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The Disability Tax Credit, explained

Who qualifies, what it is worth in your province, how the application works, and what approval opens up. Checked against CRA’s own pages.

Checked against official sources on September 28, 2026.

On this page
A woman in a wheelchair holding a coffee in her kitchen

The Disability Tax Credit is a non-refundable tax credit for people with a severe and prolonged impairment. It reduces income tax, it can be transferred to a supporting family member, and approval is the key to the Canada Disability Benefit, the Registered Disability Savings Plan and the Child Disability Benefit. This page covers who qualifies, what it is worth, how the application works and what happens after.

  • $10,341

    Federal disability amount, 2026

    Plus a provincial amount, and $6,032 more for a child under 18

  • $1,980–2,950

    Worth a year, outside Quebec

    Federal and provincial credits together, if you pay that much tax

  • 10 years

    Back pay

    CRA adjusts past returns when you tick one box on the form

  • 91%

    Of certificates accepted

    299,220 of 327,100 decisions in 2024

What it is worth

Two credits stack. The federal disability amount for 2026 is $10,341, and the credit is 14% of that, about $1,448 off your federal tax. Every province and territory except Quebec adds its own amount at its own rate. For a child under 18 there is a federal supplement of $6,032 on top.

What the credit is worth a year, by province, 2026

Federal (14% of $10,341 = $1,448) plus each province’s disability amount and lowest credit rate. Quebec has its own credit, claimed with Revenu Québec.

ItemBarPer year
Saskatchewan$2,946
Alberta$2,853
New Brunswick$2,407
Northwest Territories$2,318
Nunavut$2,117
Manitoba$2,115
Yukon$2,110
Newfoundland and Labrador$2,105
Prince Edward Island$2,102
Nova Scotia$2,093
British Columbia$2,003
Ontario$1,978

Two things change the real number. The credit only reduces tax you owe, so with little or no taxable income it pays nothing on its own; a spouse, parent or other supporting relative can usually claim the unused part instead. And the year the restriction began matters, because CRA can go back up to ten years. Estimate your refund for your province and years.

Who qualifies

The test CRA applies

All three have to be true for a single activity. There are two other routes below.

12 months

lasted, or will last

+

90%

of the time, at least

+

3× longer

or cannot do it at all

A marked restriction in one activity

Or: significant limitations in two or more activities that add up to the same thing (the cumulative effect), or life-sustaining therapy at least 14 hours a week.

The credit is not about a diagnosis. It is about what the condition stops you doing. A medical practitioner certifies one of three things on Form T2201:

  • A marked restriction in one activity. You cannot do it, or it takes three times as long as for someone your age without the impairment, even with therapy, medication and devices, all or almost all of the time (generally at least 90%).
  • Significant limitations in two or more activities that together are as restricting as one marked restriction. CRA calls this the cumulative effect.
  • Life-sustaining therapy at least two times a week, for an average of at least 14 hours a week. Since 2021, type 1 diabetes counts automatically.

In every case the impairment has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months in a row. The activities the form asks about are vision, speaking, hearing, walking, eliminating (bowel or bladder), feeding, dressing and mental functions necessary for everyday life. Mental functions is the largest category by far: in 2024 it accounted for 146,340 accepted certificates.

Certificates CRA decided each year, and the share accepted

CRA DTC statistics, Table 8. Once a practitioner has certified the form, approval is the norm.

ItemBarDecisions
2019234,860 · 88.8% accepted
2020218,910 · 92.3% accepted
2021230,510 · 94.6% accepted
2022244,380 · 95.2% accepted
2023279,840 · 94.7% accepted
2024327,100 · 91.5% accepted

How to apply

A patient signing a form across a desk from a health professional
Part B is the practitioner’s. The more precisely they describe your day, the better the application reads.

The application, start to finish

  1. Check that your day fits a category

    Use the eligibility checker. It walks through the same categories as the form.

  2. Fill in Part A yourself

    Your details, and the box that asks CRA to adjust past years. Tick it.

  3. Book the practitioner who can certify your category

    A doctor or nurse practitioner for anything; an optometrist, audiologist, speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist or psychologist for their own category.

  4. Give them a written account of your day

    What takes three times as long, what you cannot do, how often. Part B is where applications are won or lost.

  5. Send it to CRA

    Online through My Account, through the practitioner’s digital form, or on paper to your tax centre. Form T2201, section by section.

  6. Wait for the notice of determination

    CRA writes to say yes, no, or yes for certain years. Past-year refunds follow if you ticked the box.

You never need to pay anyone to do this. CRA does not charge, and the form is free. A practitioner may charge for filling in Part B; that fee can be claimed as a medical expense on your return.

Before you send it

  1. Part A: the box asking CRA to adjust previous returns is ticked.
  2. Part B: the practitioner wrote when the restriction began, not just today’s date. That start date sets how far back the refund goes.
  3. Part B: the effects are described (what takes longer, what you cannot do), not only the diagnosis.
  4. Every page is signed and dated, and you kept a copy.
  5. You have filed the past years’ tax returns. CRA can only adjust a return that exists.

What approval unlocks

A father and his young son building with coloured blocks on the floor
For a child, approval adds the federal supplement and opens the Child Disability Benefit.
  • The Canada Disability Benefit. Up to $204.20 a month for ages 18 to 64, from July 2026, income-tested. Estimate it.
  • A Registered Disability Savings Plan. Government grants of up to $3,500 a year on your contributions and a bond of up to $1,000 a year with no contribution at all, depending on income. See what is added.
  • The Child Disability Benefit, paid with the Canada Child Benefit for an eligible child under 18. See CRA’s page.
  • Other credits and deductions that ask for DTC approval, including the disability supports deduction and the higher limits on the Home Buyers’ Plan and Home Accessibility Tax Credit.

If CRA says no

The notice of determination explains which part fell short. You have three options, and none of them needs a lawyer: send new or more detailed medical information to your tax centre and ask for a review; file a notice of objection within 90 days of the date on the notice; or apply again with a fuller Part B. Most refusals come down to a practitioner describing the diagnosis rather than the effects. Work out your objection deadline.

You can apply directly to CRA without paying a promoter. CRA does not charge an application fee. A practitioner may charge to complete the medical part. CRA says the promoter fee-cap regulations are suspended because of a court injunction; do not assume a $100 cap currently protects you. Before paying for help, read the full fee agreement and compare free support. WiseBenefits does not prepare, review or submit applications.

Questions people ask

How much is the Disability Tax Credit worth?

For 2026 the federal disability amount is $10,341 and the credit is 14% of it, about $1,448 off federal tax. Add your province’s credit and the total is roughly $1,980 to $2,950 a year outside Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta at the top, Ontario at the bottom. A child under 18 gets a further federal supplement of $6,032. It only reduces tax you owe.

Who qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit?

Anyone with a severe and prolonged impairment whose effects a medical practitioner certifies: a marked restriction in one basic activity, significant limitations in two or more that add up to the same, or life-sustaining therapy at least 14 hours a week, in each case lasting or expected to last 12 months or more.

Does ADHD, autism or diabetes qualify?

A diagnosis alone never qualifies or disqualifies. ADHD and autism are assessed under mental functions, and many are approved when the effects on daily life are described well. Type 1 diabetes has been deemed to meet the life-sustaining therapy test since 2021.

How far back can I claim?

Up to ten years, back to the year the practitioner says the restriction began. Tick the box in Part A of Form T2201 and CRA reassesses those returns itself.

Do I need to pay a company to apply?

No. The form is free and CRA charges nothing. A practitioner may charge to fill in Part B, and that fee is a medical expense. Companies that charge a share of the refund exist; the federal fee cap on them is currently suspended by a court injunction, so read any agreement in full.

What if I don’t pay any tax?

The credit itself pays nothing without tax to reduce, but a supporting spouse, parent or relative can often claim the unused part, and approval still opens the Canada Disability Benefit and RDSP grants, which do not depend on paying tax.

Sources

Checked against these on September 28, 2026. Amounts change every January or July; we recheck them each year.

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