Canada’s 2025 Student Tax Credits – What You Can Claim This Month & Who’s Eligible

Published On: June 29, 2025

Pursuing higher education in Canada is a big financial step, but tax credits can help lighten the load. Whether you’re paying tuition, moving to attend school, or repaying student loans, there are ways to get money back on your tax return.

In 2025, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) continues to offer a range of student tax credits—some refundable, some non-refundable—to help students and recent grads manage education costs.

Let’s break down what’s available, who qualifies, and how you can maximize your return this tax season.

Table of Contents

1 Tuition
2 What’s Covered?
3 Training
4 Interest
5 Moving
6 Threshold
7 Extras
8 FAQs

Tuition

Let’s start with the most well-known benefit: the tuition tax credit. This is a non-refundable credit, which means it reduces the amount of tax you owe, but won’t result in a refund if you don’t owe any taxes.

To qualify:

You must be enrolled in a post-secondary institution (in Canada or an approved international school)
Your tuition must be more than $100 in a calendar year
You’ll need to receive the official T2202 form from your school

What’s Covered?

Eligible costs include:

Tuition fees
Exam fees (if required for your program)
Admission and registration fees
Lab and library charges

Say you paid $4,000 in tuition in 2025 — you could claim 15% of that ($600) as a federal tax credit.

You can also carry forward unused tuition credits indefinitely or transfer up to $5,000 to a parent, grandparent, spouse, or common-law partner.

Training

The Canada Training Credit (CTC) is another helpful program, especially if you’re building new skills.

Here’s how it works:

You must be aged 26 to 65
Earned $10,000+ in working income the previous year
Not in the top federal tax bracket

You automatically earn $250 each year, up to a lifetime limit of $5,000, and your credit limit is listed on your Notice of Assessment.

This is a refundable credit, so if you claim $750 in training fees and you have the credit available, you can get that amount back as cash—even if you owe no taxes.

Interest

Still paying off your student loans? You can claim a non-refundable tax credit for the interest paid on eligible government student loans (federal or provincial).

What doesn’t qualify? Bank loans or lines of credit—even if used for education.

You can:

Claim only interest (not principal)
Use interest paid from the last five years
Apply it to Line 31900 of your tax return

If you don’t owe taxes this year, carry the interest forward for up to 5 years.

Moving

If you relocated to attend full-time school or start a co-op placement, you may be eligible for the moving expense deduction. The key rule? You must have moved at least 40 km closer to your school or job.

Here’s what you can claim:

Travel (gas, bus, flights, etc.)
Temporary housing (up to 15 days)
Meals while travelling
Storage and moving truck fees

You’ll need to fill out Form T1-M and hang on to your receipts.

Threshold

In 2025, the basic personal amount is $15,000. That means if you earn under that amount, you likely won’t owe any federal income tax.

But don’t skip filing. Even if you earned nothing, filing lets you:

Access GST/HST credits
Claim or carry forward tuition amounts
Qualify for provincial tax benefits

Extras

Don’t forget these bonus benefits:

GST/HST Credit: Paid quarterly to low-income Canadians, including many students. Filing your return is a must to get it.

Provincial Tax Relief: Depending on where you live, you might be eligible for extra credits. For example:

Province	Additional Benefits
Ontario	Ontario Tuition Grant (via OSAP)
British Columbia	BC Training and Education Savings Grant
Quebec	Deduction for tuition and education expenses

Whether you’re studying full-time or part-time, already graduated or just starting, knowing these student tax credits is key to getting back what you’re entitled to.