Grocery Benefit Pays Monday, Oct. 5: What You'll Actually Get — and Who Gets $0

 

The second Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB) payment lands Monday, Oct. 5, and it's the last one of 2026. Some households will see $222.50. Others will see nothing. Here's how to tell which group you're in.

At a glance

Payment date: Monday, Oct. 5, 2026 (tax-free)

Maximum per payment: $169.75 single, $222.50 couple, plus $58.50 per child under 19

Based on: your 2025 tax return

Next payments: January and April 2027

Check which number you're reading: yearly or per payment

A lot of coverage this week quotes $679 for singles and $890 for couples. Those are the yearly maximums for the July 2026 to June 2027 benefit year, paid in four quarterly instalments. What arrives Monday is one quarter of that.

Household	Max per year	Max per payment
Single, no children	$679	$169.75
Married or common-law	$890	$222.50
Each child under 19 (added on)	$234	$58.50
First child in a single-parent family	$445	$111.25

Most households get less than the maximum

The CGEB is income-tested on your 2025 adjusted family net income. The full amount goes to lower-income households. Above roughly $46,000, the benefit shrinks by about 5 cents for every extra dollar you earned, until it hits zero.

Here's what that looks like in practice, using CRA-based examples reported by Global News:

Household	2025 income	Per year	Per payment
Single, no children	$11,564	$445	$111.25
Single, no children	$55,000	$250.60	$62.65
Married or common-law, no children	$46,432 or less	$890	$222.50
Single parent, two children	$45,000 or less	$1,358	$339.50

Notice the first row. A single person at the very bottom of the income scale gets the $445 base amount, while a single person with more work income can get the full $679, because the extra single supplement phases in as income rises. Your CRA notice, or the CRA's online calculator, shows your exact figure.

Where the cheques stop: the 2025 income cutoffs

If your 2025 income is below the cutoff for your household, you typically qualify for at least a partial payment. Above it, the answer is $0.

Household	Single	Married or common-law
No children	$60,012	$64,232
One child	$68,912	$68,912
Two children	$73,592	$73,592
Three children	$78,272	$78,272
Four or more children	$82,952	$82,952

Income isn't the only reason you might get nothing

Two basic rules apply before income even comes into it. You have to be a Canadian resident for tax purposes in the month before the payment (September) and at the start of the payment month (Oct. 1). And you have to be at least 19, unless you have a spouse or common-law partner, or you're a parent living with your child.

There's also no application. The CRA works out your entitlement from your tax return, so no filed 2025 return generally means no benefit. The agency only sends a notice if you're entitled to a payment, so if you've never received one, that's your first clue.

Filed late? Expect a bigger deposit

If you filed your 2025 return after the July payment went out and you qualify, the CRA pays the amount you missed retroactively, so Monday's deposit can be larger than a standard quarter. Starting next year, the CRA is set to begin filing returns automatically for lower-income households with simple tax situations. Until then, filing is the only way in.

If the money doesn't show up Monday

Start with your CRA My Account: confirm your banking and mailing details are current and check whether a notice was issued. The CRA asks you to wait 10 business days after the payment date before calling about a missing payment. Thanksgiving Monday (Oct. 12) doesn't count as a business day, so by my count that window runs through Oct. 20.

One more thing: scammers love payment weeks. Since there's nothing to apply for, any text or email telling you to "claim" your grocery benefit is a red flag.

The bigger picture

The CGEB replaced the GST/HST credit in July with payments about 25% higher. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has estimated the program could cost Ottawa $12.4 billion over six years. For the households at the lower end of the income scale it's a modest cushion, not a fix, and with headline inflation at 3.0% in August, those dollars matter most where the benefit is largest.

What it means for you

Divide the yearly figure on your CRA notice by four to know what to expect Monday. If your 2025 income is above your household's cutoff, there's nothing to fix. If it's below and you've never received a payment, file your return and check My Account. And if anyone asks you to "apply" or "claim" it, ignore them.

Figures current as of Oct. 4, 2026, cross-checked against CRA-based reporting from Global News, Yahoo Finance Canada, Narcity and Money.ca. Your exact amount depends on your own return, so confirm it in CRA My Account or with the CRA's benefits calculator. This article is general information, not financial advice.