Medical Expense Tax Credit in Canada: What You Can Claim

Medical costs aren’t a deduction in Canada. They feed a non-refundable credit, the medical expense tax credit (METC), which only starts once your eligible expenses pass a threshold tied to your income. Because the list of eligible items is long and the claim can cover any 12-month window and the whole family, the way you group expenses and who claims them changes the result. This page covers the threshold, what qualifies, medical travel, timing and the family rules; it sits with the other Canadian tax deductions and credits in this guide. How a non-refundable credit turns into tax savings in general is explained in the difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit.

How the medical expense tax credit works

You can claim the part of your eligible medical expenses that exceeds the lesser of:

• 3% of your net income (line 23600 of your return), or
• $2,890 for 2026 (the amount is indexed to inflation each year)

The federal credit is 14% for 2026 (the lowest federal tax rate) on the amount above the threshold, and your province or territory adds its own credit.

Example

• Net income: $60,000
• 3% of net income: $1,800
• Total eligible medical expenses: $4,000
• Claimable amount: $4,000 − $1,800 = $2,200
• Federal tax credit (14%): $308
• Plus provincial credit (varies)

At a higher income the fixed amount sets the threshold instead:

Eligible medical expenses

Commonly claimed expenses

Less obvious items that can qualify

• Insulin, syringes and diabetic supplies
• Prescribed devices such as CPAP machines, glucose monitors, walkers, crutches and scooters
• Wigs for a medical condition that causes hair loss
• Medically necessary reconstructive surgery after an illness or injury
• Air conditioners and furnace filters prescribed for a medical condition (partial amounts, with specific rules)
• Lifts and ramps in the home (subject to conditions); renovations for a senior or a person with a disability are the subject of the home accessibility tax credit

Not eligible

Fitness costs fail the test because they are personal expenses even when a doctor recommends exercise; the narrow exceptions are covered in whether a gym membership is tax-deductible.

Travel for medical care

Travel counts when the treatment isn’t available closer to home:

• 40 km or more from home: transportation, either vehicle expenses at the CRA per-km rates or actual costs.
• 80 km or more: lodging and meals can be added. Lodging has no CRA flat rate; you claim the actual receipted cost, which must be reasonable for the distance and your condition. Meals can use the simplified per-diem flat rate ($23/meal, up to $69/day per person for the 2025 tax year, without receipts) or actual receipted costs.

The 12-month claiming period

You aren’t restricted to the calendar year: you can claim any 12-month period that ends in the tax year, for example February 1, 2025 to January 31, 2026 on a 2026 return. If your expenses cluster across the new year, a window that straddles it can capture both clusters in one claim:

• July to December 2025: $1,500 in dental work
• January to June 2026: $3,200 in physiotherapy and medical devices
• July 2025 to June 2026 window: $4,700 total
• Calendar year 2026 only: $3,200 total

An expense claimed on one return can’t be claimed again on the next.

Who in the family claims

Your own, your spouse’s and your children’s expenses

Either spouse or common-law partner can claim the expenses paid for themselves, each other and their children under 18, all on line 33099 of one return. The threshold is based on the claiming spouse’s net income, so the claim is larger on the return of the spouse with less income:

In this example the claim on the lower earner’s return is $1,690 larger, worth an extra $236 or more in federal credit. The trade-off: the credit is non-refundable, so it only helps if the claiming spouse has enough tax to offset.

Other dependants

Expenses for other relatives you supported (parents, grandparents, adult children, siblings, aunts, uncles) go on line 33199. For each dependant, the threshold is the lesser of 3% of the dependant’s net income or the fixed amount, which makes this claim worth more when the dependant had high medical costs and low income.

How to claim

1. Total all eligible expenses for your chosen 12-month period ending in the tax year
2. Enter your own, your spouse’s and your children’s expenses on line 33099
3. Enter other dependants’ expenses on line 33199
4. The credit is calculated on Schedule 1 and reduces your federal tax

Keep all receipts for 6 years, since the CRA often asks for medical receipts in a review. If you left expenses off a return you already filed, claiming forgotten medical expenses covers the adjustment.

Refundable medical expense supplement

Some provinces offer additional refundable medical expense supplements for lower-income earners, on top of the METC. Unlike the METC, a refundable amount is paid out even when you owe no tax.

Medical expense tax credit vs. disability supports deduction

These are two separate claims that are often confused:

If you have a disability and paid for supports so you could work or go to school, the disability supports deduction reduces taxable income rather than tax, and has no 3% threshold.

Attendant care and the METC

Attendant care is one of the largest METC claims for people with severe disabilities:

• Full claim: if you or your dependant qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit and uses an attendant, the attendant care cost can be claimed in full.
• Partial claim: without DTC qualification, you can claim attendant care expenses that are directly required for medical care.
• Nursing homes: the full cost of care in a nursing home is eligible, not just the medical portion.

Keep all contracts, invoices and receipts from care providers. Payments to your spouse, or to someone under 18, for attendant care are not eligible. How much the DTC itself is worth is set out in the maximum Disability Tax Credit amounts.