By My first year in Canada, I made about $9,000 working part-time, and I almost didn't file a tax return. Why would I? I'd barely earned anything, I owed nothing, and the whole T1 form looked like it was written to scare students away. A volunteer at a free tax clinic — a SUCCESS office, folding tables and all — talked me out of skipping it with one sentence: "Filing is how the government finds out it owes you money."
She was right. A few months later, a deposit labelled "Canada FPT" showed up in my account, and kept showing up four times a year. That was the GST/HST credit — quarterly, tax-free, and mine simply because I'd filed a return. The first one landed in early October, right as Vancouver's rain season started, and covered my Compass card for the month.
If you're new to Canada, this is the easiest money you will ever claim. And 2026 is a strange, important year for it: there's a one-time bonus payment going out right now (June 2026), and in July the credit gets renamed, raised by 25%, and reborn as the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB). Here's the whole picture.
Quick Answer: What Is the GST/HST Credit and How Do Newcomers Get It?
The GST/HST credit is a tax-free quarterly payment that gives low- and modest-income people back some of the sales tax they pay. For July 2025 to June 2026, it's worth up to $533/year for a single person, $698 for a couple, plus $184 per child under 19. Payments arrive in January, April, July, and October.
To get it as a newcomer, you do two things: file Form RC151 when you arrive (it covers the gap before your first tax return exists), then file a T1 tax return every spring — even if your income was $0. No separate application after that, ever. The CRA recalculates your amount automatically each July.
And mark July 2026: the credit becomes the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, with amounts going up 25%. You don't need to do anything to switch over — same eligibility, same quarterly schedule, bigger deposit.
The 2026 Shake-Up: Top-Up Now, CGEB in July
Two changes are happening as I write this, and both are good news.
1. A one-time top-up is being paid out right now. Starting June 5, 2026, the CRA is sending everyone who was entitled to the January 2026 GST/HST credit payment a bonus equal to 50% of their annual credit. A single person on a $25,000 income gets about $267; a family of four on $40,000 gets about $533. It arrives the same way as your regular payments — if you got the January one, watch your account.
2. From July 2026, the credit becomes the CGEB — 25% larger. Same income test, same quarterly dates, same "just file your taxes" mechanics. The federal government has committed to the increased amount from 2026 through 2031. Your bank statement label will change; nothing about how you qualify does.
If you only remember one thing from this section: there is no new application for any of this. People who file tax returns get it. People who don't, don't.
Summary: June 2026 brings a one-time bonus worth half your annual credit; July 2026 renames the credit to CGEB and raises it 25% — both automatic if you've been filing.
How the GST/HST Credit Actually Works
In BC you pay 5% GST plus 7% PST on most non-grocery purchases — that $30 ramen night on Robson quietly costs $33.60. The GST/HST credit exists because sales tax hits lower incomes hardest: everyone pays the same 5% on a winter jacket, whether they earn $20,000 or $200,000. The credit hands part of it back.
The 2025-26 amounts
| Household | Maximum per year |
|---|---|
| Single adult | $533 |
| Married / common-law couple | $698 |
| Each child under 19 | $184 |
A single parent with one child can also claim the child as an "eligible dependant," which in practice pushes their total close to a couple's amount plus the per-child amount.
The credit starts shrinking once adjusted family net income passes roughly $45,000-$55,000 depending on family size, at a rate of 5 cents per dollar above the line. Your amount for July 2025 through June 2026 is set by your 2024 return; the CGEB payments starting July 2026 will be set by your 2025 return.
What happened to the BC Climate Action Tax Credit?
Older guides (including the original version of this article) will tell you BC adds a Climate Action Tax Credit to the same quarterly deposit. That program is gone. BC cancelled its consumer carbon tax on April 1, 2025, and the final BCCATC payment went out on April 4, 2025. If you're owed money for earlier benefit years, you can still get it retroactively by filing those old returns — but no new BCCATC is coming. The quarterly deposit you see going forward is federal only.
Summary: Up to $533 single / $698 couple / $184 per child, paid quarterly, set by last year's tax return — and the old BC top-up no longer exists, whatever older blog posts say.
Step-by-Step: Claiming the Credit as a Newcomer in Vancouver
Step 1: File Form RC151 in your arrival year
The credit normally flows from a tax return — but in your first year, you don't have one yet. Form RC151, "GST/HST Credit and Canada Carbon Rebate Application for Individuals Who Become Residents of Canada," bridges that gap. Fill it in (it asks for your arrival date and your income for the part of the year before you came), and mail it to your tax centre. There's no online version; yes, in 2026, it's still paper and a stamp.
I didn't know RC151 existed and skipped it. The system caught me up after my first tax return with a retroactive lump sum, so nothing was lost — but I waited a year for money that could have started within two quarters of landing.
Step 2: File your first T1 return the following spring
Your first tax return — due April 30 — reports your worldwide income from your date of arrival onward, plus (for benefit calculations only) what you earned before arriving. Once it's assessed, every federal benefit you qualify for switches on by itself: this credit, and if you have kids, the Canada Child Benefit too.
Step 3: File free — software or a human
- Software: Wealthsimple Tax is pay-what-you-want and handles newcomer first returns fine. NETFILE submission means assessment in about two weeks.
- A human, for free: CVITP community tax clinics run March-April across Metro Vancouver — the central Vancouver Public Library at 350 West Georgia hosts them, and immigrant-serving agencies like MOSAIC and SUCCESS run clinics with volunteers who speak Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, and more. Income limits apply (around $35,000 for a single person), which most first-year newcomers fall under.
Never pay a "benefits consultant" to apply for this credit. There is nothing to apply for beyond the return itself.
Step 4: Get your details right
Three fields cause almost all the problems:
- Marital status — in Canada, living together 12+ months makes you common-law, and the CRA means it. Misreporting this is the top cause of clawbacks.
- SIN — both spouses need one and both file.
- Address — update the CRA every time you move. Newcomers move a lot; cheques and CRA mail don't forward themselves.
Step 5: Set up direct deposit, then leave it alone
Register for CRA My Account, add your bank details, and the quarterly payments handle themselves. Expect up to 8 weeks of processing after your return is assessed, with your first payment on the next quarterly date (the 5th of January, April, July, October, give or take a business day). After that, the only maintenance is filing every spring.
If the quarterly deposits aren't money you need same-month, parking them in a high-interest account like EQ Bank at least makes them earn something while they sit.
Summary: RC151 on arrival, a T1 every spring, direct deposit once — then the CRA does the rest, including the upgrade to CGEB.
Common Mistakes Newcomers Make
1. Not filing because income was low or zero
The mistake: "I made nothing, so there's nothing to file." The cost: Every benefit tied to the return — this credit, the CCB, provincial programs — stays off. For a couple, that's $698/year minimum, rising 25% under CGEB. The fix: File anyway. A nil return is the key that opens everything.
2. Skipping Form RC151 in the arrival year
The mistake: Waiting for the first tax return to start benefits. The cost: Up to a year of payments delayed (recoverable retroactively, but why wait). The fix: Mail RC151 within your first couple of months in Canada.
3. Getting marital status wrong
The mistake: Reporting "single" while living common-law, because that's how it worked back home. The cost: The CRA recalculates as a couple later and demands the overpayment back. The fix: 12 months of living together = common-law on every CRA form, full stop.
4. Leaving pre-arrival income off the return
The mistake: Reporting only Canadian income in your arrival year. The cost: Benefits get calculated wrong, then corrected, then clawed back. The fix: Report worldwide income for the pre-arrival portion of the year — it isn't taxed, it just calibrates your benefits.
5. Paying someone to "apply" for you
The mistake: Handing $50-$200 to a service that promises to "unlock government benefits." The cost: The fee, for something the CRA does automatically. The fix: A free CVITP clinic or pay-what-you-want software does the identical thing.
Summary: Every mistake on this list is some version of "didn't file" or "filed with wrong details" — the credit itself has no failure modes beyond that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can international students get the GST/HST credit?
Yes. If you're in Canada long enough to be a resident for tax purposes — living here through the school year, with a bank account, a lease, a part-time job — you qualify like anyone else. File RC151 when you arrive and a return each spring. For a student on a near-zero income, that's the full $533/year (more once CGEB starts), for ten minutes of paperwork.
How long after filing does the first payment arrive?
Up to 8 weeks for the CRA to process your return or RC151, then your money arrives on the next quarterly date — the 5th of January, April, July, or October. File in March, and your first payment is usually the July one.
Do I need to apply again every year?
No. One RC151 when you arrive, then a tax return every spring. The CRA recalculates each July with no action from you — including the switch to CGEB in July 2026.
Will I get the June 2026 one-time top-up?
If you were entitled to the January 2026 quarterly payment, yes — it's 50% of your annual credit, paid automatically starting June 5, 2026. If you weren't getting the credit in January (say, you arrived recently and haven't filed yet), the top-up passes you by, which is one more reason to get RC151 in early.
My income went up this year. Do I owe anything back?
No. Each benefit year is locked to the prior year's return. Higher income this year means a smaller credit starting next July — never a repayment of what you already received, as long as your reported details were accurate.
I've been in Canada three years and never filed. Is the money gone?
No — file the missed returns now and the CRA pays the back benefits as lump sums. I've watched a tax clinic volunteer recover three years of credits for someone in one appointment. The CRA generally allows retroactive claims going back up to 10 years.
Is the credit (or the CGEB) taxable?
No. It never appears as income on any return. Same for the June top-up and the CCB.
References
- GST/HST credit: how much you can get — Canada.ca — official 2025-26 amounts
- Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit — Canada.ca — the program replacing the credit in July 2026
- One-time GST/HST credit top-up payment — Canada.ca — June 5, 2026 payment details
- Form RC151 — Canada.ca — the newcomer application for your arrival year
- Free tax clinics (CVITP) — Canada.ca — find a free clinic near you
Filing your first return also unlocks the Canada Child Benefit if you have kids — and once the deposits start, here's where to put the money.