Which Province Has the Best Government Benefits in Canada?

No province pays the most in every category. Each one runs its own child benefit, child care fees, social assistance, disability support, drug coverage and seniors’ top-ups, and the value of each depends on your family, income and health. This page compares those provincial programs side by side. Federal benefits (the Canada Child Benefit, the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, OAS, GIS and CPP) pay the same amounts wherever you live, so they don’t change with a move; the moving provinces guide covers the rest of a move.

Child benefits

Every family gets the federal Canada Child Benefit, up to $8,157 a year for a child under six (July 2026 to June 2027). Several provinces add their own payment on top:

Each benefit shrinks with family income from a different threshold, and Alberta’s working component also needs family employment income, so a family’s actual amount can rank differently from these maximums. The Ontario, BC and Alberta benefits are paid by CRA with the CCB; Quebec’s is paid by Retraite Québec.

Child care fees

Regulated child care fees are set province by province under the Canada-wide agreements, and the fee applies only in participating programs:

• In Quebec, a child admitted to a subsidized child care centre costs the reduced contribution of $9.65 a day in 2026, indexed every January 1, for a parent who lives in Quebec with an eligible status such as citizen or permanent resident; non-subsidized centres set their own rates, which are generally higher.
• In Ontario, licensed child care programs enrolled in the Canada-wide (CWELCC) system charge at most $22 a day for children under six, with no application needed; programs that aren't enrolled set their own fees.
• In Alberta, children up to kindergarten age in a licensed daycare or family day home that receives affordability funding pay a flat parent fee of $326.25 a month for full-time care ($15 a day) or $230 for part-time care.
• In B.C., only designated $10 a Day ChildCareBC centres charge $10 a day, up to $200 a month, for full days; other licensed centres set their own fees, which the Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative lowers at participating centres.

Spaces at these fees are limited, and waiting lists are common. Cost of living by province covers the other provinces’ fees.

Parental leave benefits

Parents in every province except Quebec get maternity and parental benefits from federal EI. Quebec residents get them from the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan instead, which has its own replacement rates, ceiling on insurable earnings and coverage for self-employed parents; the QPIP guide compares the two.

Disability income support

Of these three, Alberta’s AISH has the highest maximum for a single person. The programs also differ in their asset limits, how much you can earn before payments drop, and the health benefits that come with them, so the monthly maximum is only part of the comparison. The federal Canada Disability Benefit is a separate payment, available in every province.

Social assistance

Every province runs its own income assistance program for people with no other means of support: Ontario Works in Ontario, BC Employment and Assistance in British Columbia, Alberta’s Income Support and Quebec’s Social Assistance Program. Amounts depend on household size and housing costs; in Ontario, Ontario Works pays a single person up to $733 a month for basic needs and shelter combined. Assistance in one province ends when you move, and you apply again in the new one. Financial help for low-income Canadians lists the federal programs that continue.

Prescription drug coverage

Provincial plans cover drugs given in hospital, but coverage for prescriptions you fill at a pharmacy differs widely:

• Ontario: OHIP does not cover prescription drugs outside hospital, dental care in a dentist's office, or eyeglasses and contact lenses; Ontario's separate drug programs cover many prescriptions for people 24 and under without a private plan (OHIP+) and for people 65 and older (the Ontario Drug Benefit).
• Quebec: everyone must have prescription drug insurance, through a private group plan where one is available or the public plan run by RAMQ, which charges an income-based premium.
• British Columbia: Fair PharmaCare sets a family deductible and annual maximum based on income.
• Alberta: seniors can get drug coverage through Alberta Blue Cross without a premium, and other residents can buy government-sponsored coverage that charges premiums.

Under the federal national pharmacare program, British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Yukon have signed agreements to cover contraception and diabetes medications at no charge.

Seniors’ supplements

Several provinces top up the federal GIS for low-income seniors:

Most of these programs require a period of residence in the province before you qualify; Ontario’s GAINS, for example, requires 12 months in Ontario. The provincial GIS top-ups page covers eligibility, and choosing a province to retire in weighs these against tax and housing costs.

What to compare for your situation

Provincial income tax, which pays for many of these programs, also differs; the lowest-tax provinces compares it. Government benefits in Canada lists the federal programs.

Related reading

• Tax implications of moving provinces: which benefits continue after a move and which you reapply for.
• Moving from Ontario to Alberta and moving from BC to Alberta: the benefits that replace each other in those moves.