CGEB Payments: How to Check Your Amount, Dates, and Eligibility

The Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB) is the CRA benefit that replaced the GST/HST credit in July 2026. If you are expecting a payment, the most useful place to start is your CRA account: it can show your next expected payment, the amount, and your statement of account. Keep your tax return and personal information current before assuming a missing deposit is an error.

For the payment period from July 2026 through June 2027, the CRA uses information from your 2025 tax return. It calculates the benefit using your adjusted family net income, marital status, and the number of eligible children under 19. The benefit is tax-free, and an amount for a related provincial or territorial program may be included depending on your province or territory.

You generally do not apply each year. Filing a tax return, including when you had no income, lets the CRA assess whether you qualify. If you file late, payments can stop temporarily while the return is processed; when the CRA determines you were entitled to missed amounts, it may issue them with a later scheduled payment. New residents have a separate first-year application option before filing their first Canadian tax return.

CGEB payments are quarterly. The first payment under the new name was July 3, 2026, and the next 2026 quarterly payment is October 5. If your calculated quarterly entitlement is less than $50, the CRA generally pays the full annual amount in a single July payment instead of issuing four smaller payments.

A payment can change after an income-tax reassessment or a reported change in marital status, children, address, or direct-deposit details. Check the benefit entry in your CRA account before sharing personal information with anyone who contacts you about a payment. CRA email notifications do not ask you to provide personal information or click a link to confirm a benefit.

Check your expected payment in your CRA account

1. Sign in to your CRA account and select your Individual account.
2. On the Overview screen, look under Benefits and credits for the next expected payment.
3. Open the CGEB entry, which may be shown as Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (formerly the GST/HST credit).
4. Review the payment amount, payment schedule, statement of account, and any CRA notice explaining the calculation.
5. Compare the account details with your current marital status, children, address, and direct-deposit information; update changes through official CRA channels if needed.

Understand the amount without guessing

If the payment is late or missing

First confirm the scheduled date and the status in your CRA account, then check whether your direct-deposit details and mailing address are current. The CRA advises waiting 10 business days after the expected date before calling if you still do not know why the payment did not arrive. A late tax return, a reassessment, or an unreported family change can affect timing or the amount. Keep any CRA notice available if you need help.

Keep your information current

Report changes that can affect your benefit promptly through the CRA's official services. That includes a marriage or separation, a change to children in your care, a move, or an update to banking details. Do not rely on screenshots of payment schedules or unsolicited offers of help. Use Canada.ca and your signed-in CRA account to verify both the benefit name and the actual payment record.

A note on the June 2026 top-up

The one-time GST/HST credit top-up issued June 5, 2026 was separate from the regular quarterly transition to CGEB. It was generally for people entitled to the January 2026 GST/HST credit payment and was calculated using the 2024 tax return and family situation in January 2026. It does not replace the normal annual step of filing returns so the CRA can calculate later CGEB payments accurately.

Frequently asked questions