The second Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB) payment for the fiscal year, and the last of 2026, will arrive in bank accounts and mailboxes of qualifying Canadians as of Monday.
The benefit replaced the former GST credit in July of this year, and featured a bigger payment from the federal government designed to help millions of low and modest-income households keep up with the heightened cost of living, including to buy food and other essentials.
Payments are issued by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) every quarter, or every three months in a year, and are tax-free.
The final payment for this year is scheduled for Oct. 5.
Here’s how to know if you qualify and how much you could receive.
In order to qualify for the CGEB, there are two foundational requirements that must first be met.
First, one must be a resident of Canada for tax purposes both in the month before the CRA makes a payment and at the start of the month when a payment is made.
For the payment expected on Monday, this means a recipient must have met the first qualification both in September and as of Wednesday, Oct. 1.
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Second, recipients must also be at least 19 years of age, unless they have (or had) a spouse or common-law partner, or are (or were) a parent and live (or lived) with your child.
Once these two qualifications are met, the CRA will determine eligibility of payments and how much they will be based mostly on their declared incomes.
If an individual or household’s declared income is below the maximum income threshold, they typically will qualify for CGEB payments.
The 2025 maximum annual income level thresholds for a single person without children and single-parent families are as follows.
- With no children – $60,012
- With one child – $68,912
- With two children – $73,592
- With three children – $78,272
- With four children or more – $82,952
For married or common-law individuals to receive CGEB payments, the combined maximum income thresholds for the 2025 tax year are as follows.
- With no children – $64,232
- With one child – $68,912
- With two children – $73,592
- With three children – $78,272
- With four children or more – $82,952
The CRA says parents who are in a shared custody situation may be eligible for half of the CGEB payment for that child.
The agency also says it will only send out notices to individuals and families if they are entitled to receive the CGEB, either electronically through their online accounts, or by mail if they are not registered for CRA services online.
The amount one can receive for CGEB payments varies greatly depending on incomes and whether someone is single, married or in a common-law relationship, and if they have children.
The payment amounts are also updated every July, meaning the current payment cycle runs from July 2026 and June 2027, making the Oct. 5 payment the second of this cycle.
Some examples of payment amounts for qualifying recipients of the CGEB are as follows.
If a single individual with no children has a declared 2025 income of $11,564, they may receive up to $445 in the period between July 2026 and June 2027. Over the course of four quarterly payments, that works out to $111.25 each — including on Monday.
If a single individual with no children has a declared 2025 income of $55,000, the payment amount totals $250.60 over four payments. That works out to $62.65 per CGEB payment.
If a single individual has two children and a declared income in 2025 of $45,000 or less, they could receive $1,358 over four payments. That means four payments of $339.50, including on Monday.
For a married or common-law partnership with no children, if the combined household declared income is $46,432 or less, that household would receive $890 over the given period. That equals four quarterly payments of $222.50.
If a married or common-law partnership has one child, and a declared 2025 household income of $60,000, then they could receive $445.60 over four payments of $111.40. With three children, and the same income, that amount increases to $913.60, or four payments of $228.40.
To determine specific payment amounts, the CRA has a helpful calculator tool online.
In a Parliamentary Budget Officer’s report from earlier this year, it was determined the CGEB program could cost the federal government $12.4 billion over six years.
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