Canada Child Benefit Statistics - 2023-2024 Benefit Year

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Canada Child Benefit Statistics - 2023-2024 Benefit Year

The Canada child benefit (CCB) statistics tables present data based on the information that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) collected and processed for all individual recipients for the 2023-2024 benefit year, which covers the period from July 2023 to June 2024. Please note that these statistics reflect the CCB only and do not include provincial/territorial programs related to the CCB.


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Explanatory notes

Confidentiality procedures

To ensure the protection of taxpayer information, data have been suppressed where warranted. As well, counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of 10. For example, 104 would be rounded to 100 and 105 would be rounded to 110. Dollar amounts have been rounded to the nearest thousand in all tables. Totals may not add up due to rounding or suppression.

Data source

Income data were taken from the T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Returns and related schedules filed by individuals for the 2022 tax year. Taxfilers used the following types of returns for the 2022 tax year:

  • T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Return; and
  • T1S-D, Credit and Benefit Return (for Indians registered or eligible to be registered under the Indian Act).

Description of CCB items

Benefit year: This refers to the year for which the benefit is issued. The benefit year runs from July to June, spanning two calendar years.

Tax year: This refers to the base tax year for which the benefit is calculated. The base year for a particular benefit year is the preceding tax year.

CCB recipients: This refers to the number of recipients who received at least one CCB payment in the benefit year.

CCB payment amounts: This refers to the net CCB issued to a recipient, taking adjustments into account.

Eligible recipient: To be eligible for the CCB, a recipient must meet all of the following conditions:

  • They must live with a child, and the child must be under 18 years of age;
  • They must be primarily responsible for the care and upbringing of the child;
  • They must be a resident of Canada for tax purposes; and
  • They or their spouse or common-law partner must be one of the following:
    • a Canadian citizen;
    • a permanent resident;
    • a protected person;
    • a temporary resident who has lived in Canada for the previous 18 months, and who has a valid permit in the 19th month; or
    • an Indian within the meaning of the Indian Act.

Major classification variables

The following variables are used in one or more of the tables in this publication:

  • province or territory of residence;
  • net family income;
  • marital status;
  • number of dependent children;
  • gender; and
  • forward sortation area.

Province or territory of residence

Province or territory of residence — used in all tables — refers to the province or territory in which the recipient lived as of the last issuance of the benefit year (June).

Net family income

Net family income — used in table 1 — is calculated based on the recipient's marital status.

For recipients who are not married or for whom the marital status is unknown, the net family income refers to the net income reported on line 23600 of their T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Return for the 2022 tax year. For those who have a spouse or common-law partner, the two net incomes are combined to form the net family income.

Universal child care benefit (UCCB) and Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) payments are not included in the adjusted net family income for calculating a recipient's CCB payment.

Marital status

Marital status — used in table 2 — refers to the marital status of the recipient as of the last issuance of the benefit year. Specific to the CCB, the marital statuses shown are not married, married, and unknown. Not married includes all single, separated, divorced, and widowed recipients. Married includes all married and common-law recipients. "Unknown" refers to those recipients whose marital status was unavailable.

Number of dependent children

Number of dependent children — used in table 3 — refers to the number of dependent children per recipient. Family sizes are determined as of the last issuance of the benefit year. A child must be under the age of 18 as of that date to be considered a dependent.

“Previously dependent children” represents recipients that have no dependent children as of the last issuance of the benefit year, but had at least one dependent child at some point during the benefit year. A recipient’s eligibility for a dependent child may have ended during the year for reasons such as: the child turned 18; they moved away; they got married; they died; they had a child of their own; or they experienced a change of custody.

Shared custody situations can result in two recipients claiming entitlement for the same child, and being counted separately in the tables. For further details on shared custody situations, please refer to: Shared Custody.

Gender

Gender — used in table 4 — is determined from the information currently on file with the CRA for that individual. Gender is defined to be female, male, gender diverse, or unknown. Individuals whose gender is non-binary are represented in the gender diverse category. The unknown category refers to individuals whose gender is unavailable.

In accordance with the Income Tax Act, the CCB is paid to the female parent (where only one is present in the household) in the vast majority of cases. [However, a female parent may inform the CRA in writing that the male parent is the one who primarily fulfils responsibility for the care and upbringing of the child in order for the CCB to be paid to the male parent in respect of all of the children in the household.]

When taking into account that the support from the CCB is intended for the benefit of the children, the overall gender impacts of the CCB are expected to be more even.

Forward sortation area

Canada Post defines a forward sortation area (FSA) — used in table 5 — as the first three characters of a postal code representing a set of well-defined specific areas within a major geographic region, province or territory, where:

  • the first character identifies the province or territory
  • the second character identifies whether the area is urban or rural
  • the third character, in combination with the first two characters, identifies a more precise geographic district — a specific rural region, an entire medium-sized city or a section of a major metropolitan area.

How the CRA determines the forward sortation area for a taxfiler

The CRA uses the taxfiler's mailing address and postal code as they appear on the T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return to determine the forward sortation area.

Description of CCB tables

Each table contains the number of recipients and their respective payment amounts. In some cases, the total of the figures in the table may not match the total shown due either to rounding or to editing for confidentiality purposes.

Tables 1, 2, and 3:

All three tables present information according to the province or territory of residence as of the last issuance of the benefit year. For details on the province of residence classification, please refer to: Province or territory of residence.

It should be noted that eligible recipients and if applicable, their spouse or common-law partner, are required to file a T1 General Income Tax and Benefit Return to receive a CCB payment.

Table 1:

This table presents information based on net family income. The income groupings give figures for various income levels.

Certain types of income are not included in net family income because they are non-taxable. As a result, true economic income may be understated. For details on the net family income classification, please refer to: Net family income.

Table 2:

This table presents information based on marital status. For the purpose of this benefit, marital statuses are grouped under three classifications: not married, married, and unknown. For each married couple, only one individual is counted. For details on the marital status classification, please refer to: Marital status.

Table 3:

This table presents information based on the number of dependent children. Six different groupings give figures for various family sizes and previously dependent children. For details on the number of dependent children classification, please refer to: Number of dependent children.

Table 4:

This table presents information based on gender. For details on the martial status classification, please refer to: Gender.

Table 5:

This table presents information based on the number of dependent children according to the forward sortation area as of the last issuance of the benefit year. Four different groupings give figures for various family sizes.

Tables in PDF format

Tables in CSV format


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Date modified:
2024-10-30