455 – Tax credit for childcare expenses
You can claim the refundable tax credit for childcare expenses paid if all of the following requirements are met:
- You were resident in Québec on December 31, 2022, or you were resident in Canada, outside Québec, on December 31, 2022, and you carried on a business in Québec in 2022.
- The childcare expenses were incurred while you or your spouse on December 31, 2022, was:
- carrying out the duties of an office or employment;
- actively carrying on a business;
- practising a profession;
- carrying out research under a grant;
- actively seeking employment;
- attending a secondary school or taking a course at a qualified educational institution (see “Qualified educational institutions" below) full time, that is, you or your spouse was enrolled in an educational program of at least three consecutive weeks, in which students must devote at least 10 hours per week to courses or assignments related to the program;
- attending a secondary school or taking a course at a qualified educational institution (see “Qualified educational institutions” below) part time, that is, you or your spouse was enrolled in an educational program of at least three consecutive weeks, in which students must devote at least 12 hours per month to courses related to the program; or
- receiving benefits under the Québec parental insurance plan (QPIP) or benefits related to a birth or adoption under the Employment Insurance plan.
- You or your spouse on December 31, 2022, paid the expenses for the care of an eligible child, for 2022, to an individual, a daycare centre, a holiday and recreation centre, a camp or a boarding school, and the child was living with you (or with your spouse on December 31, 2022) at the time the expenses were incurred.
- The childcare services were provided in Canada by a person resident in Canada, unless you were living outside Canada temporarily.
Online and correspondence courses
You can take courses offered by a qualified educational institution (see “Qualified educational institutions” below) at a distance without any virtual presence at a fixed time or interaction with the professor or the class being required. However, presence (either physical or virtual) is mandatory for courses offered by a secondary school.
Childcare expenses that do not qualify for the tax credit (Part A of Schedule C)
The following expenses do not qualify for the tax credit:
- the reduced contribution set by the government that you paid for childcare services provided by a childcare centre (CPE), a home childcare provider or a daycare centre, or for basic school daycare services;
- the part of the fees that you paid for basic school daycare services for a pedagogical day and that exceeds the reduced contribution;
- amounts paid to one of the following people:
- the child's mother or father,
- a person with whom you were living in a conjugal relationship,
- a person who was living with you, if the child for whom the childcare expenses were incurred is considered an eligible child of that person,
- a person under 18 who was related to you (or to a person with whom you were living in a conjugal relationship) by blood, marriage or adoption (except a niece or nephew),
- a person for whom you (or a person who was living with you, where the child for whom the childcare expenses were incurred is considered an eligible child of that person) are claiming an amount on line 367;
- medical expenses and other expenses related to medical and hospital care, as well as transportation expenses;
- expenses paid for general or specific teaching services;
- clothing expenses and other personal expenses;
- childcare expenses for which another person obtained a tax credit for childcare expenses for the same child;
- expenses that were reimbursed or for which a reimbursement can be claimed, or that were covered by any other form of financial assistance (unless the reimbursement or assistance was included in an individual's income and cannot be deducted in the calculation of the individual's taxable income), such as:
- expenses that were reimbursed by the Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (box J of the RL-5 slip);
- the portion of the childcare expenses for which you received an allowance from the Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (box 201 of the RL-1 slip);
- the portion of the childcare expenses for which you received an allowance from the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration under its financial aid program for the linguistic integration of immigrants (box O or 201 of your RL-1 slip);
- fees paid for after-school activities (even if the activities take place on a regular, ongoing basis);
- fees paid for help with homework outside regular class time (provided the person in charge of the service has a teaching—not a supervisory—role);
- childcare expenses incurred for strictly personal reasons (for example, respite).
- If childcare expenses were paid to a boarding school or camp, the maximum is $200 per week for an eligible child born after December 31, 2015 and $125 per week for any other eligible child. The maximum is $275 per week for a child of any age who has a severe and prolonged impairment in mental or physical functions.
- Beginning in 2022, receipts for childcare services will no longer be accepted (this does not apply if, for example, your childcare provider is outside Québec). Your childcare provider must give you an RL-24 slip to keep as proof that you paid the expenses.
You can claim the tax credit only for childcare expenses incurred in 2022 while you were resident in Canada (unless you were living outside Canada temporarily).
For examples of childcare expenses that qualify for the credit, see brochure IN-103-V, Refundable Tax Credit for Childcare Expenses.
Child with a severe and prolonged impairment in mental or physical functions
You must enclose form TP-752.0.14-V, Certificate Respecting an Impairment, or a copy of Canada Revenue Agency form T2201, Disability Tax Credit Certificate, if you have never done so and you or your spouse on December 31, 2022, paid childcare expenses for a child with a severe and prolonged impairment in mental or physical functions and the expenses were more than:
- $10,675 if the child was born after December 31, 2015; or
- $5,375 if the child was born before January 1, 2016.
If the child's health has improved since you last filed a document certifying the impairment, you must inform us.
Family income (Part C of Schedule C)
Your family income is the amount on line 275 of your return. If you had a spouse on December 31, 2022, your family income is the amount on line 275 of your return plus the amount on line 275 of your spouse's return.
Qualified educational institutions
The following educational institutions are covered by the tax credit:
- an institution where you or your spouse was enrolled in a post-secondary program or occupational skills courses that are not at the post-secondary level;
- an institution recognized by the Minister of Revenue of Québec where you or your spouse was enrolled for the purpose of acquiring or upgrading skills necessary for a remunerated activity;
- a university outside Canada that you or your spouse attended full time for at least three consecutive weeks (the course of study must lead to a diploma);
- an institution in the United States where you or your spouse was enrolled in a post-secondary program, provided you lived in Canada near the U.S. border throughout 2022 and regularly commuted between your home and the institution.
The qualified educational institutions referred to in points 1 and 2 must be located in Canada, unless, during the period for which the childcare expenses were paid, you or your spouse was living outside Canada temporarily.
Splitting the tax credit for childcare expenses
You and your spouse on December 31, 2022, can split the credit. To do so, you must each complete your own Schedule C.
If you or your spouse on December 31, 2022, received advance payments of the tax credit, the person who received them should claim the tax credit in his or her income tax return.
If you receive an overpayment in 2022 and are unable to repay it at the end of the year, the person considered to be your spouse at that time for purposes of the tax credit for childcare expenses will be jointly liable for repaying it.
Advance payments of the tax credit for childcare expenses
If you received advance payments of the tax credit for childcare expenses in 2022, enter on line 441 the amount from box C of your RL-19 slip.
You were resident in Canada, outside Québec, on December 31, 2022, and you carried on a business in Québec
If you were resident in Canada, outside Québec, on December 31, 2022, you carried on a business in Québec, and your spouse on December 31, 2022, was resident in Québec, you are considered to be resident in Québec for purposes of the tax credit.
Your tax credit rate is 25.75% if all three of the following statements apply to your situation:
- You were resident in Canada, outside Québec, on December 31, 2022.
- You carried on a business in Québec.
- You did not have a spouse on December 31, 2022, or if you did, either your spouse was resident in Canada, outside Québec, and did not carry on a business in Québec, or your spouse was not resident in Canada.
If all three statements apply to your situation, enter 25.75% on line 92 of Schedule C. Note that you must reduce your tax credit in proportion to the reduction in your income tax payable.
Your tax credit rate is also 25.75% if both of the following statements apply to your situation:
- You and your spouse on December 31, 2022, were resident in Canada, outside Québec, on December 31, 2022.
- Both of you carried on a business in Québec.
If both statements apply to your situation, enter 25.75% on line 92 of Schedule C. Note that you must reduce your tax credit in proportion to the average of your and your spouse's reduction in income tax payable.
Tax-exempt individuals
Special rules apply if you or your spouse on December 31, 2022, was exempt from income tax because one of you worked for an international organization, the government of a foreign country or an office of a political subdivision of a foreign state recognized by the Ministère des Finances. For more information, contact us.
You were resident in Canada for only part of the year
Under certain conditions, you can claim the tax credit for childcare expenses if you were resident in Québec on the day you ceased to reside in Canada in 2022. This is also the case if you were resident in Canada, outside Québec, on the day you ceased to reside in Canada, and you carried on a business in Québec in 2022.
If you were resident in Québec on the day you ceased to reside in Canada and you carried on a business outside Québec, you must reduce your tax credit in proportion to the reduction in your income tax payable.
If, for all or part of the year, you or your spouse on December 31, 2022, was not resident in Canada, you must include in your family income (Part C of Schedule C) all of the income that you and your spouse earned, including income earned while you or your spouse was not resident in Canada.
Allowance for or reimbursement of childcare expenses from the Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale or the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration
If you included allowances for or reimbursements of childcare expenses received from the Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale or the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration in calculating your childcare expenses for a previous year, and you are required to repay those amounts, you can ask us to adjust your tax credit for childcare expenses for the year in which you received the allowance or reimbursement. If you want us to do so, complete and file form TP-1.R-V, Request for an Adjustment to an Income Tax Return.