Medical Expense Tax Credit in Canada: What You Can Claim and When It Pays

How the medical expense tax credit is calculated

The CRA’s calculation for line 33099 has three steps: add up eligible expenses for a 12-month period ending in the tax year; subtract the lesser of 3% of your net income (line 23600) and the annual ceiling; then claim the federal credit on the result at the lowest federal rate. The matching provincial credit is claimed on line 58689 of your Form 428 (Quebec residents use the Revenu Québec return).

Because the deduction is the lesser of the two, the 3% test applies up to a net income of $96,333 in 2026. Above that, everyone subtracts the same $2,890. A person earning $30,000 only has to spend more than $900 before the credit starts; a person earning $150,000 has to spend more than $2,890.

Worked example: with $60,000 of net income in 2026, your threshold is 3% × $60,000 = $1,800. If you paid $4,500 of unreimbursed dental work, glasses and prescriptions, you claim $2,700, worth $378 in federal tax at 14%, plus your province’s credit.

Is it worth claiming medical expenses on taxes in Canada?

It is worth claiming whenever your unreimbursed expenses exceed your threshold, and it costs nothing to include them if they do not. People who most often benefit include those with modest incomes, families paying for orthodontics, people without workplace drug or dental coverage, anyone paying private health insurance premiums, and families with large costs such as fertility treatment, attendant care or travel for treatment.

People who rarely benefit are higher earners whose employer plan reimburses most costs, because only the unreimbursed part counts and their threshold is the full ceiling. Even then, pool the whole household: one large bill can push a family over the line.

Which spouse should claim, and choosing the 12-month period

Either spouse can claim the family’s expenses for themselves, their spouse and children under 18, and the CRA recommends that the spouse with the lower net income usually claims, because their 3% threshold is lower. Example: a couple has $6,000 of expenses in 2026. If the spouse earning $110,000 claims, the threshold is $2,890 and the federal credit is $435. If the spouse earning $40,000 claims, the threshold is $1,200 and the credit is $672, $237 more. The lower earner needs enough tax payable to use a non-refundable credit, so check both returns.

You do not have to use the calendar year. Any 12-month period ending in the tax year works, as long as the expenses were not claimed before. If braces were paid from September to the following August, choosing a period that ends in August captures them all in one claim. For a person who died, the window is any 24-month period that includes the date of death.

Expenses for other dependants, such as an adult child or a parent who depends on you, go on line 33199, with the threshold based on the dependant’s own net income.

Eligible medical expenses: what qualifies and what does not

The CRA publishes a long list of eligible expenses with the conditions for each. Commonly claimed and frequently refused items include:

• Eligible: dental services and orthodontics paid to a medical practitioner, dentures and implants, eyeglasses and contact lenses (prescription needed), and prescription drugs recorded by a pharmacist.
• Eligible: premiums for private health services plans, including medical, dental and hospitalization plans, if at least 90% of the premiums paid under the plan are for eligible medical expenses. Premiums paid to provincial or territorial government health plans are not.
• Eligible: travel for medical care not available locally – public transport if you travel at least 40 km each way, and also meals, lodging and parking if it is at least 80 km.
• Eligible: fertility procedures and in vitro fertility programs, and certain renovation costs for a person with a severe and prolonged mobility impairment.
• Not eligible: over-the-counter medications, vitamins and supplements (except vitamin B12 for pernicious anaemia), even if prescribed; purely cosmetic procedures.

Refundable medical expense supplement for low-income workers

Working people with low incomes may also get the refundable medical expense supplement on line 45200, which pays out even if you owe no tax. For 2025 returns you must be 18 or older, resident in Canada all year, have at least $4,390 of employment or self-employment earnings, and have adjusted family net income under $63,374. The maximum is $1,504, reduced once family income passes $33,294.

For 2026 the CRA’s indexed figures are a maximum of $1,534, a minimum earnings level of $4,478 and a family net income threshold of $33,960.

Disability supports deduction: an alternative for some expenses

If you have an impairment in physical or mental functions, some expenses can be claimed either as medical expenses on line 33099 or as a disability supports deduction on line 21500, or split between the two, as long as the total does not exceed what you paid. A deduction reduces net income, which can be worth more than a credit at the lowest federal rate and can also lower your 3% threshold and income-tested benefits, so compare both before filing.

Receipts and common mistakes

Do not send receipts with your return, but keep them. Receipts must name the company or practitioner paid, and some items need a prescription, written certification or an approved Form T2201 (disability tax credit certificate). Common mistakes include claiming the reimbursed part of a bill, claiming the same expense in two years, claiming expenses for a dependant over 18 on line 33099 instead of 33199, and forgetting that a lower-income spouse would get more from the same receipts.