Canada child benefit payment dates for 2026

The 2026 calendar and why each day was chosen

Nine of the twelve payments fall exactly on the 20th. Two move back to a Friday because the 20th is a Saturday or a Sunday, and December comes early. The CRA child benefit page and the general CRA calendar give the same list. A family that pays rent or daycare on the 1st can count on roughly ten days between the child benefit and that bill, except in December, when the deposit arrives three weeks before the January rent and must also carry the household until the January payment.

July resets the amount

The CCB is calculated for a benefit year that runs from July to June. The deposit of July 20, 2026 was the first of the 2026-2027 year: it uses the adjusted family net income of 2025 and the maximums published on the CRA calculation page. The reduction starts above $38,237 of income and becomes gentler above $82,847. For a couple with a child under 6 and another aged 6 to 17 and an income of $70,000, the year is worth $10,752.00, or $896.00 on each of the twelve deposits from July. The same family would have received a different amount from January to June, calculated on its 2024 income.

What each monthly deposit looks like at different incomes

Every figure in this grid is a monthly deposit, the annual benefit divided by twelve, paid on each of the dates in the calendar above. The steps are steep at first: between $38,237 and $82,847 of income, each extra dollar cuts the yearly benefit by 7 % for one child and 13.5 % for two. Above $82,847, the reduction slows to 3.2 % and 5.7 % of the excess, which is why families with high incomes still receive a deposit on the 20th. The last column shows where the single July payment begins for a family with one school-age child: at the bottom of the grid, the whole year arrives on July 20, 2026 and no deposit follows until the next benefit year. A family close to that line can check the July amount on its notice rather than wait for an August deposit that will not come.

When your child benefit lands, and how much

Month (2026)JulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

ChildrenOne child under 6One child aged 6 to 17Two: one under 6, one 6 to 17Two aged 6 to 17Three: one under 6, two 6 to 17

Family net income (2025)

$

Payment date

December 11, 2026

Paid that month	$896.00
Yearly total, July 2026 to June 2027	$10,752
Paid as	twelve monthly payments

Federal CCB only. Provincial child benefits paid with it are not included.

Full child benefit calculator →

One deposit instead of twelve

When the annual amount is under $240, the CRA pays it all at once with the July payment. This concerns families whose income is near the level where the benefit ends: with one child aged 6 to 17, from about $192,900 of adjusted family net income. Such a family sees one deposit on July 20, 2026 and nothing from August to June. The rule is about the yearly total, so a second child or a lower income can bring the family back to monthly payments.

What else rides on the same deposit

The child disability benefit, up to $3,480 a year per eligible child from July 2026, is paid inside the CCB. The CRA also pays related provincial and territorial programs with it. The B.C. family benefit, for example, is combined with the CCB into a single monthly payment, so a family in British Columbia receives both on the 20th. The B.C. family benefit calculator shows that share. The Alberta child and family benefit is the notable exception: it has its own quarterly dates in February, May, August and November.

A missing or smaller deposit

The CRA asks families to wait 5 working days after the date before calling, a shorter delay than for its other benefits. A payment that stops often points to a missing return: the CCB is calculated from the family net income, so the CRA needs the return of each spouse. A payment that drops in July often reflects a higher 2025 income. The amount you will receive is the one on your CRA notice; the CCB calculator reproduces the official formula for the 2026-2027 year.