If your grocery bill has felt heavier than usual lately, you’re not imagining it. Food prices have kept climbing through 2026, and for a lot of households, that extra squeeze shows up everywhere from the checkout line to the monthly budget.
As a result, a new CRA deposit is landing in bank accounts this Monday, October 5, and for anyone who’s been wondering what happened to their usual GST payment, this is it, just under a different name.
The old GST/HST credit got replaced over the summer by something called the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, or CGEB, and Monday’s payment will only be the second round issued under that new name.
When the CGEB took over, it didn’t just inherit the old credit’s name and shuffle it around. The amount itself went up (25% higher than what the GST/HST credit used to pay), and that bump has been locked in through 2031. A one-time top-up was also issued back in June, worth roughly 50% more than usual, meant to bridge the gap before the new, bigger benefit officially took effect in July.
How much you can expect
The number still comes down to your household. Single individuals can receive up to $679 a year under the current benefit period, which works out to around $170 per quarterly payment. Couples, whether married or common-law, can get up to $890 annually, close to $222 every three months. And if you’ve got kids, each eligible child under 19 adds another $234 a year, or roughly $58 per quarter.
Your exact amount depends on a few things: your adjusted family net income, your marital status, and how many kids are in your household. The CRA lays all of that out in a notice sent either to your online account or by mail, along with the schedule for when each payment is due.
When the money lands
This Monday’s deposit is only the second one issued under the new name. Before that, April 2 was the final payment to go out under the old GST/HST credit, followed by that one-time top-up on June 5, and then the first full CGEB payment on July 3. From here, the benefit settles into a steady quarterly rhythm, landing in January, April, July, and October each year.
There’s one exception worth knowing about. If your quarterly amount would normally work out to less than $50, the CRA doesn’t bother splitting it into smaller payments. Instead, you’d get your entire annual total in one lump sum back in July. And if this payment hasn’t shown up by October 20, that’s considered normal enough that the CRA suggests simply checking your account rather than assuming something’s gone wrong.
Who qualifies
The eligibility rules carried over unchanged from the old program. You need to be at least 19 years old and a Canadian resident for tax purposes to qualify. If you’re younger than that, there’s still a path in, as long as you have or had a spouse or common-law partner, or you’re a parent currently living with your child.
Shared custody situations are accounted for as well, with each parent able to claim half the benefit tied to a shared child. And if you’re already receiving the Canada Child Benefit, your kids get folded into your CGEB total automatically, no extra paperwork required on your end.
There’s also nothing separate to apply for in the first place. As long as your 2025 tax return has been filed, the CRA works out what you’re entitled to on its own. Filed a little late? You’ll still get paid eventually, just retroactively, once your return has made its way through processing.
One more thing worth knowing
The CGEB remains completely tax-free from start to finish. You won’t need to report it anywhere on your return, and there’s nothing left to do before Monday beyond having your taxes filed. If you’re curious about your exact amount ahead of time, it’s already sitting in your CRA My Account under Benefits and Credits.
AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of MTL Blog’s Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards page.