Applying for child benefits - best way to proceed / guidance requested

[cinvest2021]

Hello All,

We as married couple (both PR's) are going to apply to collect child benefit. Our child is 4-year old.

Basically our situation is as follows;

Tax return situation:
I (not primary responsible for the child) have filled my tax returns for all past years and I did so for myself only (not filling tax return jointly for my spouse).
My spouse did not fill tax returns so far thus has no CRA account activated (also spouse income is zero for all past years).
In addition, my spouse does not have a bank account. We use mine to minimize bank fees. But we do not mind opening another bank account for spouse if it is of help.

Residency (physical stay) situation:
Also, my spouse and our child have been residing outside Canada for a couple of years and they only returned this year to settle again.
However a couple of years back, soon after landing, they did stay in Canada for a couple of months,

My questions:

A - Can/should my spouse (primary responsible) apply for child benefits straight away or is it necessary to send spouse tax returns first and have this cleared before filling for child benefits? possibly do both in parallel?

B- If it is possible to apply straight away, then how does CRA calculate child benefits amount, as I suppose they only know my income (even though it is the couple income, but how would they know)? also where will child benefit be deposited as we only have one bank account, i.e., mine, which is connected to my CRA account?

C- It is required in the application procedure that in case the child has been living with parents more than 11 months ago, evidence shall be provided that child has been taken care of by parents. But then how to provide such evidence, when in particular the child has never been to school or to any club activities or alike? three (3) disctinctive documents shall be provided as evidence.

D- Finally does it make sense / is it possible to collect child benefits for the stay which goes back to a couple of years in the past?

Please provide guidance on best way to proceed, many thanks.

Regards

 

[steaky]

Bank accounts such as Tangerine has no monthly fee. Your spouse should file a zero tax return to apply for child benefits. CCB usually deposited to the mother.

 

[cinvest2021]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes you are right, Tangerine has no monthly fee so it is a good way to proceed. We have identified a branch already.
(by the way, if I did know it has zero fees, I would also have consider it for myself too!).

As regards, questions C & D, can you (or anyone) also provide any opinion please?

Thanks again

 

[canuck78]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes you are right, Tangerine has no monthly fee so it is a good way to proceed. We have identified a branch already.
(by the way, if I did know it has zero fees, I would also have consider it for myself too!).

As regards, questions C & D, can you (or anyone) also provide any opinion please?

Thanks again

Tangerine doesn’t have branches which is why there fees are low. Your spouse must file taxes even if she isn’t working. Proof of medical appointments is one option.

 

[cinvest2021]

Tangerine doesn’t have branches which is why there fees are low. Your spouse must file taxes even if she isn’t working. Proof of medical appointments is one option.

Thanks for your response.

We do not have proof of medical appointments, however we do have a medical bill (after emergency admission) under the child/mother names, I guess this would be somehow equivalent substitute.

However, they ask for 3 distinctive document proofs. Should we provide just the medical bill document to start with and see what happens?

PS: we also have SIN document, heath coverage card for the child. We have certificate of vaccinations, but done abroad.

 

[canuck78]

Thanks for your response.

We do not have proof of medical appointments, however we do have a medical bill (after emergency admission) under the child/mother names, I guess this would be somehow equivalent substitute.

However, they ask for 3 distinctive document proofs. Should we provide just the medical bill document to start with and see what happens?

PS: we also have SIN document, heath coverage card for the child. We have certificate of vaccinations, but done abroad.

You can only do what you can. Would also include proof of boarding pass or ticket to Canada.

 

[cinvest2021]

You can only do what you can. Would also include proof of boarding pass or ticket to Canada.

Agreed. Thank you.