Canada Workers Benefit Decoded — the CWB in plain English

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The Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) is a refundable tax credit for people who work but earn a low income. It is paid by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), it is claimed on your tax return, and because it is refundable it can put money in your pocket even if you owe no tax. It has two parts: a basic amount for eligible low-income workers, and a disability supplement for workers who are eligible for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC).

For the 2025 tax year, the basic maximum is $3,812.06 for a single worker with no spouse or dependant, $5,943.38 for a worker with an eligible spouse and no dependant, $2,044.00 for a single parent with an eligible dependant, and $3,808.23 for a worker with both a spouse and a dependant. The disability supplement adds up to $851.31 for each eligible adult. The amount you actually receive depends on your working income and your adjusted family net income, and the benefit phases out gradually as income rises.

Key numbers at a glance (2025 tax year, CRA Schedule 6)

Basic maximum, single with no spouse or dependant: $3,812.06 a year.
Basic maximum, with an eligible spouse and no dependant: $5,943.38 a year.
Basic maximum, single parent with an eligible dependant: $2,044.00 a year.
Basic maximum, with a spouse and a dependant: $3,808.23 a year.
Disability supplement maximum: $851.31 a year for each adult eligible for the Disability Tax Credit.
Working-income floor: more than $2,400 of your own working income (single), more than $3,600 of family working income (with a spouse), more than $1,200 for the disability supplement.
Advance payments: up to 50% of the estimated benefit, in three instalments in July, October, and January.

The figures many websites get wrong

Many websites quote $1,633 for a single worker, $2,813 for a family, and $843 for the disability supplement as the 2025 CWB maxima. Those figures do not match CRA Schedule 6 for 2025 (form 5005-S6), and this site does not use them anywhere. The Schedule 6 formula is internally consistent — its maxima, phase-in rates, and phase-out thresholds reconcile exactly — and every figure on this site is taken from that form. If a page you are reading quotes $1,633 as the 2025 single maximum, its figures are stale or from another calculation, and you should not rely on them. The same applies to the often-quoted $3,000 working-income floor: Schedule 6 requires more than $2,400 of your own working income (or more than $3,600 of family working income with a spouse), and more than $1,200 for the disability supplement.

How this site is organized

Start with who can claim for the residence, age, and working-income tests and the three exclusions, then the basic amount and the disability supplement for the money. Income thresholds gives the full phase-out tables, advance payments explains getting up to half the benefit early, and how to claim walks through Schedule 6 and line 45300. The remaining pages cover payments, changes and overpayments, comparisons, and myths.

Quebec, Alberta, and Nunavut are different. The figures on this site are the federal Schedule 6 figures that apply in most provinces and territories. Residents of Quebec, Alberta, and Nunavut have different amounts and thresholds under their arrangements with the federal government, so check the CRA tables for your province or territory before working out your amount. This site gives that pointer only; it does not carry parallel Quebec, Alberta, or Nunavut guides.

General information only. This page explains the Canada Workers Benefit in plain English. It is not legal, financial, or tax advice, and it cannot decide whether you qualify. Only the Canada Revenue Agency can decide a claim. Amounts and rules change over time — the figures here are for the 2025 tax year, from CRA Schedule 6 — so always confirm the current position with the CRA before you act on it. Contact: hello [at] tapetoolhq.com.