12M Canadians to get one-time Grocery and Essentials Benefit

About 12 million Canadians can expect to receive a one-time perk through the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB) starting Friday.

Canadians will get a one-time benefit cash boost worth 50 per cent of the annual benefit.

This supports people who qualified for the January GST/HST credit, providing extra help before the CGEB launches in July.

The government says this translates into as much as $267 for single adults with no children and a maximum of $533 for a couple with two children.

Prime Minister Mark Carney visited a Brampton grocery store on Friday, marking the first payment date of this new benefit.

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Carney says the benefit’s intent is to help lower-income households keep up with the rising cost of living.

In most cases, individuals will not need to apply for the CGEB. Only new residents of Canada may need to apply using Form RC151.

The benefit amount will follow the same calculation rules as the GST/HST credit, with payments from July 2026 to June 2027 determined by information from the 2025 tax return.

Starting in July, the regular quarterly payouts will also rise by 25 per cent for the next five years.

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With Files From The Canadian Press