How does the Canada training credit work, and how much can my client claim for 2026?
The Canada training credit is a refundable federal credit equal to the lesser of 50% of eligible tuition and your client's training credit limit. The limit grows $250 a year, up to $5,000 in a lifetime, and only clients aged 26 to 65 can claim it. Nobody can have more than $1,750 of room for 2026.
How is the credit calculated, and what are the 2026 thresholds?
The credit is the lesser of your client's Canada training credit limit for the year and 50% of the eligible tuition and fees on line 32000 of Schedule 11, and any excess over tax owing is refunded canada.ca. The limit grows $250 for each year your client qualifies, and accumulation stops at $5,000 over a lifetime
canada.ca.
| Figure | 2026 limit | 2025 limit |
|---|---|---|
| Income year tested | 2025 | 2024 |
| Room added if the tests are met | $250 | $250 |
| Minimum working income | $12,058 | $11,821 |
| Maximum net income | $177,882 | $173,205 |
| Highest possible limit (never claimed) | $1,750 | $1,500 |
| Lifetime accumulation cap | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Credit rate on eligible fees | 50% | 50% |
The CRA labels the thresholds by the limit year, so the $12,058 and $177,882 apply to 2025 income and decide the $250 added to the 2026 limit canada.ca. The first limit year was 2020, built from 2019 income, so seven years of $250 is the most anyone can hold for 2026
canada.ca.
What does your client have to meet to earn the $250?
Subsection 122.91(2) of the Income Tax Act adds $250 to next year's limit when, for the year before, your client filed a return, was resident in Canada all year, had working income (counting EI maternity and parental benefits) at or above the indexed $10,000 threshold, and had net income no higher than the top of the 26% bracket laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The 26% bracket for 2026 ends at $181,440, which sets the ceiling for 2026 income
canada.ca.
The working income threshold that applies to 2026 income (the one that feeds the 2027 limit) is not published yet as of October 2026. Expect it with the 2027 indexation figures.
The age test sits on the claim year, not the year the room is earned. The limit is nil unless your client is at least 26 and under 66 at the end of the year laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Because a nil limit carries nothing into the next year, the $250 only sticks for income years in which your client is 25 to 64 at year end, which is how the CRA states the accumulation ages
canada.ca. So a client who was 25 in 2025 and met the income tests starts 2026 with $250, while room from the year they were 24 is lost.
Filing matters even in a low income year. A client who skips a return loses that year's $250 for good, because the filing test is part of the formula. The current limit shows on the latest notice of assessment or reassessment canada.ca.
What does $4,000 of college fees earn in 2026?
Your client is 40, has qualified every year since 2019 and has never claimed. The 2025 notice of assessment shows a 2026 limit of $1,750. In 2026 she takes a course at a Canadian college and pays $4,000 of eligible fees.
| Step | Arithmetic | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Half of eligible fees | $4,000 times 50% | $2,000 |
| Canada training credit | lesser of $2,000 and $1,750 | $1,750 |
| Tuition amount left | $4,000 minus $1,750 | $2,250 |
| Federal tuition credit | $2,250 times 14% | $315 |
| Total federal relief | $1,750 plus $315 | $2,065 |
| 2027 limit (2026 tests met) | $1,750 plus $250 minus $1,750 | $250 |
| Lifetime room still to accumulate | $5,000 minus $1,750 | $3,250 |
Without the training credit the same fees would earn $560 of federal tuition credit at 14%. The tuition reduction comes from subsection 118.5(1.2), which cuts the tuition credit by the lowest rate times the training credit claimed laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The CRA's own example works the same way: $1,500 of fees, a $750 credit and a tuition amount of $750
canada.ca.
Which fees count, and which ones don't?
Only fees paid to a Canadian university, college or other post secondary institution, to an occupational skills institution certified by ESDC, or for an occupational, trade or professional exam count. The 50% is computed on the amounts under paragraphs 118.5(1)(a) and (d) only laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Fees paid to a university outside Canada, which fall under paragraph 118.5(1)(b), earn the tuition credit but no training credit.
The fees must also qualify for the tuition credit, so the usual exclusions apply: more than $100 per institution, nothing your client's employer paid or reimbursed laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Books, parking, lodging, equipment your client keeps and professional association entrance fees don't qualify, and fees belong to the calendar year the course was taken, not the year paid
canada.ca.
Where does it go on the return?
Fees go on Schedule 11, Federal Tuition Amount and Canada Training Credit, line 32000. The credit from line 5 of Schedule 11 goes on line 45350 of the T1 canada.ca. The current Schedule 11 on canada.ca is the 2025 version, so the 2026 form isn't out yet as of October 2026
canada.ca. There's no provincial or territorial version of this credit.
Whatever tuition amount is left after the reduction follows the normal rules: used first on your client's own return, then transferred or carried forward. That part is covered on the tuition credit transfer page.
Sources
Can a parent claim the Canada training credit for a child's tuition?
No. The credit is claimed only by the student on their own return, and the unused limit cannot be transferred to anyone canada.ca. The parent can still receive a transfer of the leftover tuition amount under the regular tuition rules. For a child still years from tuition, the RESP grant adds 20% to the first $2,500 contributed each year.
What happens to the limit when my client turns 66?
It drops to nil for that year and every year after, because the limit only exists while your client is at least 26 and under 66 at the end of the year laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. A client who turns 66 in 2026 should have taken the course by the end of 2025 to use the room.
Does claiming the credit stop the $250 from building that year?
No. A client can claim the credit and still earn the $250 for the following year, and the amount claimed is simply subtracted from next year's limit canada.ca.
Can the credit be claimed on a final return?
Yes. Subsection 122.91(4) deems a deceased individual resident in Canada until the end of the year and the same age at year end as at death, and a return filed by the legal representative counts as filed by the individual laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.
General information for the tax year shown, not advice for a specific client. Confirm the facts before you file or remit.