Newcomer’s guide to Canadian taxes: your first year

Your first-year tax roadmap

Here is the order most newcomers follow. Each step links to a detailed guide or tool.

1. Get your Social Insurance Number (SIN). It is your tax number. See how to get a SIN.
2. Confirm your residency date. This is usually the day you arrived to stay. Check it with our tax residency checker.
3. Apply for benefits now. Use RC151 for the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit and RC66 for the Canada Child Benefit. Estimate amounts with the benefit estimator.
4. Keep records. Save pay slips, foreign income records and your arrival proof (for example, your Confirmation of Permanent Residence or work permit with the entry stamp date).
5. File your first return by April 30 of the next year. Follow our step-by-step guide to your first return.
6. Use your new accounts. You get TFSA room in your first year. See TFSA and RRSP room for your arrival year.

When do you become a tax resident of Canada?

For tax, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) does not look at your immigration status. It looks at your residential ties. You become a resident when you have enough ties to Canada.

• Significant ties: a home in Canada, a spouse or common-law partner in Canada, or dependants in Canada.
• Secondary ties: a car or furniture, Canadian bank accounts or credit cards, a provincial driver’s licence or health card, and social ties such as memberships.

For most immigrants, the residency date is the day they arrive and settle with a home here. Permanent residents, workers and international students can all be tax residents. If your case is unclear, you can ask the CRA for an opinion with Form NR74.

What income do you report in your first year?

Your first return covers the whole calendar year, but it treats the year in two parts:

The CRA says to convert foreign amounts to Canadian dollars using the Bank of Canada rate on the day you received the income. If another country also taxed your income after you became a resident, you may claim a foreign tax credit so you do not pay twice.

Tax deadlines for newcomers

• Tax year: January 1 to December 31.
• Filing deadline: April 30 of the next year. If you arrived in 2026, your 2026 return is due April 30, 2027.
• Self-employed (you or your spouse): file by June 15, but pay any balance by April 30.
• NETFILE: the CRA’s online filing service accepts returns from February 23, 2026 to January 29, 2027 for 2025 and earlier years. Dates for 2026 returns are announced early in 2027.

You do not have to file for a year before you became a resident unless you had certain Canadian income. Not sure? Take the Do I need to file? quiz.

Why your first-year credits are smaller

Everyone gets a basic personal amount: income up to this amount is tax-free. For 2026, the federal amount is $16,452 (as of October 2026). In your arrival year, the CRA cuts it by the number of days you were a resident:

Days resident ÷ 365 × full amount. If you arrived on July 2, 2026 (183 days), your federal amount is about $8,249.

Some credits are not cut, because they depend on what you paid while resident: CPP and EI contributions, the Canada employment amount, tuition, medical expenses, donations and student loan interest. See how this affects you with the part-year tax estimator.

You also pay provincial or territorial tax. Quebec residents file a separate Quebec return.

Benefits you can get in your first year

You do not need to wait for your first return. New residents can apply as soon as they arrive.

• Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB): replaced the GST/HST credit in July 2026. Up to $679 a year for a single person (July 2026 to June 2027), paid every three months. Apply with RC151.
• Canada Child Benefit (CCB): up to $8,157 a year per child under 6 and $6,883 per child aged 6 to 17 (July 2026 to June 2027). Apply with RC66 and RC66SCH.
• Canada Workers Benefit (CWB): for low-income workers, but only if you were a resident for the whole year, so usually not in your arrival year.

Many provinces add their own credits, paid with these benefits. See government benefits for newcomers.

Foreign property, money and savings accounts

• Foreign property over $100,000: from your second tax year, you may need Form T1135. Check with the T1135 checker.
• Money you bring: savings you bring to Canada are not income. See bringing money to Canada.
• TFSA: you get the full $7,000 of room for 2026 in the year you become a resident, if you are 18 or older and have a SIN.
• RRSP: room comes from Canadian earned income, so it usually starts in your second year.

Free and low-cost ways to file

A simple first return does not need to cost much.

• Certified tax software: the CRA lists Better Tax, GenuTax Standard and Wealthsimple Tax as free for everyone. Compare them in our tax software comparison or take the software quiz.
• Free tax clinics: the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) helps people with a modest income and a simple tax situation. Settlement agencies often host clinics in several languages.
• A tax professional: worth it if you have foreign rental income, a business, large foreign investments or a complex move.

Common questions

Sources

• CRA: Newcomers to Canada (immigrants)
• CRA tax tip: Taxes made simple for newcomers to Canada (2026)
• CRA: Determining your residency status
• CRA: Federal non-refundable tax credits for newcomers and emigrants
• CRA: Tax rates and income brackets for the 2026 tax return
• CRA: Adjustment of personal income tax and benefit amounts (2026)
• CRA: Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit
• CRA: How we calculate your CCB (July 2026 to June 2027)
• CRA: Canada workers benefit, who is eligible
• CRA: Guide RC4466, Tax-Free Savings Account guide for individuals
• CRA: Questions and answers about Form T1135
• CRA: Certified tax software for NETFILE
• CRA: Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (free tax clinics)

Checked against these sources on October 5, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.