CCB and GST Credit After Leaving Canada: When They Stop

When do the CCB and GST credit stop after leaving Canada?

Both stop when you stop being a resident of Canada for tax purposes. The CRA says that, generally, a non-resident cannot receive the Canada child benefit (CCB) or the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (its previous name was the GST/HST credit), including the provincial and territorial payments the CRA pays with them, and that anyone still receiving them after leaving should contact the CRA immediately (CRA, Leaving Canada).

What makes a case not simple:

• One spouse or parent stays resident while the other leaves.
• The children move abroad while one parent stays in Canada.
• You may still be resident, for example because your family or home stays in Canada.
• Deposits kept arriving for months or years.
• You leave from Québec, which runs its own family and credit payments.

What to gather: your departure date, your spouse's departure date (if different), where each child will live, your CRA account details and any CRA notices already received.

Which payments depend on Canadian residence, and which are not CRA benefits?

The CCB, the Groceries and Essentials Benefit and the provincial or territorial payments linked to them are paid by the CRA, and each requires Canadian residence for tax purposes. The CRA treats you as resident if you normally live in Canada and have significant residential ties, such as a home, a spouse or dependants here (CCB eligibility).

Old Age Security, the Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance are Service Canada programs. People outside Canada are told to contact Service Canada about those payments (change your address). OAS keeps paying abroad if you lived in Canada at least 20 years after age 18, or reach 20 years combined with a country that has a social security agreement with Canada; otherwise it may stop after six months outside Canada (OAS while abroad). For tax on OAS and CPP paid abroad, see tax on pension and RRSP income paid to non-residents.

When exactly does each benefit stop?

The CCB is worked out month by month for a parent who is an eligible individual at the beginning of that month, and an eligible individual must be resident in Canada (Income Tax Act, section 122.6). A parent resident on the first day of the month of departure generally qualifies for that month; from the next month, generally not.

The Groceries and Essentials Benefit has two checks. You must be resident in the month before the CRA makes a payment and at the start of the payment month (CRA eligibility). The Act also bars a person who is non-resident at the beginning of the month (section 122.5). A payment issued in a month that starts after you leave generally fails the second check.

There is no fixed "last payment" date. The CRA recalculates once it knows your departure date, and your residence end date is a question of fact. A trip or a temporary stay abroad does not by itself end residence; what counts is whether you keep residential ties such as a home, a spouse or dependants in Canada (CCB eligibility). If you are unsure whether you have become non-resident, settle that first: see leaving Canada.

How and by when do I tell the CRA I'm leaving for child benefit purposes?

Tell the CRA your departure date promptly. For the CCB, the Income Tax Act says a person who stops being an eligible individual must notify the CRA before the end of the month after the month eligibility ends (section 122.62). The same deadline applies to the Groceries and Essentials Benefit (section 122.5). The CCB and Groceries and Essentials Benefit booklets tell you to call 1-800-387-1193 when you or your spouse stop being resident (T4114; RC4210). From outside Canada and the US, the CRA lists 1-613-940-8495 for updating personal information; it accepts collect calls only through an operator (CRA telephone numbers). Also enter your departure date on your departure-year tax return.

For every channel and what else to update, see telling the CRA you are leaving.

Which provincial or territorial payments stop with them?

The provincial and territorial programs the CRA administers stop with the federal benefit they are linked to; you do not apply to the province for them, and the CRA pays them with the CCB or the Groceries and Essentials Benefit.

Sources: T4114 and RC4210. Québec runs its own payments: see leaving Québec.

One parent leaves and the children stay in Canada: who keeps the CCB?

The parent who stays may be eligible in their own right. The CCB goes to the person who lives with the child, is primarily responsible for the child's care and upbringing, and is resident in Canada (section 122.6). A parent who moves abroad without the children generally no longer lives with them, so that parent generally does not qualify.

The CCB does not pass to the parent who stays by itself. If it was paid to the parent who left, the parent who stays applies in My Account or on Form RC66; the CRA usually treats the mother as primarily responsible, so a father who stays attaches a signed statement from her (T4114). A month can be paid only if the application is filed within 11 months after the end of that month (section 122.62).

The family's CCB is still based on family net income. While a spouse is non-resident, the resident parent reports that spouse's world income on Form CTB9 (T4114); see a non-resident spouse on a Canadian return. Whether the parent abroad has actually become non-resident is its own question: see family stays in Canada while you work abroad.

The family leaves but one spouse stays resident a while longer: what changes?

If the children move abroad and one parent stays in Canada, the CCB generally stops even though that parent is still resident: it goes only to a resident who lives with the child (section 122.6). Report the children's move date as well as each spouse's departure date.

The spouse still resident, and still living with the children, may keep receiving the CCB until their own departure, with the other spouse's world income counted through Form CTB9. Once the children leave with the departing spouse, the spouse in Canada no longer lives with them. The CCB stops for each parent based on their own residence and who the children live with, so report each date separately. The spouse who stays must also tell the CRA, before the end of the month after the month eligibility ends, that the other spouse is no longer resident: that spouse stops counting as a partner for the Groceries and Essentials Benefit, and the payment is recalculated (section 122.5). See spouses leaving on different dates.

A CCB or GST credit payment arrived after I left: keep it or return it?

Do not spend it. Contact the CRA, which says to do so immediately if payments continue after you leave (CRA, Leaving Canada). After the CRA recalculates, it sends a notice of the amount due (T4114). Keep the deposit available until the notice arrives, or ask the CRA when you call how to repay it now. Keep records of your departure date and when you called.

How does the CRA recover a benefit overpayment from someone abroad?

The CRA sends a notice of the amount due, then may keep future CCB payments, tax refunds or Groceries and Essentials Benefit payments until the balance is repaid; this may also apply to other federal, provincial and territorial programs the CRA administers (T4114; stopped payments). Your spouse or common-law partner can be liable with you: for a CCB overpayment, if you were living together at the end of that tax year and when it was paid; for a Groceries and Essentials Benefit overpayment, up to the amount paid for the months they counted as your spouse (section 160.1). Moving abroad does not cancel the debt. From outside Canada and the US, the CRA lists 1-613-221-3002 (collect, through an operator) to arrange to pay a child and family benefit overpayment (CRA telephone numbers); see CRA tax debt while living abroad for how to pay.

No interest is charged on a CCB or Groceries and Essentials Benefit overpayment itself: the Act excludes amounts arising from these benefits from the interest on excess refunds (section 160.1). Interest can still apply to other tax you owe. For long-running cases and disputes, see left Canada without telling the CRA.

If I come back to Canada, can I get the CCB again?

Yes. You re-apply once you meet all the conditions again (T4114). A returning resident who became resident in the last two years attaches Form RC66SCH; for the Groceries and Essentials Benefit, a person who becomes resident uses Form RC151 (RC4210). An unpaid overpayment can be kept from new payments. See returning to Canada after years abroad.

Example

These examples are illustrative; amounts are in Canadian dollars.

The whole family leaves

The Nguyens move to Singapore on August 15 and call the CRA that week. They were resident on August 1, so August's CCB is generally theirs. They were not resident on September 1, so a September CCB deposit of C$650 is not theirs. They leave it untouched and expect a CRA notice asking for it back, or a deduction from a later refund.

One parent stays with the children

Daniel takes a two-year posting in Hong Kong; his spouse and children stay in Ottawa. With his family and home still in Canada, Daniel may well stay resident, and the CCB carries on based on both incomes. Only if Daniel does become non-resident does his spouse, the primary caregiver, report his world income on Form CTB9.

A late notice

Sara leaves in March but tells the CRA in November. The CRA recalculates and sends a notice asking her to repay C$2,400 of benefits. Until she pays, it can keep her later tax refund toward the balance.

Different for you?

• Benefits kept arriving for months or years after you left: see left Canada without telling the CRA and get individual tax help to rebuild the dates and the amounts.
• One parent abroad, children in Canada: residence and CTB9 reporting decide the CCB; see family stays in Canada while you work abroad and individual tax help.
• Spouses leaving on different dates: each spouse's residence date and who the children live with decide each month's CCB; see spouses leaving on different dates and get individual tax help to set the dates before you report them.
• A CRA notice uses a departure date you think is wrong: gather proof of when you, your spouse and the children left, and get individual tax help.
• You or your spouse work abroad for the Canadian government or Forces: different rules can keep the CCB; see deemed residents of Canada.
• You already owe the CRA: see CRA tax debt while living abroad.
• You lived in Québec: see leaving Québec.
• You are coming back: see returning to Canada after years abroad.