Free tool · Canada · 2026 tax year, Canada Revenue Agency figures
Enter your working income, your adjusted net income, and whether you file as a single person or a family, and see an estimate of your Canada Workers Benefit for the 2026 tax year — the annual amount, the advance payments, and the balance left on your return. This is an estimate only. The Canada Revenue Agency decides the actual amount when you file.
Your working income — employment and self-employment income, generally. The benefit builds up at 27% of working income above $3,000. Below $3,000 of working income there is no benefit.
Your adjusted net income — for a family, your combined adjusted family net income. The benefit shrinks by 15% of adjusted net income above the threshold ($27,392 single, $31,251 family in 2026). If your adjusted net income is the same as your working income, enter the same number twice.
A family includes a single parent with an eligible dependant. The maximum is higher for families: $2,869 in 2026, against $1,665 for a single person.
Quebec, Alberta, and Nunavut have their own versions of the benefit with different amounts — the federal figures on this page do not apply there. Everywhere else in Canada, the federal schedule below applies.
The estimate follows the CRA's 2026 tax-year figures: the benefit builds up at 27% of working income above $3,000, up to a maximum of $1,665 for a single person or $2,869 for a family, then shrinks by 15% of adjusted net income above $27,392 (single) or $31,251 (family). Up to 50% is paid in advance in three instalments (July, October, and January) and the balance is claimed on the tax return.
Maximums for the 2026 tax year: $1,665 single, $2,869 family. The CRA indexes the benefit each year; the 2026 tax year carries a 2.0% indexation increase over 2025 ($1,633 single, $2,813 family). The 2026 amounts apply when you file your 2026 return in spring 2027.
Phase-in: 27% of working income above $3,000. The benefit builds up at 27 cents for every dollar of working income over $3,000, until it reaches the maximum — at about $9,170 of working income for a single person, and about $13,626 for a family.
Phase-out: 15% of adjusted net income above the threshold. Once adjusted net income passes $27,392 (single) or $31,251 (family), the benefit shrinks by 15 cents per dollar, reaching zero at about $38,492 (single) or about $50,378 (family).
Advance payments: up to 50%, in three instalments. The advanced Canada Workers Benefit pays up to half of the estimated annual benefit in three instalments — July, October, and January. Advance payments issued from July 2026 to January 2027 are worked out from your 2025 return and the 2025 amounts, not the 2026 amounts on this page; the balance is settled when you file. Advance payments already received are reported from the RC210 slip so they are not paid twice. The full-year benefit is claimed on line 45300 of the return, through Schedule 6.
What this calculator leaves out. The disability supplement (up to $860 in 2026) for workers with an approved disability tax credit certificate is not included. The secondary earner exemption for families is not modelled: for 2026 the lower-earning spouse can exclude up to $16,714 of working income from adjusted family net income, so a two-earner family keeps more of the benefit than this estimate shows. Quebec, Alberta, and Nunavut have their own versions of the benefit with different amounts — if you selected one of those, this page does not give a figure and points you to Schedule 6 instead. Full-time students (unless they have an eligible dependant), people confined to a prison for 90 days or more in the year, and diplomats and their family members are not eligible.
Sources: Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) (the benefit is a refundable tax credit with a basic amount and a disability supplement), and Canada Revenue Agency, Indexation adjustment for personal income tax and benefit amounts (the 2026 tax-year maximums of $1,665 single and $2,869 family, the $27,392 and $31,251 phase-out thresholds, the $860 disability supplement, and the $16,714 secondary earner exemption) and Income Tax Act, section 122.7 (the 27% phase-in rate and the 15% reduction rate) — checked November 10, 2026. No figure on this page comes from anywhere else. Where a figure could not be verified on an opened official page, this page says to check the official page instead of stating it.
Next step: read the full step-by-step guide: How to Apply for the Canada Workers Benefit