On Monday, October 5, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) sends out the second quarterly payment of the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit. If your 2025 tax return is filed and your income qualifies, money lands in your bank account — no forms, no application. And that last part is exactly what too many people get wrong.
What is the Groceries and Essentials Benefit?
It is the new name for the GST/HST credit, renamed and boosted 25% as of July 2026. The government says the boost will hold through 2031 and extends the benefit to roughly 500,000 more Canadians, on top of the more than 12 million already receiving it. For the benefit year running July 2026 through June 2027, the maximum annual amounts are $679 for a single person, $890 for a couple, and $234 for each child under 19. Each quarterly payment is roughly a quarter of your annual entitlement, so Monday’s deposit should look like the one from July 3 — unless your situation changed.
Your tax return is the application
There is no separate application for this benefit. When you file your income tax return, CRA automatically checks whether you qualify. That means:
1. No return on file, no payment. If you have not filed your 2025 return, file it now — CRA will catch you up on payments you missed.
2. Direct deposit gets you paid Monday. Cheques take weeks by mail. Setting up direct deposit with CRA is free and takes minutes.
3. New to Canada? If you have not filed a return yet, you need to apply directly with CRA. Filing your first return opens the door to this benefit and every other one — the Canada Child Benefit, the Ontario Trillium Benefit, all of them.
4. Check the income line. The benefit starts to phase out once adjusted family net income passes $46,432, so higher earners get less or nothing.
Don’t leave money on the table
Benefit money is one of the most common things people miss simply because a return was never filed. If your 2025 return is still sitting undone, Monday’s payment is your reminder: filing is what unlocks it.
TFB Tax & Bookkeeping in Richmond Hill files personal tax returns from $89, serving clients across Canada. Contact FEIFEI at 437-879-6899 or visit taxfinbiz.com.
