Ontario Tax Credits and Benefits

Ontario Tax Credits and Benefits 2026

Ontario has more tax credits than most people know about, and the reason is simple: half of them never show up on a form you would notice. They ride along on your federal return, and if one box is empty, the money just never comes. I have watched people leave a thousand dollars a year on the table because nobody told them to fill in their rent.

So here is every Ontario credit worth knowing, who gets it, what it is worth, and exactly where it goes on the return. Amounts are for the benefit year July 2026 to June 2027, or for 2025 returns, as noted.

Which Ones Fit You

If you…	Look at
Rent, or pay property tax on your home	Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit
Have a low or modest family income	Ontario Sales Tax Credit
Live in Northern Ontario	Northern Ontario Energy Credit
Have children under 18	Ontario Child Benefit
Pay for daycare, a babysitter or day camp	CARE tax credit
Work and earn under $50,000	LIFT credit
Are 64 or older and own your home	Senior Homeowners' Property Tax Grant
Are 70 or older and have medical expenses	Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit
Are buying your first home	Land transfer tax refund

The Ontario Trillium Benefit

The Trillium Benefit is three credits paid together as one deposit. You apply for all three with form ON-BEN, which comes with your tax return. Your 2025 return decides your payments from July 2026 to June 2027.

1. Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit. For people who paid rent or property tax on their main home in Ontario, or paid for a public long-term care home, or paid energy costs on a reserve. The maximum is $1,307 if you are 18 to 64 and $1,488 if you are 65 or older; $290 on a reserve or in a public long-term care home; and $25 for time spent in a college or university residence. It shrinks as family income rises.

2. Ontario Sales Tax Credit. Up to $378 for you, plus $378 for your spouse and each child under 19. It is reduced by 4% of adjusted family net income over $29,047 for a single person, or $36,309 for a couple or single parent. It does not reduce your GST/HST credit.

3. Northern Ontario Energy Credit. For people who lived in a Northern Ontario district on December 31, 2025 and paid rent, property tax or energy costs. Up to $189 for a single person and $290 for a family.

How it is paid: if your total is more than $500, you get it monthly on the 10th starting in July, or you can choose one payment in June 2027. If it is $500 or less, it comes as one payment in July. Same money either way. Payment dates are on our benefit payment dates page.

The official details are on Ontario's Trillium Benefit page.

Ontario Child Benefit

Up to $146.66 a month for each child under 18, from July 2026 to June 2027. Families with adjusted family net income over $26,865 get a partial amount. There is no separate application: apply for the Canada child benefit and you are automatically checked for this one too, and it comes in the same deposit. Both parents have to file a return every year, even with no income.

CARE Tax Credit for Child Care

This one surprises people. If you can claim the federal child care expense deduction and your family income is $150,000 or less, Ontario pays back up to 75% of your eligible child care costs as a refundable credit. The maximums per child are $6,000 under age 7, $3,750 from 7 to 16, and $8,250 for a child with a severe disability. The percentage drops as income rises, from 75% at $20,000 or less down to zero over $150,000.

You claim it on Schedule ON479-A with your return. Keep the receipts. CRA checks child care claims often. Details are on Ontario's CARE credit page.

LIFT Credit for Low-Income Workers

If you have a job and a modest income, the Low-income Individuals and Families Tax credit cuts your Ontario tax by up to $875: the lesser of $875 or 5.05% of your employment income. It is reduced by 5% of whichever is greater: your income over $32,500, or your family's income over $65,000. It is gone at $50,000 for an individual or $82,500 for a family. It only reduces Ontario tax you owe, so it cannot create a refund on its own. Tax software applies it automatically, but check that it did.

Senior Homeowners' Property Tax Grant

Up to $500 a year for seniors who own and live in their home in Ontario and paid property tax on it. You or your spouse must be 64 or older on December 31. The full $500 applies up to $35,000 of income for a single person, or $45,000 for a couple; above that it drops by 3.33% of the extra income and ends at $50,000 or $60,000. Enter the property tax you paid on line 61120 of form ON-BEN. You have to file a return to get it, even with no income to report.

Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit

For Ontario residents who turned 70 or older in the year, or whose spouse did. It pays 25% of up to $6,000 of eligible medical expenses, so up to $1,500, and it is refundable. It shrinks by 5% of family net income over $35,000. You claim it on form ON479, after working out your medical expenses on the federal return. If you are caring for a relative, also look at the caregiver credit.

Land Transfer Tax Refund for First-Time Buyers

First-time buyers can get back up to $4,000 of Ontario land transfer tax, usually at closing through your lawyer. It is not on your tax return, which is exactly why people miss it. More on our new home buyers page.

Where People Lose This Money

1. Not filing. No income does not mean no return. Every credit on this page starts with a filed return. A student, a retiree on a small pension and a stay-at-home parent can each be owed hundreds.

2. Leaving the rent off. The energy and property tax credit needs the rent or property tax you paid, on form ON-BEN. Blank box, no credit.

3. Both spouses applying. Only one spouse applies for the energy and property tax credit and the northern credit, for the whole household.

4. Forgetting the over-70 medical credit. It is on its own form, separate from the regular medical expense credit.

5. Claiming child care without the deduction. CARE only works if you qualify for the federal child care deduction first, and it is usually the lower-income spouse who claims.

Ontario Credit Questions

Sources: Ontario, Ontario Trillium Benefit, CARE tax credit, LIFT credit, Senior Homeowners' Property Tax Grant, Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit; CRA, Ontario programs. Checked October 2026. Amounts change every July; we update this page when they do.

Last reviewed October 11, 2026 against CRA and Government of Canada sources. How we check our facts.