Martin's Don't Miss Out: Ontario's $400 per Child Covid-19 Benefit ... It's not as simple as you think
Signing up is easy but collecting is a little complicated
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Why You should Read This:
If you live in Ontario and have a child who is 18 years or younger then you are entitled to receive $400 per child; but
If you don’t apply you won’t receive this payment;
Even if you’ve already applied, claiming your payment can be a little confusing; so
Here’s what you need to know so you don’t miss out.
Ontario’s COVID-19 Child Benefit
As part of its 2021 budget, Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government announced the Ontario Covid-19 Child Benefit (OCCB). Under the OCCB all Ontario families are entitled to receive $400 per child ($500 per child with special needs) if they meet the following, extremely inclusive, criteria:
You are the parent or guardian of a child or youth up to grade 12; or
You (i.e. you personally) are a high school student and 18 years or older; or
You are the parent or guardian of a child that is 21 or younger and who has special needs (note: being “gifted” is not considered special needs).
The $400 per child payment will arrive by way of email transfer.
For those of you who signed up for the “Support for Learners” (SFL) program that was announced in late 2020 you are automatically enrolled in the OCCB program. If you didn’t apply for the SFL then you will need to apply for the OCCB.
If you don’t apply, you won’t get the $400 per child payment.
The ability to apply for and receive this government payment is time-limited to the two-week period between May 3, 2021 and May 17, 2021. If you didn’t apply for SFL and then don’t apply for OCCB during this period, you won’t be able to get this $400 per child payment. You can sign up here. It literally takes 30 seconds to complete the form.
In terms of collecting the payment, it’s a little more complicated, you will receive multiple emails from the government before receiving the actual email money transfer. These emails look a lot like spam. I have two children and had previously signed up for SFL and received six emails. The first email I received was on April 14th with the interac money transfer payment email arriving on May 5th.
As with any situation where you are emailed money, if you’ve not set up your bank account for autodeposit, you will need to enter a password to collect the emailed money. The password to collect this money uses the following same formula for everyone, in ALL CAPS, the first three letters of your last name followed by your full postal code. For example, if your last name is Smith and your postal code is A6A 2B4, then your password is: SMIA6A2B4. If you have multiple children, you will receive a separate interac email trasnfer for each of them, sometimes days apart. The password is the same for each email money transfer and, as noted, uses the formula above.
Right now, it’s unclear how this payment will be treated from a taxation perspective, so I recommend that you assume that it will be treated as taxable. What this means from a practical perspective is that the spouse in your family who is expected to earn a lower income in 2021 should fill in this form and claim this OCCB payment. Otherwise you may find that your family pays more taxes in 2021 than was necessary.
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