The Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) is a refundable tax credit for people who work but earn a low income. Because it’s refundable, you get it as money even if you owe no tax. For the 2025 tax year, the maximum is $1,633 for a single person and $2,813 for a family (a couple or a single parent), with a disability supplement on top. You claim it on your tax return, and CRA pays part of it in advance the following year. This page covers the amounts, who qualifies and how it’s calculated. For when the advance payments arrive, see CWB payment dates. Other programs are in the benefits guide.
CWB amounts for the 2025 tax year
| Situation | Maximum Basic CWB | Reduced Above | Fully Phased Out At |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single individual | $1,633 | $26,855 | $37,742 |
| Family (couple or single parent) | $2,813 | $30,639 | $49,393 |
Maximum CWB amounts vary for residents of Quebec, Nunavut, and Alberta, which run adjusted provincial/territorial versions of the benefit. Source: Canada Revenue Agency – Canada workers benefit (CWB): How much you can get for the 2025 tax year. View source
Disability supplement
People eligible for the Disability Tax Credit (an approved Form T2201) also get a supplement:
| Situation | Maximum Disability Supplement | Reduced Above | Fully Phased Out At |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single individual | $843 | $37,740 | $43,360 |
| Family, one spouse eligible | $843 | $49,389 | $55,009 |
| Family, both spouses eligible | $1,686 | $49,389 | $60,629 |
Maximum CWB amounts vary for residents of Quebec, Nunavut, and Alberta, which run adjusted provincial/territorial versions of the benefit. Source: Canada Revenue Agency – Canada workers benefit (CWB): How much you can get for the 2025 tax year. View source
| Situation | Basic + Disability Supplement |
|---|---|
| Single with disability | $2,476 |
| Family, one spouse with disability | $3,656 |
| Family, both spouses with disability | $4,499 |
Source: Canada Revenue Agency – Canada workers benefit (CWB): How much you can get for the 2025 tax year. View source
CWB calculator
An estimate using CRA's 2025 amounts outside Quebec, Alberta and Nunavut. It doesn't include the secondary earner exemption for couples, which can raise a two-earner family's benefit.
How the CWB is calculated
The CWB grows with your working income, then shrinks as your net income rises:
- Phase-in: 27% of working income above $3,000, up to the maximum. A single person reaches the maximum at about $9,048 of working income.
- Phase-out: minus 15% of adjusted net income above $26,855 (single) or $30,639 (family).
The disability supplement follows the same pattern but phases in from $1,150 of the eligible person’s own working income. When both spouses are eligible for it, each spouse’s supplement is reduced at 7.5%.
Couples where both partners work can also use the secondary earner exemption: the lower earner can leave part of their working income out of the family’s net income for the phase-out. The Income Tax Act sets it at $14,000, indexed to inflation each year; on the 2025 Schedule 6 the maximum is $16,386.
| Working and net income | Single person | Family |
|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | $540 | $540 |
| $15,000 | $1,633 | $2,813 |
| $25,000 | $1,633 | $2,813 |
| $30,000 | $1,161 | $2,813 |
| $35,000 | $411 | $2,159 |
| $45,000 | $0 | $659 |
Basic CWB for the 2025 tax year when all income is working income, without the disability supplement or secondary earner exemption.
Who qualifies
You can claim the CWB if you:
- were a resident of Canada throughout the year
- had working income: employment income, net self-employment income, and taxable scholarships and research grants (not EI, pensions, investment income or social assistance). You can choose to count tax-exempt working income earned on a reserve; if you do, your tax-exempt income also counts in the net income used for the CWB
- were 19 or older on December 31, or lived with a spouse, common-law partner or your child
You can’t claim it if you:
- were a full-time student at a designated educational institution for more than 13 weeks in the year, unless you had an eligible dependant on December 31
- were confined to a prison or similar institution for 90 days or more in the year
- don’t pay tax in Canada because you’re an officer or servant of another country, such as a diplomat, or a family member or employee of such a person
Only one spouse or partner can claim the basic CWB for a family. If one of you is eligible for the disability tax credit, that person claims both the basic amount and the disability supplement; if both of you are, each of you claims your own supplement on a separate Schedule 6.
A spouse or common-law partner counts for the family amounts only if they lived with you on December 31 (or, if they died in the second half of the year, on the date of death), were a resident of Canada throughout the year, and aren’t excluded by the student, prison or diplomat rules above. An eligible dependant is your child, or your spouse’s or partner’s child (including a child in your custody who depends wholly on you for support), who is under 19, lives with you on December 31 and isn’t eligible for the CWB themselves.
Quebec, Alberta and Nunavut
Residents of Quebec, Alberta and Nunavut get the CWB with different amounts and thresholds. Residents of each of the three claim it on their own version of Schedule 6. The amounts on this page are for the rest of Canada.
How to claim it
Fill in Schedule 6 with your return; the credit goes on line 45300. Tax software completes it from your income and family details.
The CWB replaced the Working Income Tax Benefit (WITB) starting with the 2019 tax year.
Do you get part of the CWB in advance?
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) pays up to 50% of your CWB ahead of time, as the advanced Canada workers benefit (ACWB), with the same share of the disability supplement if you get one. The advances come in 3 payments. There's no application: if you are entitled to the CWB on your tax return, CRA sends you advance payments automatically in the next benefit period, which runs from July to June, as long as it receives that return before November 1 of the period and you are a resident of Canada on the first day of each payment period. What is the advanced Canada Workers Benefit? explains how the advances are worked out, what the RC210 slip shows and how they are settled at tax time.
Do you have to pay the CWB back?
If the advances you received are more than the CWB worked out for that year, line 41500 takes the CWB amount, so the return pays nothing more and collects nothing. The CWB is a refundable tax credit that you claim when you file your tax return. If you received advances, you enter the amounts from your RC210 slip on Schedule 6, which weighs them against the CWB it works out for that year: the smaller of the two amounts goes on line 41500. The settling table on the advance CWB page shows what that means in each case. Separately, if the CRA decides it overpaid your advance payments, it tells you on your notice of assessment for that year and collects the debt from your tax refund; Benefits and your tax return covers overpayments. How the CWB and other benefits are treated on a return is in the taxable benefits table.
Why is my CWB payment so low?
A CWB deposit during the year is an advance on it: each of the 3 advance payments is 1/6 of the CWB worked out for the year before. The rest of a year’s CWB, if any, comes when you file that year’s return, after the advances are taken off.
The CWB itself depends on your income, your family situation and where you live:
- Working income. The CWB is 27% of working income above $3,000, up to the maximum, so a low working income gives a smaller CWB (how the CWB is calculated).
- Net income. The CWB is gradually reduced once adjusted net income passes $26,855 for a single person, or adjusted family net income passes $30,639 for a family.
- Your family on December 31. A spouse or common-law partner counts if they lived with you on December 31 and meet the other conditions under who qualifies; the same section sets out who counts as an eligible dependant.
- The disability supplement. It needs an approved Form T2201, Disability Tax Credit Certificate, on file with the CRA.
- Where you live. Amounts vary for residents of Quebec, Alberta and Nunavut (see above).
Most changes during the year, such as a move or a new partner, don’t change the advances unless you ask for a reassessment and your CWB changes. The advance CWB page has the exceptions.
Related pages
Sources
The figures and rules on this page come from these sources, last checked against them between October 4, 2026 and October 13, 2026. How we check facts.
- Canada Revenue Agency: Canada workers benefit (CWB): how much you can get
- Canada Revenue Agency: Who is eligible
- Canada Revenue Agency: How to claim
- Canada Revenue Agency: Advanced Canada Workers Benefit, line 41500 (CRA)
- Canada Revenue Agency: Rc210 working income tax benefit advance payments statement
- Department of Finance Canada: 2019 Brings Lower Taxes for Small Businesses and More Help for Canadian Workers
- Government of Canada: Schedule 6, Canada Workers Benefit (T1-2025)
- Justice Laws (Canada): Income Tax Act
- Justice Laws (Canada): Income Tax Act, section 122.72