Benefits for children under 25

According to the Government of Canada (2019), the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) children’s benefits is a monthly payment benefit to help children under 25 who have lost a parent and the deceased parent was a CPP contributor.

The child must be either: under age 18 or under age 25 and in full-time attendance at a recognized school or university.

A surviving child’s benefit – a monthly payment for a child of the deceased contributor. For the benefit to be paid, the deceased contributor must have made sufficient contributions to the CPP.

A maximum of two children’s benefits can be paid to a child. That means if you have lost both parents and they were both CPP contributors you can receive two of the benefit payments each month.

Eligibility

To be eligible, the child must be:

• the natural child of the contributor
• a child adopted “legally” or “in fact” by the contributor while under the age of 21
• a child “legally” or “in fact” in the custody and control of the contributor while under the age of 21

A child may be eligible if the parent or guardian has died and met the CPP contributory requirements for a CPP death benefit

For this and more information please see the CPP website: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/cpp-childrens-benefit.html