CANADA — Eligible households are scheduled to receive their next Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit payment Monday, October 5, according to the Canada Revenue Agency's published calendar.

This is the last scheduled quarterly payment of 2026. It is not a new universal payment or an identical amount for every household.

Check your own entitlement

The tax-free benefit supports people with low and modest incomes. It replaced the GST/HST credit in July, when benefit amounts increased by 25 per cent.

October payments use adjusted family net income from the 2025 tax return. Filing a return allows CRA to assess eligibility; readers should check their individual entitlement rather than assume a payment based on someone else's amount.

In a CRA account, the Benefits and credits section shows the expected date and amount. If a payment does not arrive, CRA advises checking its status and personal information, then waiting 10 business days before calling.

Sources: CRA payment calendar; benefit overview.

Representative grocery-checkout file photo, location unspecified: Gerry Thomasen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0; resized. Not a photograph of a benefit recipient.