The child disability benefit
The child disability benefit is a supplement the CRA adds to the Canada child benefit for each child approved for the disability tax credit.
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From July 2026 to June 2027, the child disability benefit pays up to $3,480 a year, or $290.00 a month, for each child who is eligible for the disability tax credit. It is not a separate cheque: the Canada Revenue Agency includes it in the monthly Canada child benefit deposit. Two conditions open it, both checked by the CRA. You must be entitled to the Canada child benefit for the child, and the child must be approved for the disability tax credit through form T2201, certified by a medical practitioner. The full amount is paid when adjusted family net income is $82,847 or less. Above that, the CRA subtracts 3.2 % of the excess income for a family with one eligible child and 5.7 % for two or more, applied to the total. One eligible child keeps some benefit up to about $191,597 of family income. The maximum was $3,411 in the previous benefit year and is indexed every July. Once the credit is approved, the CRA looks back on its own over the current and 2 previous benefit years.
Child disability benefit for your family
Child disability benefit per year
$3,091.10
| Per month, inside the CCB deposit | $257.59 |
| Maximum for these children | $3,480 |
| Reduction rate above the threshold | 3.2 % > $82,847 |
The CRA pays it only to families entitled to the CCB. Amount set on your CRA notice.
What the supplement is for
Raising a child with a severe and prolonged impairment costs more: therapy, equipment, transport to appointments, a parent who works fewer hours. Ottawa answers part of that through the tax system, and the child disability benefit is the piece that reaches families as money every month. The CRA page on the CDB gives the 2026-2027 maximum: $3,480 a year, which is $290.00 per month, for each eligible child. A family with two eligible children can receive up to $6,960.
The two gates: the CCB and the DTC
The CRA lists two conditions. First, you must be eligible for the Canada child benefit, which means living with the child, being mainly responsible for the child’s care, being a resident of Canada for tax purposes and holding a qualifying status; the Canada child benefit guide details them. Second, the child must be eligible for the disability tax credit. That is a medical test, not an income test: a practitioner certifies on form T2201 that the impairment is severe, prolonged and markedly restricts daily activities, and the CRA decides.
The order of events matters. Families already receiving the CCB do not file anything else: once the credit is approved for the child, the CDB starts automatically. A family that has never applied for the CCB must apply for it first, through My Account or form RC66, and the supplement follows. The disability tax credit guide covers the T2201 process in detail.
How income reduces it
The CDB has a single threshold, $82,847 of adjusted family net income, the same family figure the CRA uses for the CCB. At or below it, every eligible child gets the full $3,480. Above it, the CRA subtracts a percentage of the excess from the family’s total CDB:
- one eligible child: 3.2 % of income above $82,847;
- two or more eligible children: 5.7 % of income above $82,847.
Unlike the CCB, there is no first tier with steep rates. The reduction is gentle, which keeps the supplement alive for many middle-income families who no longer get much CCB. A family with one eligible child keeps a payment up to about $191,597; with two, up to about $204,952.
| Adjusted family net income 2025 | One eligible child | Two eligible children | Three eligible children |
|---|---|---|---|
| $60,000 | $3,480 | $6,960 | $10,440 |
| $82,847 | $3,480 | $6,960 | $10,440 |
| $100,000 | $2,931 | $5,982 | $9,462 |
| $130,000 | $1,971 | $4,272 | $7,752 |
| $160,000 | $1,011 | $2,562 | $6,042 |
| $190,000 | $51 | $852 | $4,332 |
A family example
A couple with one 9-year-old approved for the credit reports $100,000 of family net income for 2025. The CCB for the child is $3,211 for the year after its own reduction. The CDB starts from $3,480 and loses 3.2 % of the $17,153 above the threshold, leaving $2,931. The deposit each month is therefore $511.85, of which $244.26 is the disability supplement. The CCB calculator runs the same computation for any number of children.
Why it weighs more as income rises
At modest incomes the CDB is a small part of the deposit next to the CCB. Higher up, the balance flips. For one eligible child aged 6 to 17 and a family income of $130,000, the engine gives a CCB of $2,251 for the year and a CDB of $1,971: the supplement now accounts for 47 % of the total. The reason is the slower pace of reduction, 3.2 % against the 3.2 % plus a fixed amount that the CCB loses in its second tier. Parents who assume they earn too much for any child benefit, and never apply, can leave this money unclaimed for years. A family above the CCB range still needs to be eligible for the CCB on paper, so the application comes first even when the expected CCB is close to zero.
Arrears after a late approval
Many families learn about the credit years after the diagnosis. The CRA softens that: on a first approval, it automatically reviews the current benefit year and the 2 before it, paying what was missed. To go further back, a written request to the tax centre is needed. Since the maximum moves each July ($3,411 for 2025-2026, $3,480 for 2026-2027, according to the CRA indexation table), arrears are not simply the current maximum times the number of years.
Where the CDB ends and other programs begin
The supplement stops when the child turns 18, along with the CCB. From that age, other support can take over: the federal Canada Disability Benefit, for adults aged 18 to 64 approved for the same tax credit, and provincial income support. Inside the tax return, the disability amount of $10,341 and the child supplement of up to $6,032 remain separate, non-refundable credits that a parent can claim as a transfer. The supplement is reduced when child care and attendant care expenses claimed for the child exceed $3,533, as the CRA disability tax credit page explains.
The figures here apply the CRA calculation rules for July 2026 to June 2027. The amount paid is the one shown on your CRA notice.