Free tool · Canada · 2026 tax year, Canada Revenue Agency line 21400
Enter your children by age band, what you paid for child care, and each spouse's earned income, and see the maximum you can deduct on line 21400 of your return, which spouse claims it, and the tax saved at the marginal rate you enter. This is an estimate only. The deduction is worked out on Form T778 and entered on line 21400.
Each child under 7 at the end of the year carries a $8,000 annual limit.
Each child aged 7 to 16 at some time in the year carries a $5,000 annual limit. A child over 15 with a mental or physical infirmity who is dependent on you also carries the $5,000 limit.
Each child eligible for the disability tax credit carries an $11,000 annual limit, whatever their age. Count a child here instead of in the age bands above — do not count the same child twice.
What you paid to have someone else look after your eligible children so you could earn income, go to school, or carry on research under a grant. Only eligible expenses count — payments to a person under 18 who is related to you, for example, generally do not.
Earned income of one spouse or common-law partner — generally salary, wages, and active business income. The deduction is normally claimed by the lower-income spouse, and it cannot exceed two-thirds of that spouse's earned income.
Earned income of the other spouse or common-law partner. If you are a single parent, enter 0 here — you claim the deduction yourself.
The marginal tax rate of the spouse who claims the deduction — the tax rate on their next dollar of income, federal plus provincial. This is your assumption, not a published figure. The deduction reduces taxable income, so the tax saved is the deduction times this rate. Check the actual marginal rate on the notice of assessment or with a tax professional.
The deduction is the lowest of three numbers: the child care expenses you actually paid, the per-child annual limits added up, and two-thirds of the claiming spouse's earned income. It is normally claimed by the lower-income spouse, and it is a deduction from income — not a credit — so the tax saved depends on that spouse's marginal rate.
Per-child annual limits: $8,000, $5,000, $11,000. The deduction is capped per child per year: $8,000 for each child under 7 at the end of the year, $5,000 for each child aged 7 to 16 (and for an older child with a mental or physical infirmity who is dependent on you), and $11,000 for each child eligible for the disability tax credit. These limits have been unchanged since 2015.
Two-thirds of earned income. The total claim also cannot exceed two-thirds of the claiming spouse's earned income for the year — salary, wages, and active business income, as the Income Tax Act defines it. The deduction is the lowest of the expenses paid, the per-child limits added up, and that two-thirds figure.
Claimed by the lower-income spouse. Where a couple incurs deductible child care expenses, the deduction must generally be claimed by the lower-income partner. Exceptions exist — for example, where the lower-income spouse is a full-time student, is disabled, or the couple is separated — and this calculator does not model them. A single parent claims the deduction themselves.
What this calculator assumes, and what you entered. The marginal tax rate is your input, printed above — the CRA publishes no single rate. The tax saved is the allowable deduction times that rate. Weekly limits for boarding schools and overnight camps are not modelled: $200 a week for a child under 7, $125 a week for a child aged 7 to 16, and $275 a week for a child eligible for the disability tax credit (Form T778, note 1). The Quebec rules are also separate and not modelled here. The claim is calculated on Form T778 and the allowable amount is entered on line 21400 of the T1 return.
Sources: Canada Revenue Agency, Line 21400 – Child care expenses (child care expenses are amounts paid to have someone else look after an eligible child so you could earn income, go to school, or carry on research under a grant, claimed as a deduction on the personal tax return), and Canada Revenue Agency, Income Tax Folio S1-F3-C1, Child Care Expense Deduction (the $8,000 / $5,000 / $11,000 per-child annual limits, the two-thirds-of-earned-income cap, and the lower-income-spouse rule), and Canada Revenue Agency, Form T778 (the $200 / $125 / $275 weekly limits for boarding schools and overnight camps) — 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 Start Getting Childcare Covered in Canada