Home -> Filing Your Return -> Students -> Tax credits for tuition, education and textbooks
Line 32300 Tuition, Education and Textbook Tax Credits
Note: Before tax year 2019, line 32300 was line 323.
Income Tax Act s. 118.5, 118.6
The tax credits for tuition, education and textbook amounts are non-refundable tax credits. The Federal education and textbook tax credits are eliminated for taxation years after 2016. Some provincial and territorial tuition, education and textbook tax credits have been eliminated as well.
See our tables of non-refundable personal tax credits for amounts of education tax credits still available for each province/territory.
Tuition Tax Credit Claimed in Year Courses Taken
Tax Return Forms for Tuition Tax Credit
Eligibility for Tuition Tax Credit
Courses Taken in Another Province
Some Education Costs Not Claimable
Cost of Courses Required For Employment
Canada Training Credit Reduces Tuition Tax Credit
Ordering of Tax Credits Can Cause Loss of Other Tax Credits
Education and Textbook Amount Tax Credits
Education Tax Credits Retained by Some Provinces and Territories
Education Tax Credits and Some Tuition Tax Credits Eliminated by Some Provinces and Territories
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Resources
Tuition Tax Credit
The tuition tax credit is available Federally and in all provinces and territories except for Ontario (2018+), Saskatchewan (2018+) and Alberta (2020+, as per the Alberta 2019 Budget).
Tuition Tax Credit Claimed in Year Courses Taken
The Income Tax Act s. 118.5(1)(a) wording is that the claimable amount for tuition is for the amount "paid in respect of the year", not "paid in the year". This means that it is claimed in the year the courses are taken, so a prepayment is not claimed until the year in which the courses are taken.
Tax Return Forms for Tuition Tax Credit
To claim the tuition, education and textbook tax credits, or to transfer them to another person, you must complete both the Federal Schedule 11 of your tax return, and the provincial S11 form.
The Federal and provincial (except Quebec) forms are available on the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) website.
Quebec uses Schedule T for tuition or examination fees being claimed or carried forward. See Quebec provincial tax return forms. See Quebec Personal Tax Credits for more information on the Quebec tuition and examination fees tax credit.
Eligibility for Tuition Tax Credit
In general the following qualify for the tuition tax credit:
- Where the individual was during the year a student enrolled at an educational
institution in Canada that is
- a university, college or other educational institution (could be a high school) providing courses at a post-secondary school level, or
- certified by the Minister of Employment and Social development to be
an educational institution providing courses, other than courses for
university credit, that furnish a person with skills for, or improve a
person's skills in, an occupation:
 | tuition fees paid in
respect of the year to the educational institution, but the
following fees cannot be claimed:
|
Minimum Amount - no tuition fees can be deducted unless the total qualifying fees paid to the institution in the year exceeds $100.
Courses taken outside Canada may also qualify for the tuition and education tax credits.
Some specific ancillary fees and charges may also qualify, but with many exclusions - see our pdf on this from s. 118.5(3) of the Income Tax Act.Courses Taken in Another Province
When a student temporarily moves to another province to attend an educational institution, they will file their return for their usual province of residence. See For Which Province do I File a Tax Return?
Tuition Fee Receipt or T2202
To claim the tax credit for tuition fees, you must have received from the educational institution either an official tax receipt or a completed form T2202, Tuition and Enrolment Certificate. If you paid less than $100 for the year to any particular educational institution, that amount is not claimable. Otherwise, the total tuition fees paid in the year are claimable. This could also include the cost of courses and seminars related to your work.
Some Education Costs Not Claimable
The costs of books, room and board, or student association fees cannot be claimed. If the fees were paid by your employer or the employer of one of your parents, then the costs are not deductible unless the reimbursed amount is included in your income or your parent's income. Private school tuition fees for elementary and secondary students are generally not tax deductible. See our private school tuition fees article.
Cost of Courses Required For Employment
If you were taking courses as a requirement of your employment, and your employer has provided you with a form T2200, Declaration of Conditions of Employment indicating this requirement, then the cost can be claimed as an employment expense, instead of as a tuition tax credit.
Canada Training Credit Reduces Tuition Tax Credit
The amount claimed for the refundable Canada Training Credit reduces the amount available for the tuition tax credit.
Ordering of Tax Credits Can Cause Loss of Other Tax Credits
The tuition/education/textbook amounts carried forward are always reduced by the maximum amount that can be claimed in the year, even if the maximum amount is not claimed.
When tax credits are claimed on the tax return, several tax credits are applied after applying the maximum credit allowed for the year for tuition and education. The tuition/education/textbook amount claimed will be whatever is needed to reduce taxes to zero before the following:
| transfer of tuition/education amounts to parents/grandparents |
| transfer of unused tax credits to spouse - this can include the tuition tax credit |
| medical expense tax credit, |
| charitable donations (but these can be carried forward 5 years), |
| student loan interest (but this can be carried forward 5 years), |
| dividend tax credits, or |
| political contributions (federal can be claimed by either spouse) |
This can result in a loss of some the above tax credits, because the amount of tuition/education amounts claimed in the year is an automatic calculation, not a choice.
Even if tuition, education and textbook credits are not claimed, the Income Tax Act (ITA) dictates that the unused credits at the end of the year are determined by deducting the amount that the individual "may deduct" for the year.
This can also affect former students with tuition carried forward, as it did in the Tax Court Case Zhang v. The Queen, 2017 TCC 258. Dr. Zhang, dentist, claimed dividend tax credits instead of using the maximum that she could use for tuition credits. Unfortunately, according to the ITA, the amount of tuition/education/textbook credits carried forward was still reduced by the maximum amount that she could have claimed.
Tax software will automatically claim the maximum amount for tuition/education/textbooks, as will the Detailed Canadian Tax and RRSP Calculator.
Education and Textbook Amount Tax Credits
The Federal 2016 Budget included the following provisions affecting students:
| cancel the education and textbook tax credits effective January 1, 2017, but maintain the tuition tax credit. Other income tax provisions such as the tax exemption for scholarship, fellowship and bursary income currently rely on the eligibility for the education tax credit. Changes will be made to these provisions so that they will be unaffected by the elimination of the education tax credit. |
| increase maximum Canada Student Grant for low-income students to $3,000 per year for full-time students, to $1,800 per year for part-time students, to $1,200 per year for middle-income students, and increase the income thresholds for eligibility. See Enhancing Canada Student Grants on the 2016 Budget website. |
| make student loan system more flexible to ensure that no graduate with student loans will be required to make any repayment until they are earning at least $25,000 per year. This will be done by changing the income thresholds in the Repayment Assistance Plan for recent graduates. See Making Student Debt More Manageable on the 2016 Budget website. |
The cancellation of the education and textbook tax credits automatically cancels these credits for all provinces (except Alberta) and territories as well, unless they make legislative changes to keep them. Alberta is the only province where the tax legislation doesn't make the education tax credit dependent on the federal tax credit, so they would have to make a legislative change to eliminate this credit. The textbook tax credit was only available federally and in Yukon and Nunavut. The Alberta government has said "Should the education tax credit be changed or eliminated federally, Alberta will assess the implications for its own education tax credit at that time." It seems logical that they would also eliminate the credit.
See above for notes on what provinces have announced for the education and textbook amount tax credits for 2017.
The education amount tax credit can be claimed for each whole or part month in which you were enrolled in a qualifying program at a designated educational institution. The educational institution must provide either a T2202 Tuition and Enrolment Certificate or another Authorized Certificate. The certificate will show the number of months you were enrolled in a qualifying educational program or a specified educational program. The amount that can be claimed is $400 per month for full time enrollment, or $120 per month for part time enrollment. To qualify for part time enrollment, the student must spend at least 12 hours per month on courses in the qualifying program.
If you attended only part time and are eligible for the disability tax credit (see Disability Amount Tax Credit), then you can claim $400 per month. If you attended only part time because of a disability which would qualify you for the disability tax credit except that it is not severe and prolonged, you can claim $400 per month. In this case an authorized person must complete part 3 of form T2202, or give you a signed letter certifying your impairment.
Starting with the 2004 taxation year, if a person takes a qualifying educational program in connection with their employment, this qualifies for the education tax credit providing that no part of the cost of the education is reimbursed by the employer.
The textbooks tax credit is an additional tax credit that started in 2006, similar to the education tax credit, for textbooks. The federal non-refundable tax credit is based on $65/month for full-time attendance or $20/month for part-time attendance.
For education and textbook amounts by province/territory, see the tables of non-refundable tax credits.
Federal 2010 Budget change:
| that a post-secondary program consisting primarily of research will only be eligible for the education tax credit and the scholarship exemption if it leads to a college or CEGEP diploma, or a bachelor, masters or doctoral degree or equivalent. |
Education Tax Credits Retained by Some Provinces and Territories
Manitoba's 2017 Budget announced that the Manitoba Education Tax Credit will not be eliminated.
New Brunswick's 2019 Budget reinstated the tuition tax credit, and allowed 2017 and 2018 tuition tax credits to be claimed on the 2019 tax return.
Newfoundland & Labrador has retained the education tax credit.
Northwest Territories' 2017 Budget resulted in Bill 17, which retains the education tax credit.
Nova Scotia tabled Bill 39 so that the education tax credit is retained.
Nunavut tabled Bill 36 so that the education and textbook tax credits are retained.
Prince Edward Island's 2017 Budget announced that the PEI Education Tax Credit would be preserved for 2017 and subsequent taxation years.
Education Tax Credits and Some Tuition Tax Credits Eliminated by Some Provinces and Territories
Alberta's 2019 Budget eliminates the education and tuition tax credits for 2020 and later taxation years. Alberta credits earned prior to 2020 can still be claimed by Alberta residents. However, if you moved to Alberta after December 31, 2019, you cannot claim any unused tuition and education credits from another province or territory. If an individual is not resident in Alberta on the last day of a taxation year ending after December 31, 2019, the amount of the individual's provincial carried forward tuition and education amounts is nil.
BC's 2018 Budget eliminated the education tax credit for 2019 and later taxation years.
New Brunswick passed legislation to eliminate both the tuition and education tax credits effective for the 2017 and subsequent taxation years. Their 2019 budget (see above) reinstated the tuition tax credit, but not the education tax credits.
Ontario's 2016 Budget announced that the ON tuition and education tax credits would be discontinued. The tuition tax credit can be claimed for eligible tuition fees paid up to September 4, 2017. Education tax credit can be claimed for months of study before September 2017. If you moved to Ontario after December 31, 2017, you cannot claim any unused tuition and education credits from another province or territory. If an individual is not resident in Ontario on the last day of a taxation year ending after December 31, 2021, the amount of the individual's carried forward provincial unused tuition and education amounts is nil.
The Saskatchewan 2017 Budget announced the elimination of the tuition and education tax credits effective July 1, 2017. This means that tuition fees paid in January to June 2017 can be claimed, and education amounts of $120 per month for part-time and $400 per month for full-time can be claimed for the months of January to June 2017.
Yukon tabled legislation to eliminate the education tax credit for the 2017 and later taxation years.
TaxTips.ca Resources
Canada Training Credit - refundable
Transfer or carry-forward of unused tuition, education or textbook amounts
Tuition Tax Credit for Courses Outside Canada - tuition and education tax credits
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Resources
S1-F2-C1: Qualifying Student and the Education and Textbook Tax Credits - Updated as of December 12, 2018
Line 32300 (line 323 prior to 2019) Your tuition, education and textbook amounts
Revised: April 06, 2024