If your grocery bills have been hitting harder than usual lately, some federal money is headed your way this week.
The Canada Revenue Agency is sending out a payment to eligible Canadians on June 5, and for most people it arrives automatically with nothing to apply for or fill out. The deposit works out to 50% of what you were receiving through the GST/HST credit for the 2025-26 benefit year, meaning the actual amount varies depending on your income and household size.
Run the numbers and a single person earning $25,000 a year can expect $267, while a family of four bringing in $40,000 will see $533 land in their account. Zoom out to the full year and the picture gets considerably bigger. Factoring in this payment and the new quarterly installments that follow, a single person could collect up to $950 in 2026, while a family of four could see as much as $1,890.
What is this payment exactly?
The June 5 deposit is a one-time bridge payment into a new federal program called the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, which permanently replaces the GST/HST credit starting July 3. Under the new program, quarterly payments run 25% higher than what the old credit was delivering, with that increase locked in for five years and calculated based on your 2025 tax return. More than 12 million Canadians are expected to receive payments through the combined benefit structure.
The backdrop is a food inflation picture that has been grinding away at household budgets since 2020, adding roughly $782 in extra costs for the average Canadian family compared to what they would have spent otherwise.
Do you need to do anything?
No. As long as you filed your 2024 tax return and were collecting the GST/HST credit as of January 2026, the payment goes out automatically.
One thing worth knowing: it may show up in your bank account labeled as a GST/HST credit rather than under the new benefit name, so don’t mistake it for something routine when it lands.
Quebec is also cutting grocery taxes this summer
The federal payment isn’t the only cost-of-living relief heading toward Quebec residents. Premier Christine Fréchette recently announced that the province will permanently eliminate the Quebec Sales Tax on a range of everyday grocery and pharmacy products starting July 15. The list includes pre-cut and ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables, granola bars, salted nuts and seeds, individually sold muffins, toilet paper and facial tissues.
The QST exemption was part of a broader package of announcements that also included a $50 reduction on licence plate renewal fees starting September 1 and a one-time payment of up to $200 for Quebecers who qualify for the solidarity tax credit, with the first deposits going out automatically on June 4.
