ReachableThe Disability Tax Credit: the one form that opens the rest
The Disability Tax Credit lowers the tax you owe. It also does something bigger: it is the key that unlocks the Canada Disability Benefit, the RDSP and several other programs. If you only do one thing this year, do this one.
Checked on 3 September 2026
At a glance
- What you get
- A credit that lowers your income tax, and the approval other programs ask for. For the 2025 tax year the disability amount is $10,138, plus $5,914 more for a child under 18.
- Who it is for
- Anyone whose doctor or nurse practitioner can certify a severe, long-lasting impairment. There is no income test and no age limit. Children, working adults and seniors all qualify.
- What it costs
- Nothing to apply. Some practitioners charge a fee to fill in their part of the form. That fee can be claimed as a medical expense.
- How long it takes
- An appointment with your practitioner, plus the form. The Canada Revenue Agency then reviews it and writes to you with a yes or a no.
- You need this first
- Nothing. This is the first step. Everything else comes after it.
What the Disability Tax Credit is
The Disability Tax Credit — most people say DTC — is a credit on your income tax. It lowers the tax you owe if you have a serious impairment that has lasted, or is expected to last, a long time.
It is non-refundable. That is tax language for: it can bring your tax bill down, but it does not come to you as a cheque on its own. If you do not owe enough tax to use it all, the leftover amount can be moved to a spouse, parent, child or other close relative who supports you.
To get it, a medical practitioner fills in part of a form called T2201, and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) decides yes or no.
What it unlocks
This is the real reason to apply, and almost nobody is told it. Being approved for the DTC is what makes you eligible for a list of other programs. Without it, the door stays shut.
- The Canada Disability Benefit — a monthly federal payment for people aged 18 to 64. You cannot get it without the DTC.
- The Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) — where the government pays up to $1,000 a year into a savings plan for you, even if you never deposit a dollar.
- The Child Disability Benefit — extra monthly money for a family raising a child who has the DTC.
- The Canada Workers Benefit disability supplement — extra money for people with the DTC who are working.
- The Home Accessibility Tax Credit — help with the cost of making a home safer to live in.
Good news
Even if you pay no income tax at all, the DTC is still worth applying for. The approval itself is the thing. It is what the Canada Disability Benefit and the RDSP both check for.
Who qualifies
A medical practitioner has to certify that your impairment is severe and prolonged. In plain words: it is serious, and it is not going away soon.
The CRA looks at whether you have:
- a marked restriction in one of these areas — walking, mental functions, dressing, feeding, eliminating (bowel or bladder), hearing, speaking, or vision; or
- significant limits in two or more of those areas that, added together, are as bad as one marked restriction; or
- you need life-sustaining therapy — for example some people with type 1 diabetes, or people on dialysis.
There is no income test. There is no age limit. A child can qualify, a working person can qualify, and a senior can qualify.
"Mental functions" counts
Memory, concentration, judgment, mood, and the ability to manage yourself day to day all sit under "mental functions". A lot of people with mental illness, brain injury, dementia or long-term chronic pain never apply because they picture a wheelchair. The test is about daily living, not about whether you can work.
How much it is worth
These are the amounts you write on your tax return. The money you actually save is a percentage of them, not the whole number, so check the current amount for your own situation with the CRA or a free tax clinic.
| Who | Amount on the return |
|---|---|
| Adult | $10,138 |
| Child under 18 | $10,138 plus a supplement of $5,914 — $16,052 in total |
When you are approved, the amount goes on line 31600 of your own return. If it is being transferred from a dependant, it goes on line 31800. From a spouse or common-law partner, line 32600. A free tax clinic will put it in the right place for you.
How to apply, step by step
- Pick the right practitioner. A doctor or nurse practitioner can certify any impairment. For specific ones, so can an optometrist (vision), an audiologist (hearing), an occupational therapist (walking, feeding, dressing), a physiotherapist (walking), a psychologist (mental functions) or a speech-language pathologist (speaking).
- Book the appointment and say what it is for. Ask for the Disability Tax Credit certificate, Form T2201. Do not just drop the form at the front desk with no explanation.
- Fill in Part A yourself. That is the applicant's part. You can do it online in CRA My Account, by phone with the CRA, or on the paper form.
- Your practitioner fills in Part B. This is the part that decides the answer. Both parts must be done the same way — all digital, or all paper. Do not mix them.
- Send it. A digital form goes to the CRA on its own. A paper form is mailed to a CRA tax centre in Jonquière, Sudbury or Winnipeg. Since July 2025 you cannot upload a paper T2201 through "submit documents" in your CRA account.
- Apply before you file your taxes if you can, so your return does not get held up waiting.
- Watch for the CRA's letter. It tells you yes or no, and which years you are approved for. Keep it. The Canada Disability Benefit and the bank that opens your RDSP will both want to know.
- Then claim the other benefits. Start with the Canada Disability Benefit and the RDSP.
The part that gets people denied
Most refusals are not because the person does not qualify. They are because Part B describes a diagnosis instead of describing daily life. "Has arthritis" is not enough. "Takes more than three times as long as an average person to dress, on most days, and cannot walk 100 metres without stopping" is the kind of detail the CRA is looking for.
Before the appointment, write down your worst days, not your best ones. How long things take. What you cannot do alone. How often. Hand that list to your practitioner.
What to say to your doctor
"I want to apply for the Disability Tax Credit. It's Form T2201, and you fill in Part B. I've written down how my condition affects my daily life — how long things take me and what I need help with. Please describe my bad days, not my good ones, because that's what the CRA is deciding on."
Claiming up to 10 past years
If you were already living with the impairment in earlier years but never applied, the credit for those years is not gone. You can ask the CRA to go back and fix up to 10 years of past returns. That can produce a refund.
There is a box on the form that asks whether you want the CRA to adjust your previous returns. Tick it. If you have already sent the form without ticking it, you can ask in writing instead.
Past years matter for a second reason. The RDSP pays out unclaimed bond and grant for up to 10 past years too, and those years are counted from when your DTC approval starts. Our RDSP guide explains that.
If you are turned down
A "no" from the CRA is not the end, and it does not mean you were dishonest. It usually means Part B did not say enough.
Read the CRA's letter — it says why. Then get someone in your corner before you try again. Disability Alliance BC has advocates whose whole job is this form, and they help with second applications and with challenging a decision. Their help is free, and most of it happens by phone, so you do not have to travel.
Why people miss this
- "It's only for people who can't work." It is not. It is about walking, dressing, feeding, thinking, hearing, seeing, speaking and going to the bathroom — daily living, not employment.
- "I don't pay tax, so there's nothing in it for me." The approval is what unlocks the Canada Disability Benefit and the RDSP. Those are real money, and one of them pays out with no deposit from you.
- Nobody sees mental illness, chronic pain or hearing loss as a "disability" — including, sometimes, the person's own doctor. All three can qualify.
- The form was filled in too briefly and the claim was denied, and the person never tried again.
- Nobody told them past years can be reclaimed. Up to 10 of them.
- The approval ran out. Approvals can be granted for a set number of years. If yours has lapsed, you have to reapply — and until you do, the Canada Disability Benefit stops.
Where to get help in Victoria
Canada Revenue Agency — questions about the Disability Tax Credit and Form T2201
What to say when the CRA answers
"I'd like to apply for the Disability Tax Credit. Can you help me start Part A of Form T2201 over the phone, and tell me what my practitioner needs to do for Part B? I'd also like my past returns adjusted if I'm approved."
- Victoria Disability Resource Centre, 817A Fort Street — free, in person, and they help people fill in disability benefit forms. Monday to Thursday 9 am to 4 pm, Friday 9 am to 2 pm. 250-595-0044
- Disability Alliance BC — free advocates for the Disability Tax Credit, mostly by phone. 1-800-663-1278, or their Access DTC line at 604-923-8136.
- Together Against Poverty Society (TAPS), 828 View Street — free tax filing all year round, including past years. 250-361-3521
- Plan Institute Disability Planning Helpline — free one-on-one help with the DTC and the RDSP. 1-844-311-7526
- BCANDS (Indigenous Disability Canada), in Victoria — the same help for Indigenous people. 250-381-7303 or 1-888-815-5511.
- 211 — dial 211 any time for other options near you.
Or call the Reachable Line and we will go through it with you, out loud, at your pace.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page comes from a government page we read on the date shown. Amounts change, usually each January. If you are reading this long after the date at the top, phone the number above and check.
- Canada Revenue Agency, Disability tax credit (DTC): canada.ca — disability tax credit (read 1 September 2026)
- Who is eligible (the categories and the "severe and prolonged" test): canada.ca — who is eligible (read 1 September 2026)
- How to apply (Form T2201, Part A and Part B, digital and paper): canada.ca — how to apply (read 1 September 2026)
- Claiming the credit (2025 amounts, the tax return lines, the 10-year rule): canada.ca — claiming the credit (read 1 September 2026)
- Contact the CRA about the DTC: canada.ca — contact (read 1 September 2026)
- Victoria Disability Resource Centre: drcvictoria.com (read 1 September 2026)
- Disability Alliance BC, contact and program lines: disabilityalliancebc.org — contact (read 1 September 2026)
- Together Against Poverty Society, Victoria: tapsbc.ca — Victoria (read 1 September 2026)
- Plan Institute, Access RDSP and the Disability Planning Helpline: planinstitute.ca — Access RDSP (read 1 September 2026)
Reachable is not a bank, a lawyer, or the government. This guide explains public programs in plain language so you can go and claim them. It is not tax advice about your own situation.