Home accessibility tax credit: 14% of $20,000, up to $2,800 in 2026

How much is the home accessibility tax credit worth each year?

For 2026 the credit is worth up to $2,800: 14% of the lesser of $20,000 and your client's qualifying expenditures for the year, under ITA 118.041(3) laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The rate in that formula is the "appropriate percentage", which is the lowest federal tax rate canada.ca. That rate is 14% for 2026 canada.ca, and 14.5% for 2025 because it fell from 15% to 14% on July 1, 2025 canada.ca.

The $20,000 limit isn't indexed. It doubled from $10,000 starting with the 2022 tax year canada.ca, and the CRA lists $20,000 for 2022 through 2025 canada.ca. So any article still quoting a $3,000 maximum is using the old 15% rate. The credit can only reduce tax your client owes; it can't create a refund.

Who can claim, and for which home?

The renovation has to be for a qualifying individual: someone who is 65 or older at the end of the year, or who is eligible for the disability tax credit at any time in the year canada.ca. A DTC claim needs an approved Form T2201, covered on the disability tax credit page.

The qualifying individual can claim, and so can an eligible individual. Under ITA 118.041(1) that's the spouse or common law partner, a person who can claim the qualifying individual's disability amount as a transfer, or, for a qualifying individual 65 or older, a relative who claimed (or could have claimed) the eligible dependant amount or a dependant amount for them laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

That last route has a catch accountants hit often. For a parent who is 65 but not DTC eligible, an adult child usually qualifies through the dependant route only if the parent depends on them because of mental or physical infirmity laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. A healthy 70 year old's daughter who pays for her mother's bathroom generally can't claim it. The mother can, if she owns and lives in the home. The Canada caregiver amount page covers when a child supports a parent with an infirmity.

The home must be an eligible dwelling: a housing unit in Canada owned by the qualifying individual and ordinarily lived in by them, or owned by the eligible individual and ordinarily lived in by both, as long as the qualifying individual doesn't own and live in another Canadian unit that year canada.ca. A qualifying individual has only one eligible dwelling at a time, and the land counts up to about half a hectare.

What renovations count, and what does the CRA refuse?

A qualifying renovation is work of an enduring nature, integral to the home, that gives the qualifying individual access to the home or mobility or function within it, or reduces their risk of harm in the home or getting into it laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The goods must be acquired and the work done in the tax year canada.ca. Items that won't become a permanent part of the home generally don't qualify.

The relative rule comes from paragraph (i) of the qualifying expenditure definition: goods or services from someone not dealing at arm's length with the claimant are out unless that person is registered under Part IX of the Excise Tax Act laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Housekeeping, security monitoring, gardening and outdoor maintenance services are also excluded canada.ca.

Grants, forgivable loans and tax credits from any government don't reduce the claim, and vendor rebates generally don't either canada.ca. Other reimbursements do: paragraph (j) removes any cost that can reasonably be considered reimbursed, other than by government assistance laws-lois.justice.gc.ca.

From 2026, each expense goes to the HATC or the medical expense credit, not both

Through 2025 a renovation cost that qualified for both credits could be claimed under both canada.ca. Budget 2025 ended that for 2026 and later tax years by excluding expenses claimed under the medical expense tax credit from the HATC canada.ca. As of October 2026 the consolidated Act carries it: paragraph (k) of the qualifying expenditure definition excludes any cost included in a section 118.2 deduction for any taxpayer for any year, and subsection 118.041(4), which allowed the double claim, is repealed by S.C. 2026, c. 3 laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. The CRA's line 31285 page, written for 2025 returns, still describes the old rule.

So for a 2026 project, decide which credit gets each expense. A renovation is a medical expense only for a person with a severe and prolonged mobility impairment or who lacks normal physical development, and only if the cost wouldn't normally raise the home's value canada.ca. The medical expense threshold for 2026 is the lesser of $2,890 and 3% of net income canada.ca, explained on the medical expense threshold page.

Worked example for 2026: your client is DTC approved with a severe mobility impairment, has $40,000 of net income and no other medical expenses. They spend $30,000: a $9,000 ramp and $6,000 of widened doorways (both qualify for either credit), and a $15,000 shower conversion that, in this example, qualifies only for the HATC.

Option A wins by $140 because no HATC room is wasted above the $20,000 cap. Both credits use the same 14% rate and the threshold comes off once, so any split that keeps the HATC side at or under $20,000 gives the same federal total; the only federal mistake is pushing the HATC side past the cap. The figures above are before any refundable medical expense supplement and before provincial credits.

How is the $20,000 shared between claimants?

The cap is $20,000 of expenses per qualifying individual per year, split however the qualifying individual and their eligible individuals choose; if they can't agree, the CRA sets the amounts laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. A home with two qualifying individuals still has one $20,000 limit, and a qualifying individual with more than one eligible dwelling in a year still has $20,000 in total canada.ca.

Example: a couple aged 68 and 63 own their home together and spend $24,000 on a barrier free bathroom in 2026, none of it claimed as a medical expense. Only $20,000 counts. The 68 year old is the qualifying individual and the 63 year old is an eligible individual as the spouse, so they can split it $12,000 and $8,000, worth $1,680 and $1,120 of federal credit. The $4,000 over the cap earns no HATC.

Part business or rental use cuts the claim. Only costs for the personal use areas count, and a shared item like a ramp is divided between personal use and income earning use canada.ca.

What does your client file, and what do they keep?

Your client completes the line 31285 chart on Federal Worksheet 5000-D1 and enters the result on line 31285; nothing is attached to the return canada.ca. Keep agreements, invoices and receipts showing the contractor's name, business address and GST/HST number, a description of the goods or work with dates and the address, the amount, and proof of full payment. Condo and housing cooperative claims need a signed statement from the corporation showing your client's share.

If the household is adding a secondary unit for a senior or adult relative with a disability, the separate refundable credit on the multigenerational home renovation page may also apply, and its rules on overlap are its own.