Backgrounder: Canada Learning Bond

To be eligible for the CLB, a child must be from a low-income family, and:

• be born on or after January 1, 2004;
• be a resident of Canada;
• have a valid Social Insurance Number; and,
• be named as a beneficiary to a Registered Education Savings Plan.

In 2018, 690,559 beneficiaries received $172 million in CLB, with 149,532 children receiving the incentive for the first time.

Canada Child Benefit

Since July 2016, the CCB has provided over $23 billion dollars each year to Canadian families to help pay for things like like healthy food, sports programs and music lessons. Across Canada, CCB payments worth $23.7 billion benefit nearly 3.7 million Canadian families. The CCB has been recognized by the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of Canada and other experts as a key contributor to helping strengthen Canada’s middle class.

The Government of Canada indexed the CCB in July 2018, two years ahead of the previous schedule of July 2020. As a result, maximum benefit amounts and income thresholds at which benefits begin to be reduced were increased annually to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

Examples of the new indexation rates for the 2019–20 benefit year:

• A single-parent family with one child aged under the age of 6 and earning $25,000 will receive an additional $143, bringing their new yearly total benefit to $6,639.
• A two-parent family with two children aged 4 and 9 and earning $55,000 will receive an additional $354, bringing their new yearly total benefit to $9,017.
• A two-parent family with two children under the age of 6 earning $90,000 will receive an additional $263 for the upcoming benefit year, bringing their new yearly total benefit to $7,090.