More information - Alberta child benefit

Overview

The Alberta child benefit (ACB) is a non-taxable quarterly payment to help families with low and moderate incomes with the cost of raising children under 18 years of age.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is administering and will issue ACB payments on behalf of the Province of Alberta. The CRA administers Alberta’s personal income tax system and has the information to determine who qualifies for the ACB.

When you submit an application for the Canada child benefit (CCB), the CRA will be able to determine if you are eligible for the ACB and if you qualify for additional benefits such as the Alberta family employment tax credit (AFETC). To make sure every payment for a child is made, the CRA will use the system designed for administering the CCB.

The ACB will be issued to about 130,000 families starting in August 2016. ACB payments will not be issued for children who are in foster care.

Are you eligible?

To be eligible for the ACB for a child for a particular month, you must meet all these conditions:

you have an eligible child
you are a resident of Alberta on the first day of the month and the last day of the previous month.
you or your spouse or common-law partner must be a:
- Canadian citizen
- permanent resident
- protected person
- temporary resident who has lived in Canada for the previous 18 months and who has a valid permit in the 19th month

To get the ACB quarterly payments for July 2016 to June 2017, you and your spouse or common-law partner must file a 2015 income tax and benefit return. You have to file a return every year to continue to get the ACB.

Do you have an eligible child?

You have an eligible child if all the following conditions are met at the beginning of the month:

your child is under 18 years of age
you live with your child
you are primarily responsible for the care and upbringing of your child
you registered your child for the Canada child benefit

If you share custody and are eligible, you will get quarterly ACB payments equal to 50% of the amount you would get if the child lived with you full-time. Both individuals must be considered primarily responsible for the child’s care and upbringing when the child lives with them.

You can get the ACB the month after the child is born. You must meet the eligibility requirements at the beginning of each month to get the ACB for that month.

Do you need to apply?

If you have already registered your eligible child or children for the CCB, you are automatically registered for the ACB and you do not need to apply.

If you have not registered your eligible child for the CCB, go to Canada child benefit - How to apply.

How much will you get?

If your adjusted family net income is $25,500 or less, you will get:

$1,100 ($91.67 a month) if you have one child
$1,650 ($137.50 a month) if you have two children
$2,200 ($183.33 a month) if you have three children
$2,750 ($229.16 a month) if you have four or more children

If your adjusted family net income is between $25,500 and $41,220 you will get less.

If you would like an estimate of what your payment may be, see Alberta Child Benefit – Calculation Sheet.

When are payments made?

If you are eligible, we will issue your payments quarterly on the 27th of August, November, February, and May. We issue ACB benefit separately from the CCB payments.

ACB payments will be issued starting in August 2016. If you are eligible but have not received your ACB payment by September 2, 2016, call 1-800-959-2809. The service is available weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time.

If you get your CCB by direct deposit, you will also get your ACB payment by direct deposit.

To verify or update your account information at any time you can:

visit My Account
visit direct deposit
contact us

Interest is not charged or given on any ACB overpayments or underpayments. This amount will not be applied against other debts. However, if you owe an amount for the Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit any ACB entitlement will first be applied against those debts.