Hello All,

A new Permanent Resident who landed in May 2017 and has not filed a tax return eligible for benefits?

My cousin has just put to bed and she has been informed that she is eligible to apply for benefits for herself (a PR) and new baby.
However I told her not to apply for any benefits since she is a New PR with no income and have not filed a tax return yet as it may affect her down the line when she is applying for citizenship.

Secondly does CRA take into account the amount of money in your bank account when determining how much you get in benefits. She came with enough money to last for 8 months without working.

Any information on what the rules are will be great.

What benefits are you referring to?
For most benefits one needs to have worked a minimum number of hours and filed a tax return.
Government assistance won't affect citizenship, but some does affect the ability to be a sponsor.

If she is seeking benefits that are based upon income, she should apply for them and, if CRA require details of her income, they will likely ask for proof of her UK income.

You have not provided sufficient information on which anyone can give you relevant answers.

How did your cousin get her PR visa? Was she sponsored as a spouse or did she come on her own under the Skilled Worker program? Or as a refugee?

What does 'just put to bed' mean?

What kind of benefits has been told she is eligible to apply for?

The CRA has nothing at all to do with any kind of benefit programs. Any kind of benefit programs are run by the province alone.
https://www.alberta.ca/financial-ass...isability.aspx

If she is entitled to CCB and/or ACB, these are administered through CRA.

Sorry meant Child benefit.

She got her PR through express entry (skilled worker).
Put to bed means just had a new baby.
What kind of benefits has been told she is eligible to apply for? - child benefit (CCB)

To re-phrase the question:

What benefits are you entitled to as a Permanent Resident with a new born baby born in Canada.
At the moment we are not sure if a New PR is entitled to any benefit all hence the original question.

Apologies if the first post wasn't clear.

Rubbish.

Province of Alberta
To the OP, Alberta Child benefit is not based on a minimum income.You can see what, if any, family benefits your cousin is able to get using the calculator: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/benefits-calculator/

Nonsense, if one does not file a tax return, through CRA of course, then no provincial benefits are available, let alone federal ones, which do go through CRA.

I would assume as there's no income other than the savings in her bank account, then she is not entitled to any benefits. She only landed in Canada this year. Thanks for your response.

You don't need to have an income to be able to claim Child benefit, according to the link and calculator I gave upthread. I did a test, giving zero income for 2016 and it said that there would be child benefit payable of around $500 a month.

I would suggest she submit a tax return, showing nil income for Canada (I'm not sure if she would need to declare the income from the UK prior to her coming over) and then apply.

Are you a newcomer to Canada?
Newcomers to Canada (immigrants)

Thank you, Very much appreciated. I just didn't want her to get into trouble for that.

A good example of why clarity in what is being asked matters. I assumed (always a bad idea of course) that you were asking about benefits for her like unemployment benefits or welfare benefits since she is not working.

As you can see, AFTER you cleared that up, a couple of posters felt it necessary to inform me then that what I wrote was 'rubbish'. Well, that's debatable but I can't be bothered.

Any legal resident of Canada can apply for Child Benefits as shown above.

No worries. Thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate that.