Ontario Trillium Benefit Calculator Canada

What the Ontario Trillium Benefit calculator does

The calculator estimates the single payment that carries three Ontario credits and shows each on its own line. Enter adjusted family net income, the household size, the rent or property tax paid for the year and whether you live in Northern Ontario, and the tool reports the energy and property tax credit, the sales tax credit, the northern energy credit, the amount the income test removes and the resulting monthly payment.

The benefit looks like one credit and behaves like three. Each part has its own maximum and reduction rate, and the northern part its own income threshold, so a household can be fully phased out of one while still receiving another in full.

Three credits paid as one amount

The Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit is the largest. It is based on occupancy cost: property tax paid on a home you own, or a share of the rent on a home you rent. It has an energy component and a property tax component, each capped, and together they reach the published maximum for your age band only when housing costs are high enough. A modest rent gives a credit well below the maximum however low the income.

The Ontario Sales Tax Credit is a flat amount for every adult and child in the household, regardless of spending. Two adults with two children start from four times the per-person amount, and nothing has to be documented.

The Northern Ontario Energy Credit goes only to households in the designated northern districts. It has a single amount and a family amount and is tested against a much higher income threshold, so a northern household well past the point where the sales tax credit has gone can still receive it in full.

How the income test works

Each component starts at its maximum and is reduced by a percentage of adjusted family net income above a threshold. The energy and property tax credit and the sales tax credit share a threshold, but the sales tax credit has the faster reduction rate and usually disappears first. The northern credit uses its own higher threshold and a slower rate.

Adjusted family net income is the combined figure for you and a spouse or partner, and the phase-out applies to the total. The calculator applies the family threshold whenever there is a second adult or a child in the household.

Each component is reduced separately and floored at zero, so one that has run out does not eat into the others. As income rises the total falls in stages: one credit runs out, the slope flattens, and the next starts to shrink.

A worked example

A single renter under 65, outside Northern Ontario, with $32,000 of net income pays $14,400 of rent. With 20% of rent counted, occupancy cost is $2,880. Before the income test the energy and property tax credit is $651 and the sales tax credit $378. Income is $2,953 above the $29,047 threshold, so the first credit falls by 2% of that to about $592 and the second by 4% to about $260. The annual entitlement is about $852, paid as about $71 a month, 82.8% of the combined maximum.

Occupancy cost: renters and owners

An owner’s property tax counts in full. For a renter, a share of rent counts, on the reasoning that the landlord’s property tax is built into the rent. That share is an editable input because it is a programme rule worth being able to test.

Occupancy cost, not income, is often the binding limit. Someone on a modest rent can be well below the income threshold and still receive much less than the maximum. The calculator shows occupancy cost and the credit before the income test separately so you can see what is holding the credit down.

Monthly payments or one July instalment

Above a certain annual entitlement the province pays twelve monthly instalments on the tenth of each month. At or below that ceiling it pays the whole amount once, at the start of the benefit year in July. The calculator fills in whichever applies.

You can also choose on your return to take the whole benefit as one payment in June of the following year, whatever its size. That changes the timing, not the amount, so the tool does not model it.

What the tool does not include

This is the Trillium benefit alone. The Ontario Child Benefit, the Canada Child Benefit and the federal GST/HST credit are separate payments with their own tests. The tool also does not model the rules for people in a long-term care home, on a reserve or in a student residence, which treat occupancy cost differently.

If your notice of determination disagrees with the result, check the phase-out thresholds and reduction rates first, since they are editable inputs.

Reading the result

The main figure is the annual entitlement, the three reduced components added together. The monthly line is that figure divided by twelve when it is above the single-instalment ceiling; otherwise the July line carries it. The share of the combined maximum shows how much of the theoretical entitlement survived the income test, a quick way to see whether income or occupancy cost is the limit.

All figures are an estimate from the published component maximums and the thresholds entered in the tool. They do not account for shared custody, part-year residency, long-term care or reserve accommodation, or adjustments the CRA makes to net income. This is not tax or benefits advice; check your notice of determination or speak to an accountant before acting on it.

About This Tool: Ontario Trillium Benefit

Ontario Trillium benefit: use this tool to get an instant, accurate estimate. The figures follow official guidance and every rate and threshold is kept up to date for 2026. Adjust the inputs above to match your situation, or browse all our calculators to plan your next step.