If you’re an Ontario student working part-time or a summer job, you almost certainly won’t owe federal income tax on your earnings, and you’ll likely owe little or nothing provincially either. For the 2026 tax year, the federal basic personal amount shields the first $16,452 of income from federal tax, and Ontario has its own, somewhat lower, tax-free threshold.1Canada Revenue Agency. Payroll Deductions Tables – T4032ON – General Information Other payroll deductions still come off your cheque, and filing a return is worth the effort even when your tax owing is zero, because it unlocks quarterly benefit payments and banks tuition credits you’ll use once you’re earning full-time.
How Much You Can Earn Before Owing Tax
Every Canadian resident gets a basic personal amount (BPA), a slice of income that’s tax-free. It works as a non-refundable credit that zeroes out tax up to the threshold. For 2026, the federal BPA maxes out at $16,452 for anyone whose income stays below the high-income clawback zone, which no student job is going to touch.2Canada Revenue Agency. Line 30000 – Basic Personal Amount Earn $15,000 from a summer job with no other income, and your federal tax bill is zero.
Ontario runs its own provincial BPA, several thousand dollars lower than the federal one. The exact 2026 figure appears on the TD1ON form.3Canada Revenue Agency. TD1ON 2026 Ontario Personal Tax Credits Return Because Ontario’s number is the lower of the two, it decides when you first owe any tax at all. A student earning roughly $12,000 or less over the year will generally owe nothing to either government. Between Ontario’s threshold and the federal $16,452, you might owe a small amount of provincial tax while still paying nothing federally, but Ontario’s lowest bracket rate is 5.05%, so the amount is modest.
The TD1 Form and Stopping Income Tax Withholding
When you start a job, your employer hands you two TD1 forms, one federal and one Ontario (TD1ON). These tell payroll which personal credits you’re claiming so the right amount of income tax gets withheld from each cheque.4Canada Revenue Agency. Get the Completed TD1 Forms From the Individual
For students, the key bit is on the back. There’s a checkbox for the case where your total annual income from all sources will be less than the total claim amount on the front. Check it, and your employer withholds no income tax at all. Skip it, and tax comes off every cheque by default. You’ll get it back at filing time, but until then you’re lending money to the government interest-free while covering tuition and groceries.
Two jobs at once? You can only claim your personal credits on one TD1. For the second employer, check the “More than one employer or payer at the same time” box on page 2 and enter zero on line 13 of page 1.4Canada Revenue Agency. Get the Completed TD1 Forms From the Individual Miss this and both employers assume you’re claiming the full personal amount. Too little tax gets withheld and you can end up owing at filing time.
What Still Comes Off Your Paycheque
Even with no income tax withheld, your pay stub will show other deductions. These are separate from income tax and mostly can’t be avoided.
Employment Insurance
Every employee in Ontario pays EI premiums at 1.63% of insurable earnings in 2026, up to maximum insurable earnings of $68,900.5Canada Revenue Agency. EI Premium Rates and Maximums On $8,000 of summer earnings, that’s about $130.
EI premiums aren’t refundable just because you never collect benefits. There is one exception: under the Employment Insurance Act, if your insurable earnings for the year are $2,000 or less, you can get all your EI premiums refunded.6Justice Laws Website. Employment Insurance Act SC 1996 c 23 If your job was short and earnings stayed under that line, file to claim it.
Canada Pension Plan
CPP contributions don’t start until you turn 18. At 16 or 17, nothing comes off for CPP, so younger students keep a noticeably larger share of their gross pay.7Canada Revenue Agency. The Canada Pension Plan Enhancement – What It Means for You
Once you’re 18, you contribute 5.95% of pensionable earnings above a $3,500 annual basic exemption, up to maximum pensionable earnings of $74,600 in 2026.8Canada Revenue Agency. CPP Contribution Rates, Maximums and Exemptions Earning $10,000 means CPP of 5.95% on $6,500 (the amount above the exemption), or about $387. Unlike income tax that might come back to you, CPP contributions stay put and build your future pension.
Tuition Credits From Your T2202
If you’re paying tuition at a designated post-secondary institution, the tuition tax credit is the most valuable line on your return, and the one most students underuse. Each February your school issues a T2202 showing eligible tuition you paid the previous calendar year. You claim it on Schedule 11 of your return.9Canada Revenue Agency. Completing Schedule 11
The credit reduces your federal tax at the lowest rate of 15%, so $5,000 in eligible tuition is worth $750 off your tax bill. Since most part-time and summer workers already owe no federal tax, the credit usually goes unused in the current year. You have two choices when that happens.
You can transfer up to $5,000 of the current year’s tuition amount, minus whatever you needed to bring your own tax to zero, to a parent, grandparent, or spouse. Only one person can receive the transfer, and amounts carried forward from prior years can’t be transferred.10Canada Revenue Agency. Line 32400 – Tuition Amount Transferred From a Child or Grandchild Or you can carry the remaining unused amount forward indefinitely, with no expiry, to be applied against tax in future years once you’re earning more.9Canada Revenue Agency. Completing Schedule 11
Ontario eliminated its provincial tuition tax credit in 2017, so this one operates only federally. Four years of tuition can still accumulate into thousands of dollars in credits waiting for you after graduation. The catch: the CRA only updates your carryforward balance when you actually file. Skip a year and you risk losing track of credits that have real dollar value.
Why Filing Matters Even When You Owe Nothing
This is where students trip up. Earnings below the personal amount, nothing owing, and you skip the return. That assumption quietly costs money every quarter.
GST/HST Credit
Once you turn 19 you become eligible for quarterly GST/HST credit payments, a tax-free amount that offsets sales tax on everyday purchases. If you turn 19 during the year and have filed, the CRA issues your first payment on the next payment date after your birthday.11Canada Revenue Agency. Who Is Eligible – GST/HST Credit Filing is the application; there’s no separate form. Students under 19 can also qualify if they have or had a spouse or common-law partner, or are a parent living with their child.
Ontario Trillium Benefit
The Ontario Trillium Benefit combines three provincial credits into a single payment: the Ontario energy and property tax credit, the Northern Ontario energy credit, and the Ontario sales tax credit. To get the 2026 OTB, you have to file your 2025 return, even if you earned nothing that year.12Canada Revenue Agency. Ontario Trillium Benefit Questions and Answers Students living off campus and paying rent are especially likely to qualify for the energy and property tax portion.
Getting Over-Withheld Tax Back
If you forgot to check the box on the back of the TD1, or your employer withheld income tax anyway, filing is the only way to get that money back. Check Box 22 on your T4 to see whether any income tax was deducted.13Canada Revenue Agency. T4 Slip – Statement of Remuneration Paid Any amount there comes back to you as a refund after the CRA processes your return.
How and When to File
The filing deadline for most individuals is April 30 of the year following the tax year.14Canada Revenue Agency. Due Dates and Payment Dates – Personal Income Tax For 2026 income, that’s April 30, 2027.
The CRA’s NETFILE system lets you file electronically through certified software, and several options are free for students with simple returns. The CRA maintains a list of certified software that includes free offerings from Wealthsimple Tax, GenuTax, CloudTax, StudioTax, and H&R Block’s free tier, among others.15Canada Revenue Agency. Find Certified Tax Software You’ll need your T4 from your employer, your T2202 from your school if you paid tuition, and your Social Insurance Number.
By the end of February your employer must issue a T4 summarizing the year’s earnings and deductions. The boxes to check are Box 14 for total employment income, Box 22 for income tax deducted, and the boxes showing CPP and EI.13Canada Revenue Agency. T4 Slip – Statement of Remuneration Paid Compare those numbers against your final pay stubs. Discrepancies happen more often than you’d expect with seasonal employers.
Once the CRA processes your return, you’ll get a Notice of Assessment confirming your balance, any refund, and your updated benefit entitlements.16Canada Revenue Agency. Notices of Assessment – NOA or NOR – Personal Income Tax Filing electronically with direct deposit set up through your CRA My Account is far faster than paper. Electronic filers with straightforward returns typically see refunds well before the CRA’s 12-week follow-up window closes.17Canada Revenue Agency. Tax Refunds