How to get the New Brunswick Child Tax Benefit: there is no separate application — file your tax return, qualify for the Canada Child Benefit, and the CRA adds the provincial benefit, working income supplement, and school supplement to your CCB payment.
Applies in: New Brunswick
The New Brunswick Child Tax Benefit (NBCTB) is a tax-free monthly payment from the Government of New Brunswick for qualifying families with children under 18 — and the most important thing to know is that there is no form to fill in. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) administers the program for the province, and the benefits are combined with the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) into a single monthly payment, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick. The CRA uses the information from your CCB application to determine your eligibility. The program is fully funded by the Province of New Brunswick, on the same page.
The NBCTB is really three payments in one: the basic child tax benefit, the New Brunswick working income supplement (NBWIS) for families with earned income, and the New Brunswick school supplement (NBSS), paid once a year in July. This guide covers all three.
The NBCTB is a tax-free amount paid monthly to qualifying families with children under 18 years of age, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick. The conditions are:
For the CCB itself, you must live with a child under 18, be primarily responsible for the child's care and upbringing, be a resident of Canada for tax purposes, and hold an eligible immigration status, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Who can apply — Canada child benefit (CCB). When two spouses or common-law partners live in the same home as the child, the female parent is presumed to be primarily responsible and should be the one applying, on the same page.
Filing is the application. File your annual income tax return each year, even in a year with little or no income to report, and make sure your spouse or common-law partner files too — the CRA works out your benefit from the tax returns on file. If you do not file, the CRA has nothing to assess you on, and no benefit is paid. Your benefit payments are recalculated every July based on your tax information from the previous year, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Payment dates — Canada child benefit (CCB). If you have a modest income and a simple tax situation, New Brunswick's Get Your Benefits program offers free help preparing and filing your return through the CRA's Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.
The NBCTB rides on the federal benefit: the CRA uses the information from your CCB application to determine your eligibility for the New Brunswick programs. If you have not applied for the CCB yet, apply for it — through birth registration for a newborn, online through CRA My Account, or by mail with Form RC66. Our guide to how to apply for the Canada Child Benefit walks through all three routes. Do not apply twice for the same child through two routes; a duplicate application can delay the file.
1. The basic benefit (NBCTB). You may be entitled to a basic benefit of $20.83 per month for each child — about $250 a year per child. The amount of the basic benefit is reduced if your adjusted family net income is more than $20,000, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick.
2. The working income supplement (NBWIS). The NBWIS is an additional benefit paid to qualifying families with earned income who have children under 18 years of age. It is an additional benefit of up to $20.83 per month for each family — not per child. It is phased in once family earned income is more than $3,750, and the maximum benefit is reached when family earned income is $10,000. If your adjusted family net income is between $20,921 and $25,921, you may get part of the supplement, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick.
3. The school supplement (NBSS). Your NBCTB payment may include a New Brunswick school supplement amount. The NBSS is paid once a year in July to help low income families with the cost of back to school supplies for their children. For the July 2026 NBSS payment, if your adjusted family net income for 2025 is $20,000 or less, you will get $100 for each of your children born between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2021, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick.
| Part | Who it is for | Maximum amount |
|---|---|---|
| Basic benefit (NBCTB) | Families with children under 18 | $20.83/month per child |
| Working income supplement (NBWIS) | Families with earned income and children under 18 | Up to $20.83/month per family |
| School supplement (NBSS) | Low-income families, paid each July | $100 per child (July 2026 payment) |
A family with two children, earned income over $10,000, and adjusted family net income of $20,000 or less could therefore receive up to $20.83 × 2 for the basic benefit plus $20.83 for the supplement — $62.49 a month — plus $200 in July from the school supplement. That is the maximum at those income levels; your own amount will be lower if your income is above the thresholds. Use the CRA's child and family benefits calculator, with your income tax return in front of you, to find out how much you may be entitled to.
The NBCTB, the NBWIS, and the school supplement are combined with the CCB into a single monthly payment, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick. CCB payments are sent each month, and the published 2026 dates are mostly the 20th of the month — January 20, February 20, March 20, April 20, May 20, July 20, August 20, October 20, and November 20, 2026, with June 19, September 18, and December 11, 2026 as the exceptions — according to Canada Revenue Agency, Payment dates — Canada child benefit (CCB). The school supplement is the exception to the monthly pattern: it is paid once a year in July, on the CRA's New Brunswick page. Set up direct deposit through CRA My Account if you can, to avoid mail delays.
The CRA reassesses the benefit from the tax information on file each July. Three changes matter most:
If a payment you expected has not arrived, check the status of your payments in your CRA account first, and wait 5 business days after your expected payment date before you contact the CRA, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Payment dates — Canada child benefit (CCB).
The same CRA page lists a second New Brunswick program: the New Brunswick harmonized sales tax credit, a tax-free amount to help offset the increase in the sales tax for households with low and modest incomes. It provides a maximum annual amount of $300 for an individual, $300 for a spouse or common-law partner, and $100 per child under 19 years of age ($300 for the first child in a single parent family), reduced by 2% of the adjusted family net income over $35,000, and it is combined with the quarterly payments of the federal Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, according to Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick. It is assessed from your tax return the same way, but it is a separate credit from the child tax benefit, with its own amounts.
No. There is no separate application form for the New Brunswick Child Tax Benefit. The Canada Revenue Agency administers the program for the Province of New Brunswick and combines the benefits with the Canada Child Benefit into a single monthly payment, according to [Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/provincial-territorial-programs/province-new-brunswick.html). The CRA uses the information from your Canada Child Benefit application to determine your eligibility. What you do have to do is file your income tax return every year — the benefit is worked out from the returns on file.
It is a tax-free amount paid monthly to qualifying families with children under 18 years of age, according to [Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/provincial-territorial-programs/province-new-brunswick.html). You must live in New Brunswick, have a child under 18, and meet the income criteria — the basic benefit is reduced if your adjusted family net income is more than $20,000, on the same page. The program is fully funded by the Province of New Brunswick, on the same page.
You may be entitled to a basic benefit of $20.83 per month for each child — about $250 a year per child — and the amount of the basic benefit is reduced if your adjusted family net income is more than $20,000, according to [Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/provincial-territorial-programs/province-new-brunswick.html). On top of that, the New Brunswick working income supplement is an additional benefit of up to $20.83 per month for each family, and your payment may include a New Brunswick school supplement of $100 per child, paid once a year in July, on the same page. Use the CRA's child and family benefits calculator with your tax return in front of you for your own figure.
The New Brunswick working income supplement is an additional benefit paid to qualifying families with earned income who have children under 18 years of age, according to [Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/provincial-territorial-programs/province-new-brunswick.html). It is an additional benefit of up to $20.83 per month for each family. It is phased in once family earned income is more than $3,750, and the maximum benefit is reached when family earned income is $10,000, on the same page. If your adjusted family net income is between $20,921 and $25,921, you may get part of the supplement, on the same page.
The New Brunswick school supplement is paid once a year in July to help low income families with the cost of back to school supplies for their children, according to [Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/provincial-territorial-programs/province-new-brunswick.html). For the July 2026 school supplement payment, if your adjusted family net income for 2025 is $20,000 or less, you will get $100 for each of your children born between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2021, on the same page. It is included in your New Brunswick child tax benefit payment, on the same page.
The benefits are combined with the Canada Child Benefit into a single monthly payment, according to [Canada Revenue Agency, Province of New Brunswick](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/provincial-territorial-programs/province-new-brunswick.html). Canada Child Benefit payments are sent each month, and the 2026 payment dates are mostly the 20th of the month, according to [Canada Revenue Agency, Payment dates — Canada child benefit (CCB)](https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/canada-child-benefit/payment-dates.html). The school supplement is the exception: it is paid once a year in July, on the CRA's New Brunswick page. Your benefit payments are recalculated every July based on your tax information from the previous year, on the payment dates page.