The Canadian baby bonus calculator
How much does Canada pay your family?
Most parents have no idea. Canada quietly hands a typical young family fifteen thousand tax-free dollars a year — and almost nobody runs the math on what that actually means for the question of whether one parent could stay home with the kids.
Typical Ontario family
$1,247/mo tax-free
2 kids, $75K income, all under 6
Free · 4 inputs · instant
Run your family's numbers.
Four inputs. The math runs against the 2026-27 CRA tables and shows the monthly deposit, the annual total, and how the gap changes if one parent stays home.
Combined for both parents if both work. Just one parent's income if one's at home.
Any kids under 6?
Under-6 kids get more CCB ($8,157/yr vs $6,883/yr).
Your family gets
$840
tax-free per month
That's $10,077 tax-free per year — in your account, untouched by tax. (13% of your household income.)
The breakdown
- $839.75/month — Canada Child Benefit$10,077/yr
The single-income reality check
If one parent stayed home with the kids — here's how the math changes.
Two incomes today
$5,972/mo
After tax + benefits − daycare.
Daycare for 1 kid under 6 costs about $5,016/yr in Ontario.
One parent at home
$6,229/mo
After tax + benefits. No daycare bill. Spousal tax credit kicks in (~$2,300 federal saved).
One income comes out $257/month ahead.
That's $3,080more per year in the family budget — before any quality-of-life math. The benefits don't change (same household income, same AFNI). What changes: the tax bracket walks differently for a single earner, the spousal credit appears, and daycare disappears as a line item.
Assumes 60/40 split for two-income, married couple, all kids under 6 attend daycare in the two-income scenario. Open the advanced calculator for exact numbers, RRSP impact, second-income breakeven for your specific wage.
What the calculator covers
Every federal + provincial benefit. In one number.
Canada Child Benefit
The federal monthly payment. Up to $8,157/yr per kid under 6, $6,883/yr per kid 6-17. Phase-out by AFNI.
CGEB (new in 2026)
Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit replaced the GST/HST credit in July 2026. Quarterly. $890 couple + $234/kid.
Provincial child benefit
OCB, BC Family Benefit, Quebec Family Allowance, Alberta Child & Family Benefit, and 9 more — all province-aware.
Single-income reality check
What the math actually looks like when one parent stays home. Daycare avoided + spousal credit + lower tax bracket.
Child Disability Benefit
Up to $3,411/yr per qualifying kid on top of CCB, automatic once the DTC is approved.
AFNI clawback curve
See the phase-out points where benefits drop. Real chart, not a vague paragraph. In the advanced calculator.
Read the math
Featured articles
Pillar
Large family budget in Canada in 2026
The 4th kid costs 35-50% of what the 1st cost. Per-kid amortization + the CCB escalator carry most of the load.
Read →The lever no one writes about
RRSP + CCB: 40-55% return in the contribution year
Every $1,000 of RRSP lowers AFNI by $1,000. For a 2-kid Tier 1 family, that adds $135 CCB + $50 CGEB + $250-$400 refund.
Read →Net of transfers
The cost of raising a child in Canada in 2026
StatCan says $293K. Subtract 18 years of CCB + CGEB + provincial supplements and the real net is $80K-$220K.
Read →Comparison
The best province to raise kids in Canada in 2026
QC pays the most cash to families. PEI is the most affordable. The full ranking by tax-free transfers, cost of living, and daycare.
Read →The single-income case
Single income vs two income in Canada in 2026
The break-even second income is usually $65K-$85K gross. Below that, daycare + lost CCB + tax bracket walk net negative.
Read →Decision tool
Can we afford another baby?
Compare your current CCB to the post-baby CCB. Subtract a marginal expense estimate. Get a workable / tight / strained verdict.
Read →Other tools
Five calculators for the questions families actually ask.
Editorial position
Where we stand.
We believe in the traditional family structure — one parent working, one parent at home with the kids. We believe that's best for children, best for families, and more financially viable in Canada than most parents realize.
Daycare is not the answer for our family. We don't promote it, link to it, or frame it as an equivalent choice. The calculator quantifies daycare only as the avoided expense — the line item that disappears when one parent stays home.
The math is the proof. Run your numbers above. If the gap is closer than you thought, that's the whole point.
Run your family's math.
Free. No signup. No email. 2026-27 numbers verified against the CRA calculator.