Amounts  which cannot be claimed as tuition fees

You cannot claim the following tuition fees:

• paid or reimbursed by your or your parent's employer, where the amount is not included in your or your parent's income
• fees paid by a federal, provincial, or territorial job training program, where the amount is not included in your income
• fees paid (or eligible to be paid) under a federal program to help athletes, where the payment or reimbursement has not been included in your income

Eligible tuition fees do not include the following amounts:

• extracurricular student social activities
• medical expenses
• transportation and parking
• board and lodging
• goods of enduring value that are to be retained by students (such as a microscope, uniform, gown, or computer)
• initiation fees or entrance fees to professional organizations including examination fees or other fees (such as evaluation fees) that are not integral to a program of study at an eligible educational institution
• administrative penalties incurred when a student withdraws from a program or an institution
• the cost of books (other than books, compact disks or similar material included in the cost of a correspondence course when the student is enrolled in such a course given by an eligible educational institution in Canada)
• courses taken for purposes of academic upgrading to allow entry into a university or college program. These courses would usually not qualify for the tuition tax credit as they are not considered to be at the post secondary school level

Forms and publications

• Federal income tax and benefit information
• Guide P105, Students and Income Tax
• Information for Students – Educational Institutions outside Canada

Related topics

• Students
• Completing Schedule 11