Taxes are deducted from each of your pay cheques and remitted to the government on your behalf. You complete a tax return annually to determine if you owe the government more money, or if they owe you a refund. 

After submitting your tax return, you will receive a Notice of Assessment (NOA) from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). This can be found at the end of submission. Please keep the NOA and all your tax-related paperwork for your records. 

To review your personal income tax, benefit information, and manage your tax affairs online, you can create a CRA personal account. Follow instructions here to register: Register for a CRA account – Canada.ca.

All Canadian residents who lived in Canada on Dec. 31, 2025 are expected to file an income tax return. It is best to meet with a tax preparer who can help you file your income tax return and assist you with obtaining the maximum benefit from your return. If you are eligible for a tax refund, you will be paid via cheque or direct deposit to your bank account after your electronic return has been processed by the CRA (direct deposit is fastest).

If you are a resident of Canada or an international student who is here on a study permit and residing in Canada temporarily, you may be eligible for certain benefit payments or credits from the CRA. To claim any benefit payments that you might be entitled to, you must file an income tax return. All Canadian residents as of Dec. 31 of the previous year must also file an income tax return.

Your income tax return must be filed on, or before, April 30 of the year following the year for which the return is being filed. For example, if you’re filing your 2025 tax return, your deadline would be April 30, 2026. If you owe any taxes and you file your tax return late, you will be charged with a late-filing penalty and interest on any unpaid amounts.

• T4 – employment income
• T4A – OSAP, scholarship, and bursary amounts
• T4E – employment insurance benefits
• T5007 – worker’s compensation benefits, ODSP/social assistance income
• T5 or T3 – Investment income

***Please note that we will only be able to support students with simple tax returns for the 2025 year.

• Tuition & education amounts (T2202)
• Medical expenses
• Disability supports expenses
• Childcare expenses
• Student loan interest paid in the previous year
• Union dues
• Charitable donations
• RRSP contributions
• Disability Tax Credit

Tax Clinic support workers provide assistance for simple tax returns only, which exclude bankruptcy, capital gains or losses, rental income and expenses, business income and expenses (including self-employment income), and interest income over $1200, etc.

Please refer to the IGNITE Tax Clinic Checklist shared under “Let’s Talk Taxes” on our website to learn about the relevant documents that you may require to file your taxes.

Keep all of the documents relating to your income tax returns for at least 6 years, in case you are asked to provide this information to the CRA in the future.

Yes, the CRA always needs to know your current mailing address, so you can receive any benefits that you might be eligible to receive on time. If any mail is returned to them, they will stop all benefit payments until you contact them to provide your updated mailing address.

You can update your address in a variety of ways. Visit the CRA website to learn more: Change your address – Update your personal information with the CRA – Canada.ca.

Yes, your employer will issue you a T4 slip for each year that you’ve worked with them, and you will need to include the information from that slip on your tax return. All worldwide/foreign income is to be reported on your tax return every year.

If you worked for multiple employers, you would receive a separate T4 from each one and must report the information from each slip.

If you owe taxes to the government, your tuition credits will help reduce the amount of income tax you owe. If you do not owe income tax, your tuition credits will be carried forward and applied to a year when you do owe tax. Since most post-secondary students don’t owe taxes as they are usually low-income individuals, your tuition credits would be applied to your tax return in the future once you graduate and start earning a higher income at which point you can use the tuition credits to reduce any taxes that are owing.

The only way to carry forward your tuition credits is by filing a tax return every year.

If you don’t want your tuition credits to be carried forward, you can also transfer up to $5,000 of the current-year amount to your:

1. Spouse or common law partner
2. Your parent or grandparent
3. Your spouse or common law partner’s parent
4. Your spouse or common law partner’s grandparent

To transfer tuition credits, you must complete the Transfer section at the bottom of your T2202 and whoever is receiving your tuition credits will report it on their tax return.

If you pay rent, you are eligible for the Ontario Trillium Benefit. The Ontario Trillium Benefit is paid to help low/modest income earners offset their sales tax on goods and services. Your landlord is legally required to provide rent receipts (section 109 of the Ontario Residential Tenancies Act).

Yes, they do need to file a return for your family to receive the GST Credit and Ontario Trillium Benefit if they live in Canada; you must let the CRA know they did not have any income.

The GST/HST credit is a non-taxable quarterly payment that helps individuals and families with low and modest incomes offset all or part of the goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) that they pay. You may be entitled to the GST/HST credit after your arrival in Canada if you are considered a resident of Canada for tax purposes. You will automatically be considered for the GST Credit when you file your tax return. The CRA will determine your eligibility after they process your return. The payment schedule for the GST Credit is quarterly, beginning in July of each benefit year.

The Ontario Trillium Benefit combines the following: Ontario Sales Tax Credit, Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit, and Northern Ontario Energy Credit. When claiming your rent, you must obtain a rent receipt from your landlord; make sure to keep your rent receipts, as the CRA may ask for them. Claiming rent when you do not have a rent receipt from your landlord may result in you having to repay the government the money you received for the benefit. The payment schedule for the OTB is monthly on the 10th of each month provided the total amount owed to you for the credit is greater than $360. If the total amount owed is below $360, you will receive a lump sum payment.

Once you file your tax return, you will automatically be considered for any tax benefits that may apply to you. The CRA will determine your eligibility for these benefits after they process your tax return. Therefore, it is important to be current with filing your taxes to ensure that your benefit payments are not interrupted.

The Canada Child Benefit (CCB) is a tax-free monthly payment made to eligible families to help them with the cost of raising children under 18 years of age. The application for the CCB is made on your income tax return. The payment schedule for the CCB is monthly on the 20th of each month.

To receive updates and access your personal tax information after filing your taxes, we recommend creating a MyAccount with the Canada Revenue Agency. CRA MyAccount is a secure online portal that lets you view your personal income tax and benefit information and manage your tax affairs online.

You can also contact the Canada Revenue Agency with your questions here: Contact the Canada Revenue Agency