How to Apply for the Canada Child Benefit (CCB): Birth Registration, My Account or RC66

You have to apply for the Canada Child Benefit (CCB); it doesn’t start automatically when a child is born or moves in with you. There are three ways to apply, and CRA suggests applying as soon as you become eligible: after a birth, when a child starts living with you, when you begin, end or change a shared custody arrangement, or when you get custody of a child. See CCB amounts for what you’ll get, or the benefits guide for every program. The same application also counts for the related provincial and territorial child benefits the CRA delivers: the CRA works out whether you qualify for them when you apply, so they don’t need a separate application (provincial and territorial child benefits).

You can get the CCB if you live with a child under 18, are the person mainly responsible for the child's care and upbringing, are a resident of Canada for tax purposes, and you or your spouse or common-law partner has an accepted status in Canada (citizen, permanent resident, protected person, qualifying temporary resident or a person registered or entitled to be registered under the Indian Act). The full conditions are under who can get the CCB.

You and your spouse or common-law partner each need a social insurance number to apply. In a two-parent home, CRA presumes the female parent is primarily responsible, so she applies, unless the other parent is the one primarily responsible and applies with a signed letter from her confirming it (who counts as primarily responsible).

Three ways to apply

1. When you register the birth

Most provinces and territories let you apply for the CCB on the birth registration form. Checking the consent box shares the registration with CRA, so you don’t need a separate application; you also give your social insurance number on the form. If you apply this way, don’t apply again in My Account or with Form RC66, since a second application can delay your payments. Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta also let you register the birth online. The service isn’t available in Nunavut.

2. Online in My Account

1. Sign in to your CRA account and choose your Individual account.
2. Select “Benefits and credits” on the Overview screen, then select “+ Add” in the “Child information” section.
3. Enter the child’s details and your marital status.
4. Upload the child’s proof of birth if CRA has never paid benefits for this child, and any other documents CRA asks for, then submit.

3. By mail with Form RC66

Download Form RC66, Canada Child Benefits Application, sign it, attach any documents your situation needs (the child’s proof of birth if CRA has never paid benefits for this child), and mail it to your tax centre.

How long processing takes

CRA’s service standard is to send your notice, and your first payment if any, within 8 weeks of receiving a digital application and 11 weeks for a paper application. It aims to meet these targets 95% of the time. Payments start from the month after the month you become eligible. My Account shows the status of an application you’ve already sent. Once you’re approved, payments follow the CCB payment dates.

Applying late

You can apply for a period that has already passed.

• Normally a person can be treated as an eligible individual for a month only if the application (notice) reaches CRA within 11 months after the end of that month.
• CRA may extend that time, up to 10 years after the beginning of the month in question.
• If the child started living with you more than 11 months ago, you must send supporting documents for the whole period: proof of your citizenship or immigration status (and your spouse or common-law partner's), at least 3 types of documents showing you lived in Canada, proof of birth for each child, and at least 3 types of documents showing you were primarily responsible for the child's care and upbringing.
• A person registered, or entitled to be registered, under the Indian Act, or who cared for a child under a kinship or close relationship program, may be eligible for child benefits for prior years.

The child disability benefit’s past years are worked out differently: Child Disability Benefit explains how far back it is paid.

Newcomers to Canada

1. Apply in My Account or with Form RC66, and complete Schedule RC66SCH, which reports your status in Canada and your income. CRA also asks for RC66SCH if you or your spouse or partner became a resident of Canada (a newcomer or a returning resident) in the last 2 years, became a Canadian citizen in the last 12 months, are a permanent resident, a protected person or a temporary resident who has lived in Canada for the previous 18 months, or aren’t a citizen and are registered, or entitled to be registered, under the Indian Act.
2. If your spouse or common-law partner was a non-resident of Canada for any part of the year, you fill out Form CTB9 for each year, or part of a year, that they were a non-resident.
3. File a Canadian tax return every year after arriving, even if you have no income in Canada.

Temporary residents have their own residence test for the CCB: see who can get the CCB.

After you apply

• File every year. CRA recalculates the CCB each July from both partners’ returns. A missing return stops payments.
• Report changes. Tell CRA about a change in marital status by the end of the month after it happens; wait until you’ve been separated more than 90 consecutive days before reporting a separation.
• Set up direct deposit in My Account so payments arrive on the payment date.

If an amount looks wrong later, see why your CCB is lower than expected.

Related pages

• Canada Child Benefit
• CCB calculator
• CCB payment dates
• Child Disability Benefit
• Provincial and territorial child benefits
• RESP guide