Ensure you are eligible before you apply for the one-time payment.

On this page

• Eligibility criteria
• Verifying your eligibility

Eligibility criteria

Check these boxes to see if you are eligible for the one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit:

• You were born on or before December 1, 2007 (at least 15 years old on December 1, 2022)
• Your principal residence was in Canada on December 1, 2022
  What is a principal residence

  For this benefit, your principal residence is the place where you normally live and pay rent.

  This can be any abode, dwelling or other place rented. Examples of principal residence include a house, cottage, condominium, apartment in an apartment building, apartment in a duplex, college or university residence, trailer, mobile home, or houseboat.

  Generally, you can only have one principal residence at a time, unless you're living apart from a spouse or common-law partner.

• You were a resident of Canada in 2022 for tax purposes
  Determine if you were a resident of Canada for tax purposes

  You are not eligible for this one-time payment if you were considered a non-resident of Canada in 2022.

  You were a non-resident of Canada in 2022 for income tax purposes if any of the following are true:

  • you normally, customarily, or routinely lived in another country during 2022 and were not considered a resident of Canada
  • you did not have significant residential ties in Canada and any of the following applies
    • you lived outside Canada throughout 2022
    • you stayed in Canada for less than 183 days in 2022

  Read more about determining your residency status.

• • You have filed your 2021 income tax return or statement of income
  • If you have a spouse or common-law partner, they have filed their 2021 income tax return or statement of income
  If you didn't yet file a 2021 tax return or statement of income

  File a tax return even if you did not earn income in 2021

  You can still apply for the one-time payment as long as you and your spouse or common-law partner file your 2021 tax return or statement of income before applications are closed. You will need to submit a tax return for 2021 even with no income to report. For information on how to file, go to: Get ready to do your taxes.

  Generally, your return will be assessed within 2 weeks for electronically filed returns or 8 weeks for mailed returns.

  If you were not a resident of Canada during 2021

  If you have not yet done so, you will need to submit a statement of income before you apply:

  • If you had children under 18 in 2021, you can apply for the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) and submit a statement of income (RC66SCH) as part of your application
  • If you did not have children under 18 years old in 2021, you can apply for the GST/HST Credit and Climate Action Incentive Payment and submit a statement of income (RC151) as part of your application
  • If you already applied for the CCB or the GST/HST Credit and only the 2021 world income is missing, you can call the benefit enquiries service at 1-800-387-1193 (opens up phone application) 1-800-387-1193 to provide your world income

• In 2021, you had an adjusted family net income of:

  • $35,000 or less for families
  • $20,000 or less for individuals
  What is a family or individual

  Individual

  If none of the criteria for family (shown below) apply to you, then you are considered an individual.

  If you have separated due to a breakdown in your relationship but you have not yet been separated for a period of at least 90 days, you will need to wait until 90 days have passed since separation before you will be able to apply for this benefit as an individual.

  Family

  You are considered a family if any of the following applies:

  • you were married or living common-law and you had not been separated because of a breakdown of your marriage or common-law partnership, for a period of at least 90 days on December 1, 2022
  • you are receiving the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) for a child under 18 years of age on December 1, 2022
    • add or update children under your care through the Canada Child Benefit (CCB)
  • you claimed a deduction under line 30400 of your 2021 income tax return for any of the following:
    • your parent or grandparent
    • your child, grandchild, or sibling under 18 years of age
    • your child, grandchild, or sibling 18 years of age or older with impairment in physical or mental functions

  If none of the criteria for family apply to you, then you are considered an individual.

  Your marital status

  Ensure you update your marital status information with the CRA.

• The 2022 eligible rent that you paid was:

  • paid in the 2022 calendar year
  • paid for any of your qualifying principal residences in 2022
  • equal to at least 30% of your 2021 adjusted family net income

  Find out what you can include as eligible rent.

  Find out if your rent payments are 30% of your adjusted family net income

  Do you have CRA My Account or My Service Canada Account?

  Yes - I can sign in to CRA My Account

  You can find out if your adjusted family net income on file with the CRA qualifies for the one-time payment in your CRA My Account.

  1. Sign in to CRA My Account
  2. Once signed in, in the banner for the one-time payment, select "Apply now"
  3. If your adjusted family net income does not qualify (more than $35,000 for families or more than $20,000 for individuals), you will be informed you can't apply
  4. If your adjusted family net income is eligible, you can input your 2022 rent amount and the application form will let you know if it is not 30% of your 2021 adjusted family net income

  If you are eligible, you can submit your application right away.

  Yes - I can sign in to My Service Canada Account

  If you don't have CRA My Account, you can still access a CRA My Account for your information through your My Service Canada Account:

  1. Sign in to your My Service Canada Account
  2. Select "Access CRA"
  3. Select "I agree" on the Registration and Authentication page to transfer directly to your CRA My Account

  In CRA My Account, you can find out if your adjusted family net income on file with the CRA qualifies for the one-time payment.

  1. Once signed in, in the banner for the one-time payment, select "Apply now"
  2. If your adjusted family net income does not qualify (more than $35,000 for families or more than $20,000 for individuals), you will be informed you can't apply
  3. If your adjusted family net income is eligible, you can input your 2022 rent amount and the application form will let you know if it is not 30% of your 2021 adjusted family net income

  If you are eligible, you can submit your application right away.

  No - I need to estimate outside of My Account

  Answer a few questions to estimate your adjusted family net income and rent and determine if they qualify for the one-time payment.

Applications cannot be made on behalf of someone else

The applicant must be alive on the day on which their application for the one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit is made.

You do not need other housing benefits to qualify

To apply for this new federal one-time payment, you do not need to receive other housing benefits such as the Canada Housing Benefit, which is co-funded and delivered by the provinces and territories.

Verifying your eligibility

Keep your records and receipts to support the amounts in your application. The CRA routinely checks to confirm that recipients were entitled to the payment they received.

If your application is selected for review, the CRA may ask you to provide additional information.

If you have received a payment and are later found to be ineligible, you will be contacted to make arrangements to return the payment. If you are found to have misrepresented or concealed information to make a fraudulent claim, additional consequences and penalties may also be applied.

You can report suspected misuse through the CRA’s Leads program.