This guide covers who qualifies, what you get at different incomes from July 2026 to June 2027, and how to collect back payments if your child was only recently approved.

The short answer

The Child Disability Benefit (CDB) is a tax-free monthly payment of up to $3,480 a year ($290 a month) for each child under 18 who is approved for the disability tax credit, for the period July 2026 to June 2027. You must also be eligible for the Canada child benefit. It is reduced by 3.2% of adjusted family net income above $82,847 for one eligible child, or 5.7% for two or more.

You do not apply for the CDB on its own. Once the CRA approves your child for the disability tax credit (DTC) and you get the Canada child benefit (CCB), the CRA works out the CDB and adds it to your CCB payment.

Who qualifies for the Child Disability Benefit

According to the CRA, all three of these must be true:

• Your child is under 18. The CDB is for families caring for a child under age 18.
• You are eligible for the Canada child benefit. The CDB is paid through the CCB, so you need to qualify for the CCB first.
• Your child is eligible for the disability tax credit. A medical practitioner has to certify on Form T2201, Disability Tax Credit Certificate, that the child has a severe and prolonged impairment in physical or mental functions, and the CRA has to approve the form.

The CDB has no separate diagnosis list. The test is the DTC test. Our disability tax credit guide explains what the certificate asks your child’s practitioner to confirm.

How much you get from July 2026 to June 2027

The full amount is $3,480 per eligible child for the year. Families with an adjusted family net income (AFNI) of $82,847 or less get the full $290 a month for each child. Above that, the amount shrinks gradually.

Monthly amounts are from the CRA’s CDB guideline table effective July 2026 to June 2027 (2025 base year). Yearly amounts are Gizly’s calculation from the published formula, rounded to the dollar. Highlighted row: the worked example below.

How the reduction works

The CRA takes the part of your AFNI above $82,847 and multiplies it by a reduction rate. That result comes off the full benefit.

• One eligible child: the reduction is 3.2% of AFNI above $82,847.
• Two or more eligible children: the reduction is 5.7% of AFNI above $82,847, taken from the combined amount for all of them.

With the formula, the benefit for one eligible child reaches zero at an AFNI of about $191,600. With two eligible children, it reaches zero at about $204,950. That matches the CRA table, which shows $0 for one child at $195,000 and $0 for two children at $205,000.

What counts as adjusted family net income

AFNI is your net income from line 23600 of your tax return, plus line 23600 of your spouse’s or common-law partner’s return if you have one. The CRA then subtracts any Universal Child Care Benefit or RDSP income you received and adds back any amounts of those you repaid.

Payments from July 2026 to June 2027 use AFNI from your 2025 tax return. A change in your income this year will not show up in your CDB until July 2027.

A worked example: one child, $100,000 family income

This is a hypothetical example. Say your family’s AFNI on your 2025 returns is $100,000, and you have one child under 6 who is approved for the DTC.

1. Find the income over the threshold. $100,000 minus $82,847 is $17,153.
2. Apply the one-child rate. 3.2% of $17,153 is $548.90.
3. Subtract it from the full amount. $3,480 minus $548.90 is $2,931.10 for the year, or about $244.26 a month.

The CRA guideline table shows $244.25 a month at $100,000. The one cent of difference is rounding.

The CDB comes on top of the regular CCB. The CRA’s own example for a family with one child under 6 and an AFNI of $100,000 gives $4,485.11 of CCB for July 2026 to June 2027. Add the $2,931.10 CDB and this family would get $7,416.21 for the year, about $618.02 a month.

If the same family instead had two children approved for the DTC and an AFNI of $120,000, the reduction would be 5.7% of $37,153, or $2,117.72. The CDB would be $6,960 minus $2,117.72, which is $4,842.28 for the year, about $403.52 a month.

Method: calculated in Python with the CRA formula, then checked a second way by reproducing every monthly figure in the CRA guideline table rows shown above.

How to get the Child Disability Benefit

1. Make sure you get the CCB for the child. If you do not, apply for the Canada child benefit first. Our Canada child benefit guide covers how.
2. Ask a medical practitioner to complete Form T2201. The practitioner certifies that the child has a severe and prolonged impairment. You can send the form to the CRA at any time of the year.
3. Wait for the CRA to approve the DTC. Once it does, the CRA calculates the CDB for you. You do not need to apply for the CDB itself.
4. File your taxes every year. The CRA says you need to file on time every year, even if you had no income or your income is tax exempt, to keep getting benefits.

Back payments: how far the CRA goes

If your child is newly approved for the DTC, the CRA automatically calculates CDB payments for the current benefit year and the two previous benefit years. The benefit year runs from July to the following June. In October 2026, that means the July 2026 to June 2027 year and the two years before it.

For years earlier than that, the CRA says to send a written request to your tax centre.

Payment dates for the rest of 2026

The CDB arrives in the same deposit as your CCB. The CRA lists these remaining dates for 2026:

• November 20, 2026
• December 11, 2026

The CRA had not posted 2027 dates when we checked. If your total CCB for the year comes to less than $240, the CRA pays it as one lump sum with the July payment instead of monthly.

Shared custody and changes at home

For the CCB, the CRA says each parent with shared custody gets 50% of what they would get with full custody, calculated on their own AFNI. The CRA does not split it any other way. Since the CDB is added to the CCB, check the shared custody amount on your notice if your child lives with each parent about half the time.

Keep your personal information up to date with the CRA. To keep getting the CDB, you must stay eligible for the CCB and your child must stay eligible for the DTC.

How the CDB fits with other benefits

• Canada child benefit. The CDB is calculated separately and added on top. It does not lower your CCB, and it has its own threshold and rates.
• Registered disability savings plan. The same DTC approval that unlocks the CDB also lets you open an RDSP for the child. The government pays matching grants of up to $3,500 a year and $70,000 over a lifetime, and a bond of up to $1,000 a year with a $20,000 lifetime limit, depending on family income.
• Provincial and territorial benefits. Several provinces and territories run their own child benefits, and some are combined with the CCB into one monthly payment.

If a payment is late or looks wrong

Wait 5 business days after the expected payment date before you call the CRA. Before you do, check that your address and direct deposit details are up to date with the CRA.

For questions about the CDB, the CRA lists 1-800-387-1193. For questions about the disability tax credit, call 1-800-959-8281. If the amount looks wrong, compare your AFNI and number of eligible children with the table above, since those two numbers drive the result.

Frequently asked questions

• Sources, checked October 29, 2026: CRA: Child disability benefit (modified 2026-06-15); CRA: CDB guideline table, July 2026 to June 2027 (modified 2026-06-15); CRA: How much you can get, Canada child benefit (modified 2026-10-22); CRA: CCB payment dates (modified 2026-10-22); CRA: Registered disability savings plan (modified 2025-12-23); CRA: Canada disability savings grant and bond (modified 2026-09-16).
• Method: The worked examples and yearly table amounts were calculated in Python from the CRA formula ($3,480 per child, less 3.2% or 5.7% of AFNI above $82,847). Every monthly figure in our table was checked against the CRA guideline table. The CCB figure in the example is the CRA’s own published example.

Important: This guide is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Your actual payment depends on your family’s tax returns and the CRA’s decision on the disability tax credit. Gizly is not affiliated with the Government of Canada. See our affiliate disclosure.