Ontario Trillium Benefit 2026 | OTB Payment Calculator

Ontario Trillium Benefit (OTB) 2026

The Ontario Trillium Benefit is a provincial tax credit that delivers monthly payments to low-and middle-income Ontario residents to offset property tax, rent, home energy costs, and sales tax. It was created by consolidating three older Ontario credits into a single annual application — the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC), the Ontario Sales Tax Credit (OSTC), and the Northern Ontario Energy Credit (NOEC) — administered through the province but claimed on the same return you file with CRA.

The OTB matters most for renters and homeowners in the bottom two income quintiles. A single renter in Toronto earning $30,000 receives roughly $983 from the energy and property credit alone. Add the sales tax credit and, for Northern Ontario residents, the energy credit, and the combined benefit can reach $1,661 per year for those who qualify for all three components. The payments are non-taxable and do not reduce any other federal benefit.

The benefit year runs from July to June — your 2025 tax return (filed in spring 2026) determines your OTB payments from July 2026 through June 2027. The table below summarizes the three components and their maximum amounts.

OTB Components (2025 Tax Year)

The OTB has three separate components, each with its own eligibility rules, income phase-out threshold, and maximum amount. You may qualify for one, two, or all three depending on where you live in Ontario and your income.

The $1,788 maximum applies only to seniors in Northern Ontario with low income — most southern Ontario residents will receive the OEPTC and OSTC only. The combined benefit for a lower-income renter in Toronto is typically $900–$1,200, while a moderate-income homeowner ($45,000–$55,000) may receive $200–$500 once the income phase-out applies.

Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit (OEPTC)

The OEPTC is the largest component of the OTB and is specifically designed to offset the regressive impact of property taxes on lower-income renters and homeowners. Renters are deemed to pay 25% of their annual rent as “property tax” for the purposes of this credit — an acknowledgment that landlords pass property tax costs into rents, and lower-income tenants bear this burden disproportionately.

The maximum OEPTC is higher for seniors (age 65+) than for non-seniors, reflecting the province’s goal of supporting older Ontarians on fixed incomes. Both groups face the same 4% income reduction rate above $26,535, but the senior maximum starts higher, so seniors retain some credit at income levels where non-seniors receive nothing.

Maximum Amounts

OEPTC by Income

The credit begins to reduce once your adjusted net income passes $26,535, at a rate of 4 cents per dollar of income above that threshold. This means every $1,000 of extra income costs $40 in OEPTC. For non-seniors, the credit is fully phased out by roughly $54,500 of income. Seniors retain a partial credit until approximately $57,500 due to their higher starting amount.

The income used is your personal adjusted net income — not household income. This means a couple where both spouses have income around $30,000 each ($60,000 combined) may still qualify, because each person’s OEPTC is assessed on their individual income of $30,000 rather than the combined figure.

Property Tax or Rent Requirements

To qualify for the OEPTC, you must have lived in an Ontario residence during the year and paid one of the following:

If you are unsure how much property tax you paid, check your municipality’s tax bill or your mortgage statement. Renters multiply their total rent paid in the year by 25% — that figure is what Ontario uses to determine the energy and property credit, not the actual dollar amount of rent.

Ontario Sales Tax Credit (OSTC)

The Ontario Sales Tax Credit offsets the provincial portion of HST paid by lower-income households. Unlike the OEPTC, there is no property ownership or rental requirement — any Ontario resident 18 or older can receive it if their income falls below the phase-out threshold.

Maximum Amount

The credit is $360 per adult. Unlike the GST/HST credit, the OSTC does not add a supplemental amount per child — the maximum for a single adult and the maximum for a family with three children are both $360 for the adult filer.

OSTC by Income

The OSTC begins reducing at the same $26,535 threshold as the OEPTC, at the same 4% rate. Because the maximum is only $360, the credit phases out faster — it is fully gone by about $35,400 of income. This makes the OSTC exclusively a benefit for lower-income Ontarians; anyone earning above $35,400 receives nothing from this component.

Note that the OSTC uses family net income (combined with your spouse or partner), unlike the OEPTC which uses individual income. A couple with one earner at $40,000 and one at $0 would not receive the OSTC, even though the non-earner individually has $0 income. This distinction sometimes catches people off guard when one spouse is employed and the other is not.

Northern Ontario Energy Credit (NOEC)

The Northern Ontario Energy Credit compensates residents of Northern Ontario for higher home energy costs, which are structurally elevated compared to southern Ontario due to colder climate and limited supply infrastructure. It adds to the OEPTC and OSTC — it is not a substitute for them.

Maximum Amounts

Eligible Districts

To qualify, your principal residence must be in one of the following Northern Ontario districts:

If you live in a district not on this list — even in a geographically northern area of the province — you do not qualify for the NOEC. Residency is assessed as of December 31 of the tax year, the same standard that applies to OTB eligibility generally.

NOEC by Income

The NOEC uses family net income and begins reducing above $42,831 — a higher threshold than the OEPTC and OSTC. This means the NOEC extends further up the income scale before it phases out.

Singles lose the full NOEC by around $50,000 of income. Families retain a partial credit until approximately $51,150. The higher threshold compared to the OSTC reflects the fact that energy costs in northern communities are elevated for all income levels, not just the lowest.

Combined OTB Examples

The following examples show how the three components add up in practice. These are based on the 2025 tax year amounts.

Single Renter, Toronto, $35,000 Income

A Toronto renter earning $35,000 is above the OSTC phase-out and below the OEPTC phase-out. The 4% reduction on OEPTC applies to income above $26,535, so the reduction is ($35,000 − $26,535) × 4% = $338, reducing the $1,121 maximum to $783. No NOEC applies (not Northern Ontario), and the OSTC is zero because the $35,000 income exceeds the $35,377 phase-out.

Single, Northern Ontario, $25,000 Income

A single Northern Ontario resident earning $25,000 qualifies for all three components at full value. Income of $25,000 is below all three phase-out thresholds ($26,535), and the NOEC threshold of $42,831 is not even close to applying.

This is near the maximum possible for a non-senior single individual, and it represents a meaningful income supplement — the equivalent of roughly $11/hour of after-tax hourly wage income at 40 hours per week.

Senior Homeowner, $40,000 Income

A senior (65+) homeowner earning $40,000 receives the senior OEPTC at the reduced rate. The reduction is ($40,000 − $26,535) × 4% = $538, applied against the $1,277 senior maximum, yielding $739. Income exceeds the OSTC phase-out, and no NOEC applies.

Compared to a non-senior at the same $40,000 income (who receives $583), the senior receives $156 more per year — the gap reflecting the $156 difference between the senior and non-senior OEPTC maximums.

OTB Payment Schedule

OTB payments are structured so that those receiving meaningful annual benefits get money spread across the year rather than waiting for a single lump sum.

If you prefer a single payment rather than monthly instalments — even if your OTB exceeds $360 — you can make that election when filing your ON-BEN form. This is useful if you would rather receive a larger amount at filing time than track smaller monthly amounts.

2025–2026 Payment Dates

Payments begin in July based on your prior year’s return. The July 2026 payment is the first instalment of the benefit year calculated from your 2025 tax return. If your return is filed late, payments begin after it is assessed and the benefit is backdated to July.

Dates that fall on a weekend or statutory holiday shift to the prior business day.

Eligibility Requirements

All four conditions below must be met to receive any OTB component. Missing any one of them — most commonly failing to file a return — disqualifies you for the entire benefit year.

One of the most common reasons Ontarians miss out on OTB is failing to file a tax return, particularly in years with no income or low income. Since OTB is based on your filed return, not filing means no OTB — even if you would have qualified. Filing is always worth doing for Ontario residents at any income level because the potential benefit can be substantial relative to the cost of filing.

How to Claim OTB

The OTB is claimed through Form ON-BEN, which is part of your Ontario provincial return and submitted alongside your federal T1. Most tax software completes ON-BEN automatically when you indicate you are an Ontario resident and enter the required housing expenses.

Keep receipts or property tax bills as CRA and the Ontario Ministry of Finance can ask you to verify the amounts you entered. Landlords are not required to provide receipts in Ontario, so save your lease agreement and bank records as proof of rent payments.

What If You Moved to Ontario Partway Through the Year?

If you became an Ontario resident during the year, you can still claim the OTB — eligibility is based on being resident in Ontario on December 31 of the tax year. A person who moved to Ontario in September and was resident on December 31 qualifies for the full year’s credit amount based on their income and housing costs during the portion of the year they lived in Ontario.

New Ontario residents should confirm their Ontario rental or property tax amounts for the period they lived in the province and enter only those amounts on Form ON-BEN. Using a full year’s rent when you only lived in Ontario for part of the year would overstate the claim.

Combined Provincial and Federal Benefits for Low-Income Ontarians

The OTB stacks on top of federal benefits, meaning a low-income Ontario resident can receive meaningful combined support from several different programs. The table below shows approximate annual amounts for a single person earning $25,000 in southern Ontario, using 2025–2026 figures.

None of these payments are taxable, and none reduce each other — they are fully stackable. A low-income family with children would add the Canada Child Benefit on top of these figures, potentially adding several hundred dollars per month. The GST/HST credit calculator estimates that federal component based on your family income and household size.

Related Pages

• GST/HST Credit Calculator
• Climate Action Incentive
• Ontario Income Tax
• Property Tax Calculator