Canadians will get child benefit cheques this week amid Canada Post strike

Editor’s note: This story has been updated after Canada Post informed Global News that staff at its retail locations had posted the wrong notice on their door regarding the benefits that will be delivered during the strike.  

The latest child benefits are going out to Canadian parents this week amid a postal disruption as thousands of Canada Post workers remain on a nationwide strike.

Eligible families who have children under the age of 18 years will receive November payments of the Canada child benefit (CCB) on Wednesday.

Parents who are expecting payments via mail will still get their cheques delivered, Canada Post and the Canada Revenue Agency has said.

“Canada Post has agreed to deliver benefit cheques for the Canada child benefit and related provincial and territorial benefits (including the Alberta child and family benefit) for November 20, 2024,” the CRA says on its website.

The Crown corporation says it has a “special agreement” with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) so that socio-economic cheques can be delivered on Wednesday despite the ongoing labour disruption.

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Other government benefit cheques that will continue to be delivered amid the strike include the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and Pension Cheques from Alberta Seniors.

The CCB payments are calculated based on the adjusted family net income, as reported in the previous year’s tax return, the number of children and their ages, according to the CRA.

The CCB amounts were increased in July after a routine annual recalculation based on a family’s net income from the previous year and inflation.

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In November, parents could receive a maximum payment of $648.91 for each child under the age of six years. That is an annual increase of 4.7 per cent relative to 2023.

For every child aged six to 17 years, the maximum CCB payment will be $547.50, which is a 4.7-per cent increase from last year.

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Families will get the maximum amount for each child if their adjusted family net income is less than $36,502.

“The payments gradually start decreasing when the adjusted family net income is over $36,502,” the CRA states on its website.

Families whose total benefits for the year are less than $240 would have received a lump sum amount in July and therefore won’t be getting anything this month.

To be eligible for the CCB payments, a person must reside in Canada with a child who is under the age of 18 years and must be their primary caregiver.

The CCB can also be paid out for a foster child as long as the children’s special allowances (CSA) are not payable in a given month, the CRA says.

If parents share custody of a child, then they each would get 50 per cent of the benefits.

The payments go directly into bank accounts or cheques are mailed out.