Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit: What Replaced the GST/HST Credit and How Newcomers in Ontario Apply

Many newcomers spend their first year in Canada assuming that government payments are only for people who have worked here for years. The opposite is true. Several of the largest benefits in Canada are calculated from your income, not from how long you have been in the country, and some are available in your very first months as a resident. The requirement most people miss is simple: you have to apply once, and then keep filing a tax return every year — including years when you earned nothing at all.

The GST/HST credit is now the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit

If you have been reading older advice online, you will see the words "GST/HST credit" everywhere. That payment still exists, but as of July 2026 it has a new name and higher amounts: the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, or CGEB. It is administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), paid four times a year, not taxable, and not reported on your tax return. The eligibility rules and the quarterly structure carried over from the old credit, so if you were already receiving the GST/HST credit, you do not need to do anything differently.

How much you can receive

Your payment is calculated from your adjusted family net income, your marital status, and the number of children under 19 registered with the CRA. For the payment period from July 2026 to June 2027, which is based on your 2025 tax return, the maximum amounts are:

• $679 if you are a single individual
• $890 if you are married or have a common-law partner
• $234 for each eligible child under the age of 19

These are maximums, and the amount decreases as income rises. For the 2025 base year, a single person with no children can receive the benefit if their adjusted family net income is under $60,012; a couple with no children, under $64,232; a family with two children, under $73,592. Payments are quarterly — in 2026 the CGEB payment dates are July 3 and October 5 — although if your quarterly amount would be less than $50, the CRA pays the full year as a single payment in July instead.

Who qualifies

To receive the CGEB you must be a resident of Canada for tax purposes both in the month before a payment and at the start of the month a payment is made, and you must meet one of these conditions:

• You are at least 19 years old
• You are under 19 and have, or previously had, a spouse or common-law partner
• You are under 19 and are, or were, a parent living with your child

You can be eligible even if you had no income at all during the year. A low income is not an obstacle to this benefit — it is the reason the benefit exists.

New residents of Canada apply once, before their first tax return

This is the step most newcomers miss. After your first year you never apply again — you simply file your taxes. But for the first year you are a resident of Canada for income tax purposes, you must submit an application, and only one application is needed per household.

• If you have no children under 19: complete Form RC151, the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit Application for Individuals Who Become Residents of Canada. The CRA offers an online version you can submit electronically.
• If you have children under 19: download and print Form RC151, add Form RC66 (the Canada Child Benefit application) if you are eligible for the Canada child benefit, attach proof of birth for every child, and mail the package to your tax centre.

If your documents are in a language other than English or French — a birth certificate issued in Iran, for example — you must include an acceptable translation along with a copy of the original. Preparing this properly the first time is far faster than responding to a CRA request for documents months later.

If you have children, apply for the Canada child benefit in the same envelope

The Canada child benefit (CCB) is a monthly, tax-free payment, and it is considerably larger than the CGEB. For the July 2026 to June 2027 period, if your adjusted family net income is under $38,237, you receive the maximum amount for each child:

• $8,157 per year, or $679.75 per month, for each child under 6 years of age
• $6,883 per year, or $573.58 per month, for each child aged 6 to 17
• Up to an additional $3,480 per year, or $290 per month, for each child eligible for the disability tax credit

Above $38,237 the amount is gradually reduced, so many middle-income families still receive a meaningful payment. Newcomers and returning residents cannot make a first CCB claim online: you must complete and sign Schedule RC66SCH, Status in Canada / Statement of Income, and mail it together with Form RC66 to your tax centre. If your spouse or common-law partner was a non-resident of Canada for any part of the year, Form CTB9 is also required for that year.

In Ontario, the same tax return unlocks the Ontario Trillium Benefit

The Ontario Trillium Benefit (OTB) is a provincial payment combining three credits, claimed by completing Form ON-BEN with your annual tax return. For the 2026 benefit year, which runs from July 2026 to June 2027 and is based on being an Ontario resident on December 31, 2025, the maximums are:

• Ontario Sales Tax Credit: up to $378 for you, plus up to $378 each for your spouse or common-law partner and for every dependent child under 19
• Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit: up to $1,307 if you are 18 to 64, or $1,488 if you are 65 or older, if you paid rent or property tax on your main residence in 2025
• Northern Ontario Energy Credit: up to $189 if you are single and $290 for families, for residents of districts such as Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Nipissing and Algoma

Renters are often surprised by the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit. You do not have to own property — if your landlord was required to pay property tax on the home you rented, you may qualify, so keep your rent receipts and your landlord's details. For the 2026 benefit year, an entitlement above $500 is paid monthly starting in July 2026, or as a single payment in June 2027 if you prefer; $500 or less is paid as one payment in July 2026.

After the first year, one habit protects all of it

File a tax return every year by April 30, even if you had no income to report. The CRA recalculates the CGEB, the CCB and the Ontario Trillium Benefit each July using your previous year's return; without an assessed return the calculation cannot be done, and payments stop. If you file late the money is not lost — once your return is assessed, missed amounts are paid retroactively in the next scheduled payment — but the gap can last several months, which is a hard gap for a household on a tight budget.

Free filing help exists, and so do scams

Through the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, community organizations across Ontario host free tax clinics where trained volunteers complete tax returns for people with a modest income and a simple tax situation. The CRA publishes a searchable directory of these clinics on canada.ca, and clinics are most widely available in the weeks around the April 30 deadline. For a straightforward return, there is no need to pay a private preparer.

Be equally careful about who contacts you. The Government of Ontario has publicly warned that it does not send text messages asking for your personal or business information, or telling you to click a link to receive a tax credit, benefit or refund. A message like that is a scam. Real benefit information appears in your CRA account or arrives by mail.

Money you can plan around

Understanding these payments changes what is possible. A family that knows the exact date the CCB arrives each month can plan for a language course, a childcare arrangement, or the materials to start a small business. That is the moment financial literacy stops being an abstract skill and becomes a decision you can actually make. OIA runs programs in Farsi across Ontario — financial literacy and business skills, English and French classes, digital and content skills, and creative workshops built as entry points to income. Explore OIA's programs at ontarioia.ca and apply to join.