Payment Dates
Every major federal benefit payment date for 2027 on one page: CPP and OAS monthly, Canada Child Benefit monthly, the Groceries and Essentials Benefit quarterly — bookmark it in January and you're set for the year.
GST Credit
Same benefit, new name, 25% more money. The Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit replaced the GST/HST credit in July 2026 — here are the new maximums, the payment dates, and who qualifies.
Tax Credits
The CWB tops up low incomes for people who work — and since 2023 the CRA pays up to half of it during the year automatically. The 2026 maximums, the two sets of numbers that confuse everyone, and the advance payment dates.
CPP
CPP disability is the largest disability payment most Canadians can get — but 'severe and prolonged' is a strict legal test, not a diagnosis. The 2026 amounts, who qualifies, and how applying actually works.
Disability
The Canada Disability Benefit pays up to $204.20 a month to working-age adults — but only if you hold the Disability Tax Credit first. How the CDB, the DTC, and the RDSP fit together.
EI
Employment Insurance pays 55% of your insurable earnings, up to $729 a week in 2026. Who qualifies, how the weeks are counted, and the steps between your last shift and your first payment.
EI
Surgery, injury, burnout, a mental health crisis — if a medical condition stops you working, EI sickness benefits pay 55% of your earnings for up to 26 weeks. The 600-hour rule, the medical certificate, and how it differs from regular EI.
OAS & GIS
Earn too much in retirement and Old Age Security starts quietly shrinking — 15 cents at a time. How the recovery tax works, where the 2026 thresholds sit, and the legal ways people soften it.
OAS & GIS
The Guaranteed Income Supplement is the biggest top-up in Canadian retirement — and the easiest to lose by accident. The October to December 2026 amounts, the income cutoffs, the work exemption, and the July reset that catches people off guard.
CPP
The maximum CPP retirement pension at 65 is $1,507.65 a month in 2026 — but the average new pension is close to half that. Here are the real numbers, and why yours will probably differ.
CPP
Starting CPP at 60 cuts it 36% forever. Waiting to 70 raises it 42%. Whether waiting wins depends on two break-even ages — about 74 and about 82 — and on a few things the math leaves out.
Family Benefits
Up to $8,157 per child under 6 and $6,883 per child 6 to 17, tax-free — if your family income is under the threshold. How the two-step reduction works, with the reduction rates for one to four children and a worked example.
Retirement
The year you turn 65, at least six benefit decisions land within a few months of each other — and two of them have deadlines. The order to do them in, what arrives automatically, and what waits for you to ask.
TFSA
Your TFSA room is personal — it depends on the year you turned 18, what you've put in, and what you've taken out. The 2026 numbers, the full year-by-year table, and why the CRA's figure deserves a second look.