Personal support worker tax credit — A refundable credit for personal support workers, up to $1,100 — but not in BC

How it works

The Personal Support Workers Tax Credit is a temporary refundable credit worth 5% of eligible earnings, to a maximum of $1,100, for the 2026 to 2030 tax years.

Refundable is the important word. A non-refundable credit can only reduce tax you owe to zero. A refundable one is paid to you even where no tax is owing — but only if a return is filed.

It does not apply in British Columbia, and it does not apply in Newfoundland and Labrador or the Northwest Territories.

Those three are excluded because each signed a bilateral agreement with the federal government under which it receives funding to raise personal support worker wages directly instead. The support arrives through pay rather than through the tax system.

The credit is temporary by design, running for the 2026 to 2030 tax years. It is not a permanent feature of the return, so a worker who becomes eligible partway through that window has a limited number of years in which to claim it.

Eligibility depends on both the worker and the workplace: the credit is for eligible personal support workers at eligible health care establishments. Doing similar work for an employer outside that definition does not qualify, which is why the employer certification matters rather than being a formality.

How it applies to you

Eligible personal support workers at eligible health care establishments — outside British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Territories.

For a worker based in BC, this credit is not available. That is worth stating plainly, because national coverage of the measure will not mention the exclusion and the disappointment usually arrives at filing time.

A BC worker is not worse off overall — the funding for their wages is meant to come through the provincial agreement instead — but there is nothing to claim on a return.

How to calculate it

How the credit is worked out where it applies:

What changed

Those three jurisdictions are excluded because each signed a bilateral agreement with the federal government under which it receives funding to raise personal support worker wages directly instead. Roughly $22,000 of qualifying earnings produces the full $1,100.

What to do

If you work in BC, there is nothing to claim here. That is the single most useful thing to know about this measure locally.

Outside those three jurisdictions, the claim depends on a certification of eligible remuneration from the employer, so it has to be requested rather than assumed.

Because the credit is refundable, a return must be filed to receive it — including by someone with income low enough that they might otherwise not file.

The terms used on this page

Refundable credit

A credit paid to you even where no tax is owing, provided a return is filed.

Non-refundable credit

A credit that can reduce tax owing to zero but no further.

Eligible remuneration

The earnings the credit is calculated on, certified by the employer.

Common questions about personal support worker tax credit

Where this comes from

Every figure on this page is taken from the source below, not from interpretation:

• Budget 2025 — Tax measures: supplementary information

General information, not tax advice. This page explains a change in general terms. It cannot account for your circumstances and does not create a professional relationship. Confirm anything that affects a decision — book a free consult.