Saskatchewan low-income tax credit
Saskatchewan adds its own tax-free credit to the federal quarterly payment, and the CRA calculates both from the same tax return.
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A Saskatchewan family can receive up to $1,282 from the Saskatchewan low-income tax credit for July 2026 to June 2027. The province pays $460 for the individual, $460 for a spouse, common-law partner or eligible dependant, and $181 for each child, counting no more than 2 children, so a couple with two or more children reaches the family ceiling. The credit is calculated on adjusted family net income for 2025. It is paid in full up to $39,345, then reduced; families between $39,345 and $81,668 may receive part of it. The Canada Revenue Agency administers the credit for the province and adds it to the quarterly deposits of the federal Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, the program that replaced the GST/HST credit in July 2026. There is no separate application: filing your 2025 return, and your spouse’s, is what puts you in the calculation. The CRA does not publish the rate used between the two incomes, so this page gives the maximum and the range, and your notice gives the exact amount.
Your Saskatchewan low-income tax credit
Credit, July 2026 to June 2027
$1,282
| Family maximum | $1,282 |
| Each quarterly share at the maximum | $320.50 |
| Reduction starts above | $39,345 |
| Partial credit range ends at | $81,668 |
The CRA does not publish the reduction rate: between the two incomes, only your notice gives the amount. Single parent: one child counted as eligible dependant.
How the family maximum is built
The credit is a sum of three pieces, then capped. Each adult in the household brings $460; a single parent gets the second adult amount for an eligible dependant; each child adds $181 up to the second child. The table shows what that gives for common family shapes, before any reduction for income.
| Household | Annual maximum | Per quarter |
|---|---|---|
| Single, no child | $460 | $115.00 |
| Couple, no child | $920 | $230.00 |
| Couple, one child | $1,101 | $275.25 |
| Couple, two children | $1,282 | $320.50 |
| Couple, four children | $1,282 | $320.50 |
The cap is the detail people miss. Large families in Regina or Saskatoon often expect the credit to grow with each child, as the federal child benefit does, but the provincial formula is flat after two. The table also shows why a couple without children still gets $920: the credit is aimed at low-income households in general, not only at parents.
The reduction zone, and what the CRA leaves out
Below $39,345 of adjusted family net income, the full amount is paid. Between $39,345 and $81,668, the CRA says families may receive part of it. That is all the public page states: the percentage taken away for each dollar above the threshold is not printed, and neither is the point where a single person’s smaller credit reaches zero. You could divide the family maximum by the width of the range and get a figure, but that would be our guess, not the province’s rule, so this page does not use one.
In practice, if your 2025 income sits in the band, treat the table above as a ceiling. The quarterly notice that comes with the federal benefit states the Saskatchewan part, and the federal benefit calculator gives you the federal part, which follows a published formula.
A worked example for a family of four
Take a couple in Moose Jaw with two children aged 8 and 12 and an adjusted family net income of $36,000 for 2025, below the provincial threshold. Their Saskatchewan credit is the full $1,282. The federal Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, computed with the same income, comes to $1,358.00 a year. Each quarterly deposit therefore holds about $660.00: $320.50 from the province and $339.50 from Ottawa. The child benefit is separate and arrives monthly.
If the same couple had earned a few thousand dollars more and crossed $39,345, the federal amount would not move yet, since its own reduction starts higher, at $46,432, but the Saskatchewan part would begin to shrink. That mismatch explains why some households see the provincial line drop while the federal line stays put.
Deposit days in 2026 and early 2027
The credit has no calendar of its own. It rides on the federal quarterly payment: January 5, 2026 and April 2, 2026 for the last two payments of the 2024 base year, then July 3, 2026 and October 5, 2026 for the first two of the new benefit year, followed by January and April 2027. The quarterly payment dates page lists them with the rules for weekends. If a deposit is missing, the CRA asks you to wait 10 working days after the scheduled date before calling.
Who receives it
The credit is for Saskatchewan residents with low and modest incomes, and it is tax-free: you do not report it on next year’s return. The CRA works from what it already has. A household where one spouse has not filed for 2025 will not be assessed correctly, and newcomers need to file even for the part of the year they lived in Canada. The amounts are the same everywhere in the province; there is no northern or rural supplement in this program.
Students living away from home, adults sharing a house, and seniors living alone each count as their own household if they are not spouses. Two roommates are each assessed on their own income rather than on a pooled figure, so one can receive the full individual amount while the other, earning more, receives nothing.
Checking the figure on your notice
When the amount looks wrong, start with income. The CRA uses line 23600 of each spouse’s return, adjusted for a few items such as registered disability savings plan income. A late reassessment can change it months after the fact, and the CRA then adjusts the following quarters. Families who have just moved to Saskatchewan from another province should also check the address on file, since the province of residence decides which provincial program is added.
The amount you actually receive is the one on the CRA notice. This page explains the published rules; it is not a personal calculation.