On November 17, 2022, federal legislation to offer support for dental care for children and to assist low-income renters came into effect. The application process for these two benefits opened December 1, 2022.

The Canada Dental Benefit is anticipated to support to an estimated 500,000 children across Canada. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) began receiving applications and processing payments for the benefit December 1, 2022.

The interim Canada Dental Benefit is intended to help lower dental costs for eligible families earning less than $90,000 per year. Parents and guardians can apply if the child receiving dental care is under 12 years old and does not have access to a private dental insurance plan. Depending on adjusted family net income, a tax-free payment of $260, $390, or $650 will be available for each eligible child. This interim dental benefit is only available for 2 periods, with a maximum of 2 payments for each eligible child. Benefit payments are being administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The first benefit period is for dental care received between October 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. Applications for this period opened on December 1, 2022. Families should go to the CRA Canada Dental Benefit website to ensure that they have taken the necessary steps to be able to apply, including filing 2021 income taxes, confirming that they are in receipt of the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), that they have access to your CRA My Account, that they have direct deposit set up with the CRA, and that they have calculated your adjusted family net income, with the tool provided.

The one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit, providing a tax-free payment of $500, will be available to applicants with an adjusted net income below $35,000 for families, or below $20,000 for single Canadians, who pay at least 30 per cent of their adjusted net income towards rent. The CRA opened applications and processing payments for this top-up starting December 12, 2022. Families should go to the Government of Canada’s website for the one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit to ensure that they have taken the necessary steps to apply for the benefit.

Other current federal supports available to low-income Canadians include:

• Doubling of the GST Credit for six months. Most eligible Canadians received their additional payment starting November 4.

• Enhancement of the Canada Workers Benefit for low-income workers. Most recipients first received this additional support through their 2021 tax return.

• Cuts to the costs of regulated childcare fees by the end of this year.

• 10% increase to OAS pension for seniors 75 and older.

• Doubling the Canada Student Grant amount until July 2023 and waiving interest on Canada Student Loans through to March 2023.

• Indexing a number of benefits to inflation, including the Canada Child Benefit, the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement.