Financial Help for Low-Income Canadians: Federal and Provincial Benefits

Most financial help for people with low incomes in Canada comes through the tax system: you file a return, and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and your province work out what you’re entitled to. Income assistance works differently: you apply for it to your province or territory (or, on a reserve, through the federal program). This page lists the main programs with a short description of each and a link to the full guide. For the payment dates of each, see the government payment calendar. If you need money to live on, each province and territory runs its own income assistance program, often called welfare: see income assistance by province.

Start by filing your tax return

Filing every year, even with no income, is what gets you the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, the Canada Child Benefit and most provincial credits. If your income is modest and your taxes are simple, the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program runs free tax clinics that can file for you.

Federal programs

• Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit: a quarterly payment that replaced the GST/HST credit, up to $679 a year for a single person and $890 for a couple, plus $234 per child, for July 2026 to June 2027 (based on your 2025 tax return).
• Canada Child Benefit: a monthly payment for families with children under 18, up to $8,157 a year per child under 6 for July 2026 to June 2027; the full amount goes to families with 2025 adjusted family net income under $38,237.
• Canada Workers Benefit: a refundable credit for people who work, up to $1,633 for a single person for the 2025 tax year, part of it paid in advance.
• Canada Disability Benefit: up to $204.20 a month (July 2026 to June 2027) for adults aged 18 to 64 approved for the Disability Tax Credit.
• Canadian Dental Care Plan: dental coverage for people without insurance and family income under $90,000.
• Guaranteed Income Supplement: for seniors receiving Old Age Security with low income, up to $1,138.90 a month for a single person (October to December 2026).
• Canada Training Credit: a refundable credit for course fees for people who work.

Provincial programs

• Income assistance (“welfare”): every province and territory runs its own program for people who can’t meet basic needs: see income assistance by province.
• Child benefits: some provinces add their own, such as the BC Family Benefit, the Alberta Child and Family Benefit and Quebec’s Family Allowance.
• Credits paid through the tax system: such as the Ontario Trillium Benefit and Quebec’s solidarity tax credit.
• Drug coverage: provincial drug plans, plus free contraception and diabetes medications through national pharmacare in British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Yukon.

Income assistance (welfare) by province and territory

Income assistance pays for basic living costs such as food, clothing and shelter when you can’t support yourself or your family from other income or savings. Each province and territory runs its own program under its own law, so the name, the rules and the amounts differ: it may be called social assistance, income support, income assistance or welfare.

Eligibility rests on a needs test: the province compares your basic needs with your income and assets. British Columbia, for example, expects you to look for and use your other income and assets before you apply. Owning your home doesn’t usually mean selling it: Ontario, for example, doesn’t count your principal residence as an asset. Provinces such as British Columbia and Ontario also let you keep part of what you earn from work: British Columbia doesn’t count the first $600 a month for a single person on income assistance. In Ontario Works: After 3 continuous months on assistance, each adult in the household keeps the first $200 a month of net earnings and 50% of what is left; the rest is deducted from the next payment. (working while on Ontario Works). You apply to your province or territory, online, by phone or in person depending on where you live. People who ordinarily live on a reserve, and Status Indians living in Yukon, can turn to the federal On-reserve Income Assistance program, a last resort that follows the rates and eligibility rules of their province or Yukon; their community’s band office or an Indigenous Services Canada regional office has the details.

The table lists each program and, where its official page could be checked, the department that runs it and the monthly amount for a single adult where the province or territory publishes one figure.

The single-adult figures cover different things: Newfoundland and Labrador’s leaves out shelter, which is paid separately, while Nova Scotia’s covers food, clothing, shelter and utilities. So one province’s figure can’t be compared with another’s. Where a province publishes its amounts as a schedule by household and housing type, the table sends you to the program’s page.

Where a province runs a separate disability program, it has its own test: British Columbia’s disability assistance needs a Person with Disabilities designation, and Alberta’s AISH is for adults whose severe disability permanently prevents them from working. Each province’s disability program is in disability benefits by province.

In Ontario, one application covers both Ontario Works and, for people with a disability, the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). To challenge an Ontario Works or ODSP decision, first ask in writing for an internal review within 30 days of receiving the decision (explaining why, if special circumstances make you late); you should get the result within 30 days of your request being received. If you disagree with it, you can appeal to the Social Benefits Tribunal within 30 days of receiving the internal review decision, or if no decision arrives within 30 days. Applying for ODSP sets out each step.

Housing, utilities and emergencies

• Rent help: the Canada Housing Benefit is delivered by each province and territory; subsidized (rent-geared-to-income) housing is applied for through your local or provincial housing agency, such as your local service manager in Ontario or the BC Housing Registry.
• Utilities: many provinces and utilities offer low-income bill discounts or emergency help; ask your utility.
• Pandemic benefit debts: if CRA says you weren’t eligible for CERB, see CERB repayment for how to repay and deduct it.
• Emergencies and food: dial or text 211 to reach a navigator who can connect you with local food banks, emergency funds and other services.

Finding everything you qualify for

• The Government of Canada’s benefits finder suggests federal programs based on your answers.
• 211 covers local and provincial services.
• Service Canada handles EI, CPP, OAS and GIS; CRA handles benefits paid through the tax system.

Related pages

• Government benefits in Canada
• Disability benefits in Canada
• Ontario Works
• Am I eligible for the GST/HST credit?
• Am I eligible for the CCB?
• Guaranteed Income Supplement guide