Canada Disability Benefit: Amount, Eligibility and Payment Dates

What is the Canada Disability Benefit?

The Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) is a monthly, tax-free federal payment for low-income people with disabilities aged 18 to 64. It is run by Employment and Social Development Canada and paid by Service Canada. The first month of eligibility was June 2025 and the first payments went out in July 2025.

It is separate from the CPP disability benefit, which depends on your work history and CPP contributions, and from provincial disability assistance. The CDB is income-tested on your adjusted family net income, so the amount you get depends on your tax return from the year before. The benefit is adjusted for inflation each year and, according to Canada.ca, the payment will not go down if the cost of living falls.

Worked example: how income reduces the benefit

Canada.ca uses an example of a single person with $35,000 of employment income in the July 2025 to June 2026 year. The arithmetic below follows that example step by step, so you can repeat it with your own numbers.

1. Start with adjusted family net income: $35,000, all from work.
2. Subtract the working income exemption: $35,000 minus $10,000 leaves $25,000.
3. Compare with the single threshold: $25,000 minus $23,000 is $2,000 over.
4. Apply the 20% reduction: $2,000 times 0.20 is $400 a year.
5. Spread it over 12 months: $400 divided by 12 is about $33.33 a month.
6. Subtract from the maximum: $200 minus $33.33 leaves $166.67 a month.

For July 2026 onward, use the $204.20 maximum and the $10,210 exemption in the same steps. Because the exemption only applies to working income, someone with the same total income from other sources would see a bigger reduction. To see how the payment fits the rest of your money, the budget calculator gives you a monthly picture in a few minutes.

When are Canada Disability Benefit payment dates in 2026?

Canada Disability Benefit payments are sent on the third Thursday of each month. Your first payment arrives on the third Thursday of the month after your application is approved and includes any back payments owed, up to 24 months but no earlier than June 2025. Direct deposit is the fastest way to get paid.

Service Canada also announced a one-time $150 supplement to help offset the cost of getting the Disability Tax Credit. It was paid automatically on September 17, 2026 to people who received a CDB payment between July 2025 and June 2026, with a second round planned for winter 2027. Nobody needs to apply for it. If you also receive CPP disability, those deposits follow a different schedule, listed on our CPP payment dates page.

Dates match the Canada.ca benefits payment calendar as checked October 2026.

Making the benefit go further

A payment of around $200 a month matters most when it is planned for. Many people assign it to one fixed cost, such as a phone bill, transit pass or medication co-payments, so it is not absorbed into general spending. Others use part of it to build a small emergency fund.

EMOH Pay is free to start on iPhone, Android and the web, and can track benefit deposits as income alongside your bills and budgets. For a wider view of federal and provincial supports, see our guide to budgeting in Canada. People with low incomes may also qualify for the Canada Dental Care Plan.