Child Care Benefits : Quebec Resident finds out 4 years late

[mandolinatou]

I had my daughter back in 2008, and as a PR really had no idea what I was doing paperwork wise. I applied for my childcare benefits in Quebec after being advised by someone that childcare benefits are combined in Quebec and through the Regie de Rents. I did get a benefit and I left things as they were...getting something like 200-300 every 3 months. I used an accountant for the first time this year as my taxes are a little more complicated this year. I found out I have not been getting the federal benefit for parents. I have only been getting the provincial benefits. I double checked tonight my accountant was right. I had no idea and we are talking like over 5,000 dollars and hopefully they will pay it retroactively. I would like for everyone to know that most parents qualify for a federal benefit of 100 dollars a month up to the age of 6. If you live in Quebec there are two benefits for most middle class people, there are like 4 if you are low income. I had no idea I had missed this. How would a permenant resident know. I imagine someone else may benefit from my lack of knowledge. Make sure you apply for both and/or use an accountant.

[MeMew]

thank you for sharing your experience. I guess the federal benefit you mean is Universal child care benefit for children under the age of 6 years and is paid in instalments of $100 per month per child. If your daughter was born in QC, the hospital would give you some papers to fill in for her certificate of birth and all the involved child benefits (something called automatically linked between Regie Civile and Regie de rentes) so that you do not have to apply for anything and all of payments are automatically deposited or sent by cheques to your address (that was my recent experience in 2011 as a PR as well, at Royal Victoria Montreal Hospital). I moved out of QC and had to honestly admit that we missed all kinds of provincial benefits there for middle class families with children as well as 7$ subsidized daycare. High tax but worth it if you have children.

[gwennad]

Just keep in mind that the UCCB is a taxable benefit, so you report it on your tax return and have to pay taxes on it. It doesn't affect your net income for calculating benefits though.

Every province is a bit different whether you have to apply or not, in more and more it is automatic when you register the birth.

[mandolinatou]

I will keep that in mind. I was talking about the universal child care benefit. I had my daughter at St. Mary's in 2008. There was no one who helped me with my paperwork, which is odd because I stayed 5 days. I did register her birth and apply for the Regie des Rents. I double checked with CRA and I definitely missed the universal child care benefit. I could see someone else missing the provincial benefits. So my message is double check your benefit applications. We are very middle class and missed 5,000.

[Peachykeen2007]

Everyone should get some sort of papers when the child is born - I am kinda confused how this was missed on your taxes every year even if you didn't use a accountant

You can also apply for your Canada Child Benefits at the same time as you register the birth of your child if you are the birth mother and a resident of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island. The information on the birth registration form will then be sent electronically to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) over a secure communication network to protect your personal information. Canada Child Benefits include the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB), the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB), the GST/HST credit, and any related provincial/territorial programs that the CRA administers.

Each child get the child tax credit , universal child care credit and gst

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bnfts/



I don't think they go back and pay it out if you never applied for it, I have 2 kids and if you applied for the child tax credit the papers for the universal child care tax credit were apart of them

Enrolment for the UCCB is processed through the Canada child benefits application or by applying online on My Account by using the Apply for child benefits service.

I would personally phone and see why you have not been receiving this credit

If you have questions about the UCCB, you can call us toll free at 1-800-387-1193, or you can send a letter to the tax centre that serves your area.

[gwennad]

It depends when you applied, since not all provinces were onboard with the one form at first. It's been a gradual process. And yes you can get retroactive payments if you neglected to apply for UCCB or even CCTB. Quebec has a separate tax system, and benefits, so it's possible to get one but not the other there, if you applied a few years ago. It shouldn't be the case now if you were to apply now.

Regardless though, it is a good idea for any new parent to call about their benefits, you never know if something was missed. CCTB/UCCB is something you have to apply for, most provinces now do so automatically when you register the birth, but not all.

[tjthemanto]

There are also lot of low income seniors who are missing out on OAS , GIS , CPP benefits etc because they just don't know about it and don't apply for it

I think just by default bcoz they didn't apply for it ..people lose lot of gov. Benefits

I hope you get most of your benefits back ..retroactively..but I believe they ( CRA ) only go back a certain period to give you your retro benefits even if the actually period you missed is much larger

[itsmewhoelse]

Yes they give you papers for you to take your time and effort filling out and duly submitting them, and then somewhere along the lines the paper work gets crossed or lost.
My son and DIL had the GD last year. She did the same, filled out paper work in hospital and send it along. I told her you should call after waiting about a month to make sure that everyone has your paper work. Of course the UCCB did not have her paper work, and had she not called she may have had to wait much longer. Or in a case like yours, might over look that a benefit had not come in as you had sent in the paperwork and were receiving some benefit.

[mandolinatou]

I know I immediately completed the paperwork the hospital gave me which included some benefits for Quebec residents with children. I also registered her birth right away and her SIN. I registered her in the daycares one year later. I filed my taxes every year. It definitely was not an automatic process for me. I don't have a lot of friends with children here because again I moved here from the states. So people saying I don't know how this was missed, can know it can be missed. The government won't hound you to give you money.

[tjthemanto]

It depends when you applied, since not all provinces were onboard with the one form at first. It's been a gradual process. And yes you can get retroactive payments if you neglected to apply for UCCB or even CCTB. Quebec has a separate tax system, and benefits, so it's possible to get one but not the other there, if you applied a few years ago. It shouldn't be the case now if you were to apply now.

Regardless though, it is a good idea for any new parent to call about their benefits, you never know if something was missed. CCTB/UCCB is something you have to apply for, most provinces now do so automatically when you register the birth, but not all.

How far back will they go to give those retroactive payments ?

If you missed them for 4 yrs ..will you get the retro payments for all 4 yrs that you missed , or will they go back only a year or so ?

[gwennad]

You should be able to go back to when you're eligibility began, but CRA may ask for more proof of residency and possibly other information, such as information on if someone else was claiming the child (there is a lot of fraud with this type of thing, especially in cases of divorce and separation so they like to make sure before they pay the money). In this case because the person was receiving Quebec benefits it should not be an issue.