Canada Workers Benefit Amounts 2025 Tax Year: Single vs Family (and Alberta, Quebec, Nunavut)

The Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) is a refundable tax credit for people and families who work and have a low income. For the 2025 tax year, the federal maximum basic amount is $1,633 for a single individual and $2,813 for a family. These are maximums, not automatic payments: your actual entitlement depends on working income, adjusted net income, family situation and province or territory of residence.

The headline comparison is useful, but it is only the starting point. The benefit is income-tested and is gradually reduced once income passes the applicable phase-out point. The CRA also says that the maximum basic amount varies for residents of Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut, so a federal comparison should not be treated as a province-specific result. The safest way to check your own figure is to use the CRA information for the province or territory that matches your residence at the end of 2025.

Single versus family: what the 2025 maximums mean

For the general federal calculation, the single amount applies to a single individual without an eligible dependant. The family amount is used for the family categories recognized by the CRA, including eligible couples and, in most of Canada, single-parent families. Quebec uses its own family definitions in the CWB tables, including separate categories for families with children, families without children, single individuals with children and single individuals without children. Your marital status and dependants on December 31 matter when the return is prepared.

Why Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut can differ

The CRA eligibility information lists different income limits by province or territory and by family category. For example, the 2025 no-benefit limit for a single individual without children is $37,742 in Canada excluding Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut, compared with $33,230.35 in Quebec, $67,367 in Nunavut and $37,826 in Alberta. Those figures are eligibility cutoffs, not guaranteed payment amounts.

• Alberta Use the Alberta-specific Schedule 6 and do not substitute the general federal table.
• Quebec Use the Quebec-specific Schedule 6 and the CRA category that matches your family situation.
• Nunavut Use the Nunavut-specific Schedule 6; the territorial income thresholds can be materially different.
• Other jurisdictions Use the Schedule 6 version for all provinces and territories other than Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut.

What can change the amount you receive

The maximum is reached only in the part of the calculation where working income and adjusted net income fit the CRA rules. As income rises, the basic benefit phases out. The CRA calculates the CWB using marital status, province or territory of residence, earned working income, adjusted family net income, eligible dependants and, where applicable, eligibility for the disability tax credit. A person who qualifies for the disability supplement may have an additional amount, but that supplement is separate from the basic CWB comparison.

The CRA says a person entitled to CWB will get up to 50% of the benefit in advanced payments under the Advanced Canada Workers Benefit (ACWB). Keep your income slips, marital-status information, and calculation details available before checking the final figure.

If you only need the headline answer, remember the two federal 2025 reference amounts: $1,633 for a single individual and $2,813 for a family. If you live in Alberta, Quebec or Nunavut, or if you have children, a spouse, a common-law partner or a disability-tax-credit approval, use the detailed guide rather than relying on the headline maximum.

Frequently asked questions