The Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) is one such windfall, offering up to $1,428 to eligible individuals and $2,461 to eligible families.
Who is eligible for the Canada Workers Benefit?
You are eligible for the CWB if you pay taxes, earn a working income, are a Canadian resident and are 19 or older on December 31 of the year for which you’re filing, according to the government’s official site.
Full-time students are not eligible for the CWB unless they have an eligible dependant. If you’ve been incarcerated for at least 90 days of the year, you’re also ineligible. The government determines incarceration as being “confined to a prison or similar institution.”
For your or your partner’s child to be eligible, they’ll need to be under the age of 19 and living with you on December 31.
There’s an additional supplement for disabled people, who are eligible as long as they have an approved T2201 Form (Disability Tax Credit Certificate) on file with the CRA.
For single individuals, the maximum basic CWB amount is $1,428. You’ll receive this amount if you make $23,495 or less annually, and as your income increases, the amount you receive goes down. If your adjusted net income is above $33,015, you won’t receive anything.
For families, the maximum is $2,461, which is the amount you’ll receive if your adjusted family net income is under $26,805. If your net income is above $43,212, you won’t receive anything.
Because the CRA determines Canada Workers Benefit eligibility based on tax returns, recipients typically only receive the benefit in the year after they were eligible (since the tax return deadline for any given year is in April the following year).