What Is A Canada PRO Deposit?

The Canada PRO Deposit provides tax credits and money to eligible residents of Ontario and Alberta. There are certain income and residency requirements to get the deposits and the benefits are distributed tax-free either monthly or as a lump sum.

In Ontario, the benefit comes from three PRO programs, which are rolled under the Ontario Trillium Benefit (OTB) to help eligible residents pay for energy costs, sales tax and property taxes. The individual programs are called:

• The Northern Ontario Energy Credit
• The Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit
• The Ontario Sales Tax Credit

In Alberta, the Canada PRO program comes from the Alberta Child and Family Benefit (ACFB) and combines the Alberta Child Benefit and Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit.

January 10, 2023
February 10, 2023
March 10, 2023
April 6 2023
May 10, 2023
June 9, 2023
July 10, 2023
August 10, 2023
September 8, 2023
October 10, 2023
November 10, 2023
December 8, 2023

How Much Can You Expect?

If you’re trying to budget and would love to know how much money you can expect, the big question is, how much will you get and how is that amount calculated? Here’s what we know:

Northern Ontario Energy Credit

The Northern Ontario Energy Credit (NOEC) is meant to help low- to moderate-income Northern Ontario residents with the higher energy costs due to living in the north of the province. Ontario is a large province, so what qualifies as the north for the NOEC includes following locations:

• Alogoma
• Cochrane
• Kenora
• Manitoulin
• Nipissing
• Parry Sound
• Rainy River
• Sudbury including Greater Sudbury
• Thunder Bay
• Timiskaming

The NOEC is calculated based on the property taxes you paid on your primary residence for 2022. If you qualify, the amount you get is based on your marital status, whether you have kids and your adjusted family net income, which is the annual net income of all members of the family unit, excluding full-time students.

So the amount you’ll get varies, but the maximum annual credit for single people with no kids is $172. For couples and single parents the minimum credit is $265. However, as your income changes, so does the credit itself.

As a single person with no kids, if your adjusted net income is over $46,436, your credit will be reduced by 1%. The same happens for families with your credit being reduced by 1% of your adjusted family net income over $59,704.

Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit

The Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC) is designed to help low- to moderate-income Ontarians with their property taxes and the sales tax on energy.

As with all benefits, the OEPTC you’ll get is calculated based on several criteria:

• Your age
• Marital status
• The property taxes paid by or for you
• The rent paid by you or for you
• The energy costs paid by or for you
• Accommodation costs paid by or for you if you live in a public or nonprofit long-term care (LTC) home
• Adjust family net income
• If you lived in a designated Ontario university, college or private school residence.

If you qualify for the OEPTC, you’ll get $1,194 as a non-senior, which is made up of $265 for energy sales tax and $929 for property tax. If you’re a senior, you’ll get $1,360, with $265 for energy sales tax and $1,095 for property taxes.

Ontario Sales Tax Credit

As the name suggests, the Ontario Sales Tax Credit (OSTC) helps low- to moderate-income Ontarians with relief from the sales tax they pay through their purchases. The CRA looks at your income tax and benefit return to see if you qualify for the OSTC.

The maximum credit you get is $345 for each adult and each child in a family. If you’re single with no kids, the credit is reduced by 4% of your adjusted net income over $26,535. If you’re a single parent, married or in a common-law relationship, the credit is also reduced by 4% of the adjusted family net income over $33,169.

Accessing the Canada PRO Deposit depends on your eligibility.

1. Northern Ontario Energy Credit

You may qualify for the the NOEC if you live in Northern Ontario, pay the rent or property taxes for your principal residence in 2022; paid the accommodation costs in 2022 for living in a public or non-profit LTC in Northern Ontario; or paid the home energy costs like hydro and heat for your primary home on a reserve in Northern Ontario in 2022.

You apply for the NOEC on your prior year’s income tax and benefit return and complete the Form ON-BEN, Application for the 2023 Ontario Trillium Benefit and the Ontario Senior Homeowners’ Property Tax Grant.

Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit

The OEPTC has two eligibility components, the energy component and the property tax component. For the energy component, you have to be a resident of Ontario on December 31, 2022 and one of the following:

You will be 18 years or older before June 1, 2024, or you had a partner or spouse on or before December 31, 2022 or you are a parent who lives or previously lived with your child and for 2022.

Alongside that, at least one of the following conditions must apply to you:

• Rent for your principal residence, which was subject to Ontario municipal or education property tax, was paid by or for you
• Property tax for your principal residence in Ontario was paid by or for you
• You lived on a reserve in Ontario and home energy costs (for example, electricity, heat) for your principal residence on the reserve were paid by or for you or
• You lived in a public or non-profit long-term care home in Ontario and an amount for accommodation was paid by or for you

For the property tax credit, the eligibility requirements are the same requirements for the energy component and for 2022, at least one of the following conditions applied to you:

• Rent for your principal residence, which was subject to Ontario municipal or education property tax, was paid by or for you
• Property tax for your principal residence was paid by or for you or
• You lived in a designated Ontario university, college, or private school residence

Ontario Sales Tax Credit

This credit has the shortest list of requirements. You need to be:

• 19 years of age or older
• Currently or previously married or in a common-law relationship
• A parent who lives or previously lived with your child

Alberta’s Canada PRO Deposit program isn’t as complicated as the Ontario version. When you get a payment from the CRA, it’s from the Alberta Child and Family Benefit (ACFB), which has been rolled into one payment along with the Alberta Child Benefit (ACB). The money comes from the province but is administered by the province.

Alberta Child and Family Benefit

Now let’s look at the Alberta Child and Family Benefit, how to be eligible and what you may receive.

It is a tax-free amount paid to low- and moderate-income families with children under 18 years old. To be eligible, you have to be:

• Be a parent of one or more children under 18
• Be a resident of Alberta
• File a tax return
• Meet the income criteria

Between January to June 2023, the amounts you may get, depending on your eligibility are:

• $1,410 ($117.50 per month) for the first child
• $705 ($58.75 per month) for the second child
• $705 ($58.75 per month) for the third child
• $705 ($58.75 per month) for the fourth child

This is adjusted depending on your income. The ACFB is reduced when the income is more than $25,935. If your adjusted family net income is between $25,935 and $43,460, you may only receive partial benefits.

To apply for the ACFB, all you have to do is file your tax return and qualify for the federal government’s Canada Child Benefit. If you qualify, you can expect to receive payments in August, November, February and May.

If you’re in Ontario and you’re eligible, you can apply for the Canada PRO Deposit by completing the DR ON-BEN Application Form and filing it along with your yearly taxes. For Alberta, you need to qualify for the federal government’s Canada Child Benefit and file your tax return. You’re automatically considered for the ACFB.

We’ve covered when you’ll receive the Canada PRO Deposit depending on if you live in Ontario or Alberta. If you qualify for more than $360, you’ll receive a monthly amount. If you receive $360 or less, you can get a lump sum in June. You’ll be paid by cheque or direct deposit.

This is a good question. Always use the money if you need it. That’s why you got it. If you don’t need it immediately, there are several options:

Save

Let the money work for you and earn some interest in a high-interest savings account. Keeping the money in a high-interest savings account also keeps the money liquid so you can quickly access when you need it.

Invest

If you don’t need immediate access to your money, investing it for your children’s education in a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) can be a good idea. You can also use the money to contribute to your retirement fund in a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP), as it will reduce your taxable income.