Canada Disability Benefit (CDB): Amounts, Eligibility and Payment Dates

The Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) is a federal monthly payment for low-income adults aged 18 to 64 who have been approved for the Disability Tax Credit. Service Canada pays it, and it isn’t taxable. This page covers how much it pays, who qualifies, how to apply and the payment dates. Provincial disability programs such as ODSP are separate; other programs are in the benefits guide.

How much the CDB pays (July 2026 to June 2027)

The maximum is $204.20 a month. The amount depends on your adjusted family net income from your 2025 return, with part of any working income left out:

Working income means income from employment, self-employment and taxable scholarships.

Source: Government of Canada, CDB amounts. Amounts are set for each July-to-June benefit year.

The Canada Disability Benefit Regulations set base income thresholds of $23,000 for a single person and $32,500 for a couple and multiply them by an indexing factor for each payment period, as they do the maximum and the working income exemptions. The government hasn’t published the indexed thresholds, but the factor is the one in the published maximum ($2,450.40 a year against the Regulations’ base of $2,400), so the table and the estimates below apply it. ESDC’s estimator gives the government’s own estimate.

Working income makes a big difference. For a single person:

With no working income, a single person’s CDB reaches $0 at about $35,735. ESDC’s CDB estimator works out couples and mixed incomes.

Supplement: recipients also get a $150 lump-sum payment to help with the cost of getting the Disability Tax Credit, one for each approved DTC certificate that qualifies them for a monthly CDB payment. You don’t need to apply. People who received a CDB payment between July 2025 and June 2026 get it on September 17, 2026; people first paid later get it at a later date.

Who qualifies

• You are between 18 and 64 years old.
• Under 18 you can apply up to 6 months before your birthday, but nothing is decided or paid until you turn 18.
• If you are 65 or over you might get back payments for up to 24 months back from when Service Canada receives your application, but not for months after the one you turned 65.
• You have been approved for the disability tax credit (DTC).
• You are a Canadian resident for income tax filing purposes.
• You and your spouse or common-law partner (if you have one) have filed your 2025 federal income tax return, which is required to receive payments.
• The Minister can waive the requirement that your spouse or common-law partner has filed a return if satisfied that it is unreasonable or impracticable in the circumstances, including if your cohabiting spouse or common-law partner is not resident in Canada for income tax purposes, if you are not living with them for reasons not attributable to either of you, or if they have engaged in family violence as defined in the Divorce Act.
• You are a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, a person registered or entitled to be registered under the Indian Act, a protected person, or a temporary resident who has lived in Canada throughout the previous 18 months (permanent resident, protected person and temporary resident as defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act).
• If you are serving a sentence of 2 years or more in a federal penitentiary you are not eligible, except for the first and last month of your incarceration, and you must reapply after release.

No payments are made for months before June 2025.

Source: Government of Canada, CDB eligibility.

How to apply

The CDB isn’t automatic: you apply to Service Canada, online, by phone, at a Service Canada office or with a printed form. If you don’t have the Disability Tax Credit yet, apply for it first with Form T2201; you can’t get the CDB without it. Once you’re approved you don’t reapply each year: Service Canada reviews your eligibility every year, so keep filing your tax return by April 30, along with your spouse or partner, and the benefit is recalculated each July. Payments can stop or change if your family income or marital status changes, so tell Service Canada and the CRA when your situation changes.

CDB payment dates 2026

The CDB is paid on the third Thursday of each month. Your first payment arrives the month after you’re approved, with any back payments owed. If your benefit is $240 a year or less, it’s paid in one payment instead.

Source: Government of Canada: Benefits payment dates.

Payment dates for other federal and provincial programs are in the government payment dates calendar.

The CDB and other benefits

CDB payments aren’t taxable and aren’t reported on your return, so they don’t count as income for tax purposes. Provinces and territories decide how their own disability and social assistance programs treat the CDB. In Ontario, the CDB doesn’t affect your ODSP or Ontario Works eligibility or payment; elsewhere, check with your program before assuming it won’t affect your provincial support.

Approval for the Disability Tax Credit can also help you get into other federal programs, such as the Registered Disability Savings Plan. Other disability programs, and where to start, are on Disability benefits in Canada.

Related pages

• Disability benefits in Canada
• Disability Tax Credit
• ODSP
• CPP disability benefit
• Canada Dental Care Plan
• Government benefits guide for Canada