits that your family will be eligible for. Both you and your spouse should file income tax every year even if any one of you do not have any income. The Canada Revenue Agency recalculates your eligibility every July based on your income tax filed from the previous year.

There are three ways you could apply for Canada Child benefit:

1. Automated Benefits Application, when you register the birth of your child.

2. My Account (Canada Revenue Agency website account)

3. Filling the Form RC66, Canada Child Benefits Application form.

1. Automated Benefits Application

You can apply for the CCB when you register the birth of your newborn with your province. The territories will be offering this service in the near future.

After your baby is born:

1. Complete the birth registration for your newborn.
2. Give your consent in the appropriate section to let your vital statistics agency securely share the information from your birth registration with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
3. Enter your social insurance number.
4. Send your application to the vital statistics agency.

2. My Account

You can use My Account if any of these situations apply:

• your child is born
• a child starts to live with you
• you did not already apply using the Automated Benefits Application or Form RC66, Canada Child Benefits Application

What you need to do

1. Log in to My Account.
2. Go to “Apply for child benefits.”
3. Confirm your contact information, your marital status and your citizenship.
4. Add your child’s name, gender, date and place of birth and caregiver information.

After you apply, you can check the status of your application by going to My Account. (Note: You need to have already registered an Account with Canada Revenue Agency Website in order to access the Canada Child Benefits Section).

3. Form RC66, Canada Child Benefits Application

You can use Form RC66, Canada Child Benefits Application, if any of these situations apply:

• your child is born
• a child starts to live with you
• you are a new resident of Canada
• you did not already apply using the Automated Benefits Application or My Account

What you need to do

1. Fill out and sign Form RC66, Canada Child Benefits Application.
2. Mail the completed form to your tax centre.

Answer 2

Watch video on "what is Canada child benefit program and how you can be eligible to apply for this benefit":