These tables provide:

• The counts of families that claimed a childcare credit on their personal income tax 
• The median childcare credit claimed
• The ratio of amount claimed to after-tax income

Definition of child care expenses on the T1FF tax filer data

• Deductible child care expenses line 214 on T1 (based on sub form T778)
• Child care expenses that were incurred for services such as:
  • caregivers providing child care services;
  • day nursery schools and daycare centres;
  • educational institutions, for the part of the fees that relate to child care services;
  • day camps and day sports schools where the primary goal of the camp is to care for children (an institution offering a sports study program is not a sports school); or
  • a limited amount of the costs associated with boarding schools, overnight sports schools, or camps where lodging is involved.

More information can be found here on what childcare expenses are included and who can claim these expenses.  Childcare expense credits do not cover payments for:

• medical or hospital care, clothing, or transportation costs;
• fees that relate to education costs at an educational institution, such as tuition fees of a regular program or a sports study program; and
• fees for leisure or recreational activities, such as tennis lessons or the annual registration for Scouts.

Overall childcare expense amounts are not provided in these tables. Statistics Canada has indicated that the T1 Family File is not a good estimation of true total childcare amounts experienced by Canadian families.

Which families are included?

Any family that claims the childcare expense credit is included in these tables, regardless of the presence of children. As a result, families with a situation involving separation or remarriage are included - i.e., some families without children who claim the credit are included, and similarly, some families with children who do not claim the credit are not included.

Family after-tax income used in the ratio

Family-related tax credits typically only take into consideration the income of the parents (i.e., does not consider the possible income of the children).  Only the income of the parents are considered in the ratio of amount claimed to after-tax income.