Canada caregiver amount 2026: up to $8,773, or $2,740 per child

What are the 2026 Canada caregiver amounts next to 2025?

The 2026 Canada caregiver amount is $8,773 for an infirm dependant aged 18 or older and $2,740 for an infirm child under 18, up from $8,601 and $2,687 in 2025 after the 2.0% indexation canada.ca. The adult amount starts shrinking once the dependant's net income passes $20,601, and the 2026 TD1 confirms it runs out at $29,374 canada.ca.

The 2025 zero point comes from the CRA line page, which says the dependant's net income had to be less than $28,798 canada.ca. As of October 2026, the CRA line pages still show 2025 figures; the 2026 amounts above come from the indexation table and the 2026 TD1. Federal credits use the lowest bracket rate, which is 14% for 2026 canada.ca, so $8,773 is worth $1,228.22 of federal tax and $2,740 is worth $383.60.

How fast does the $8,773 phase out on line 30450?

The statute is one line: paragraph 118(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act gives the base amount minus the dependant's income above the threshold, and both figures are indexed (the Act still prints the 2017 base of $6,883 and threshold of $16,163) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. For 2026 that's $8,773 minus net income above $20,601.

Say your client supports an infirm mother whose 2026 net income is $24,000. The excess over the threshold is $24,000 minus $20,601, or $3,399. The line 30450 amount is $8,773 minus $3,399, which is $5,374. At 14%, that cuts your client's federal tax by $752.36.

If your client's brother also supports the mother, they can split the claim, but the two claims together can't exceed $5,374 canada.ca. Under subsection 118(4), if they can't agree on the split, the Minister may fix each share laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

How does line 30425 top up the spouse or eligible dependant amount?

For an infirm spouse or an infirm eligible dependant aged 18 or older, your client first claims line 30300 or 30400 with the $2,740 addition. Line 30425 then adds the amount by which the caregiver amount exceeds that claim, under paragraph 118(1)(e) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The CRA has your client work it out on Schedule 5 canada.ca.

For 2026, a client with net income below $181,440 gets a spouse amount of up to $19,192 when the spouse is infirm: the $16,452 basic personal amount plus $2,740, minus the spouse's net income. Here's how the two lines combine at four income levels:

The total is never less than the caregiver amount, so a spouse with modest income doesn't cost your client the credit. The $19,192 and the $16,452 come from the CRA indexation table canada.ca. For 2025 the CRA puts the window where line 30425 produces an amount at a dependant net income between $8,624 and $28,798 canada.ca.

Who qualifies as an infirm dependant?

The person must depend on your client because of a mental or physical infirmity that lasts a considerable period; a temporary illness or injury doesn't count canada.ca. For line 30450 they must be your client's (or the spouse's) child or grandchild, or a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew who lived in Canada at some point in the year, the same list as subsection 118(6) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

The dependant doesn't need to qualify for the disability tax credit: the CRA's conditions for line 30450 are the infirmity test and the relationship list, with no DTC requirement canada.ca. That differs from the RDSP grant and bond, where DTC approval is required. The CRA may ask for a signed statement from a medical practitioner showing when the infirmity began and how long it will last, but not if it already has an approved Form T2201 for the period canada.ca. Keep the statement on file; don't send it with the return. Where the dependant does qualify, see the 2026 disability tax credit page for the transfer on line 31800.

When does your client lose the claim?

Nobody can claim line 30450 for a person someone has claimed on line 30300 or 30400 canada.ca. That's paragraph 118(4)(c), and it catches families where a sibling claims the parent as an eligible dependant laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Line 30425 also can't be split: only one claim is allowed for that person canada.ca.

A client who must pay child support for the dependant can't claim line 30450. In the year of a relationship breakdown, your client picks either line 30450 plus any line 31800 transfer, or the support deduction on line 22000, whichever is better canada.ca. Subsection 118(5) is the statutory rule laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

For a child under 18, the amount is claimed once per child even when both parents qualify. In shared custody, the parent claiming line 30400 for the child claims line 30500, and if the parents can't agree on who claims, neither can canada.ca. Shared custody also splits the Canada child benefit between the parents, 50% each.

How is the amount claimed through payroll and on provincial returns?

On the 2026 federal TD1, the child amount is line 2 ($2,740 per infirm child born in 2009 or later), the spouse or eligible dependant top up is line 9, and other adult dependants go on line 10, with Form TD1-WS for partial or shared amounts canada.ca. The TD1 2026 page lists every line.

Provincial and territorial caregiver amounts differ from the federal ones, and Quebec residents follow Revenu Québec's own caregiver credit canada.ca. For the child amount, Yukon is the only province or territory with an equivalent, claimed on Form YT428 canada.ca.