Home -> Filing Your Return -> Disabilities -> Provincial fitness/activity tax credits
Provincial/Territorial Fitness/Activity Tax Credits
The provinces/territories with fitness or active families tax credits are shown below. Some may have additional amounts for a child with a disability
Manitoba Fitness Tax Credit for Children and Young Adults
Newfoundland & Labrador Refundable Physical Activity Tax Credit
Nova Scotia Refundable Children's Sports and Arts Tax Credit
PEI Non-Refundable Children's Wellness Tax Credit
Saskatchewan Refundable Active Families Benefit
Yukon Refundable Child Fitness Tax Credit
Other Tax Credits for Children
Tax Information for StudentsChildren's Arts Tax Credit (CATC)
Child Amount Tax Credit - no longer available for 2015 and later tax years
Canada Caregiver Amount for infirm minor children
Persons with disabilities - many articles
Tax Tip: Keep the receipts for your children's physical activity programs.
Discontinued Provincial Fitness Tax Credits
BC Children's Fitness Tax Credit started in 2012, and was increased for the 2015 taxation year. This was dependent on the Federal credit, which is eliminated for 2017. The BC September 2017 Budget announced that this tax credit, still available for 2017, not available after the 2017 taxation year.
Nova Scotia Healthy Living Tax Credit - eliminated for 2015 and later years
Ontario Children's Activity Tax Credit - Refundable - eliminated for 2017 and later years
Saskatchewan Active Families Benefit - eliminated for 2016 and later years
Discontinued Line 365 Federal Children's Fitness Amount Tax Credit
Reduced for 2016, eliminated for 2017 taxation year, federally
Income Tax Act s. 122.8 (repealed) (prev s. 118.03, Regulations s. 9400)
The Federal 2016 Budget reduced the 2016 Children's Fitness Amount Tax Credit to $500 from $1,000, and eliminated the tax credit for 2017 and subsequent years. The additional tax credit for a child with a disability will remain at $500 for the 2016 taxation year.
There is a federal refundable tax credit (non-refundable for 2014 and earlier years) available to individuals for registration and membership costs of up to $500 per child ($1,000 for 2014/15, $500 for 2007 to 2013 taxation years), not indexed for inflation. A refundable tax credit is available even if no income tax has been paid - if it exceeds taxes payable, it will be refunded to the taxpayer. This tax credit has been available since the 2007 taxation year. This tax credit is claimed on the personal tax return.
On October 9, 2014, the federal government announced in a news release that the amount that can be claimed under this credit for 2014 and subsequent years is doubled to $1,000 per child, and that the credit is refundable effective for the 2015 and subsequent taxation years. See above for change re 2016.
The tax credit is available for registration and membership costs paid in the taxation year, for prescribed programs of physical activity for their children who are, at the beginning of the taxation year
 | under 16 years of age, or |
| under 18 for a child with a disability (i.e., when any person is able to claim a disability amount tax credit for the child on line 318 of the federal tax return) |
The tax credit is calculated using the lowest tax rate of 15%, so the maximum tax credit per child for 2016 is $75 ($150 for 2014/15, $75 for earlier years).
An additional tax credit is available to an individual for a child with a disability. The additional credit is $500 x the lowest tax rate, if the total of eligible fitness costs for that child in the year is $100 or more. This brings the maximum 2016 tax credit to $150 for a child with a disability ($225 for 2014/2015).
Example of calculation of child fitness tax credit for 2014 and 2015, refundable in 2015 - again, the maximum in 2016 is $75, or $150 for a child with a disability:
| Total cost for prescribed programs for the child | $80 | $100 | $200 | $500 | $1,000 | $1,200 |
| Child fitness tax credit @15% to maximum $150 | $12 | $15 | $30 | $75 | $150 | $150 |
| Additional tax credit for child with disability $500 x 15% | 0 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 75 |
| Total tax credit for child with disability | $12 | $90 | $105 | $150 | $225 | $225 |
The tax credit may be claimed by either spouse, or apportioned between them.
A prescribed program of physical activity includes the following, which are not part of a school's curriculum:
- a weekly program of 8 or more consecutive weeks in which all or substantially all of the activities include a significant amount of physical activity;
- a program of 5 or more consecutive days, if more than 50% of the daily activities include a significant amount of physical activity;
-
a program of 8 or more consecutive weeks, offered to
children by an organization where participants in the program may select
from a variety of activities if
- more than 50% of the activities include a significant amount of physical activity, or
- more than 50% of the time scheduled in the program is scheduled for activities that include a significant amount of physical activity
- membership in an organization for 8 or more consecutive weeks if more than 50% of the activities offered to children by the organization include a significant amount of physical activity
-
for a program of 8 or more consecutive weeks, which does
not meet the 50% requirement of (c) above, offered to children by an
organization where participants in the program may select from a variety of
activities, the portion
- that is the percentage of those activities that include a significant amount of physical activity, or
- that is the percentage of time scheduled in the program that is scheduled for activities that include a significant amount of physical activity
- for membership in an organization for 8 or more consecutive weeks, where the 50% requirement of (d) above is not met, the portion of membership that is the percentage of all the activities offered to children by the organization that are activities that include a significant amount of physical activity
Physical activity means a supervised activity suitable for children (other than an activity where a child rides on or in a motorized vehicle as an essential component of the activity) that
| in the case of a child with a disability, results in movement and in an observable expenditure of energy in a recreational context; and | ||||||||
|
in the case of any other child, contributes to
cardio-respiratory endurance and to one or more of the following:
|
Horseback riding is deemed to be included in the above definition of physical activity.
Any costs which qualify as child care costs must first be claimed as child care costs, with the remainder of eligible costs then claimed through the fitness credit.
For more information, see the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Children's Fitness Tax Credit information from the 2016 General Income Tax Guide.
The Federal Children's Fitness Credit is calculated by the Canadian Tax Calculator, but the amount is not checked to ensure that the maximum is not exceeded.