Family earned income includes income from employment, self-employment, training allowances, the taxable portion of scholarships, net research grants, and disability payments received under the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans from your previous year's tax return(s).

Family net income is usually the amount from line 236 (Net Income) from your previous year's tax return(s).

Qualifying child care expenses are usually the amount from line 214 (Child Care Expenses) from your previous year's tax return(s). This amount is determined by completing Form T778, Child Care Expenses Deduction, available from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Child care subsidy means your child is in daycare and the town or city where you live helps you pay for your child care costs.

Family earned income is used to calculate the amount of the supplement. Family earned income includes income from employment, self-employment, training allowances, the taxable portion of scholarships, net research grants, and disability payments under the Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan, from your previous year's tax return(s).

Family net income is used to ensure that the benefits are issued to low and middle income families by reducing the amount of the supplement for families with incomes above $20,000. Family net income is usually the total net income of each spouse or common-law partner in a two-parent family, or of a single parent, taken from line 236 of your T1 income tax return.

The OCCS program is intended to assist working families earning modest incomes. There is a gradual decline in supplement amounts as income increases for families with net incomes over $20,000 (a reduction rate of eight percent), thereby focusing maximum benefits on low-income working families, and providing reduced benefits to many middle-income families.

For families with incomes below $20,000, the supplement provides up to $1,310 per year for a single- parent family with one child under the age of seven and up to $1,100 per year for a two-parent family with one child under the age of seven. For families with incomes above $20,000, the benefits decline to zero for single-parent families with one child under age seven at an income of $36,375 ($33,750 for two-parent families); with two children under the age of seven at $52,750 ($47,500 for two parents); and with three children under the age of seven at $69,125 ($61,250 for two parents).

Single parents receive more because they face greater financial challenges than most two-parent families.

Assistance is provided for children under age seven because child care costs are generally higher for that age group.

The supplement is not paid automatically; you must complete an application each year. A personalized application for the Ontario Child Care Supplement is sent from the Ontario Ministry of Finance to eligible families. If you are currently receiving the supplement, you will be sent an application before the start of the new benefit year, usually in May.

If you have a first child and you have applied for and received a Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB), you will receive your OCCS application as soon as OCCS is notified by CCTB.

The application requires only that you write in whether your child care costs are subsidized, and if so, how much you pay for child care over and above the subsidy, for each child under age seven, for the month shown on the application. If you aren't sure, ask your child care provider.

Note: Your child care is subsidized if your child is in daycare and the town or city where you live helps you pay for some or all of those fees.

Do not complete the Subsidized Child Care section of the application if your child care costs are not subsidized.

Remember: Your child does not have to be in daycare for you to apply.

If your child is in subsidized daycare and your child care costs change from week to week or month to month, due to shift work or other factors, attach a note to your application explaining your situation. We will calculate your entitlement on a monthly basis using the figures that you provide.

No, you do not have to attach receipts to your application, but keep them in case you are asked for them. Generally, you should keep your receipts for six years.

A cheque will be issued by mail if you don't have a bank account, or there is another reason why you cannot use Direct Deposit.

It is recommended that you open an account and have your payments deposited directly into your bank account. This will ensure that you receive your supplement each month on a timely basis. It will also prevent your cheque from getting lost or stolen, or being delayed due to a postal disruption. You can have your supplement deposited directly into a bank account in your name, your spouse's or common-law partner's name or your child's name.

If you receive the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) and didn't get an OCCS application, call the Ministry of Finance's toll-free numbers (see page 17) and provide your personal information (e.g., full name, address, reference number). You will be sent a replacement application or you will be advised if you do not qualify.

If you do not receive CCTB, contact the Canada Revenue Agency to obtain a Canada Child Tax Benefit Application. If you qualify for the federal benefit, and you meet the OCCS eligibility requirements, you will automatically be sent a personalized OCCS application to complete and return to the Ministry of Finance.

Working families with one stay-at-home parent are eligible for the supplement. Your child does not have to be attending daycare to be eligible.

If you paid "qualifying child care expenses" to attend school or obtain job training, you may be eligible for the supplement. Qualifying child care expenses are those claimed, and allowed as a deduction for tax purposes, on line 214 (Child Care Expenses) of your previous year's income tax return(s). To determine what is included as a child care expense, refer to the federal Form T778, Child Care Expenses.

You may be eligible for the supplement, provided you have earnings from work or qualifying child care expenses. (See "How the Supplement is Calculated").

Benefits are paid over a 12-month period from July of one year to June of the next year and are generally issued on the last working day of the month. Your payment will be issued in the middle of the following month if your application is processed after regular payments are issued. Retroactive payments to the month you are first entitled will be included.

A one-time payment for the full amount is issued if your entitlement for the full year is less than $120. A one-time annual payment of $10 is issued if your entitlement for the full year is greater than $0 but less than $10.

The supplement will be paid to the same person who receives the federal Canada Child Tax Benefit. This is the person primarily responsible for the care and upbringing of the children. Although this person is usually the mother, it could be the father, a grandparent or guardian.

The amount of your supplement will depend on your family (earned and net) income, qualifying child care expenses, the number of children under age seven in your family and your monthly child care costs (if subsidized). The maximum supplement for two parent families is $91.67 per month for each child under age seven and $109.17 for single-parent families.

No. The OCCS is a tax-free monthly payment. In addition, the supplement will not affect your CCTB payments or the amount of the child care subsidy that you may be receiving from the town or city where you live.

No, the supplement will not reduce your qualifying child care expense deduction for tax purposes.

If you receive your OCCS payment by direct deposit and you have confirmed with your financial institution that the payment was not deposited into your bank account, call the Ministry of Finance.

If you do not receive your payment by mail on the last business day of the month, please wait five working days before calling the Ministry, to allow time for mail delivery.

OCCS and the Canada Child Tax Benefit program should be notified if an individual who was receiving OCCS payments for a child dies. CCTB will inform the Ministry of the child's new caregiver. The Ministry of Finance will determine if the new caregiver is eligible for OCCS and, if so, will send an OCCS application to that individual.

If payments are issued after the recipient's death because the Ministry is not aware of the death, please return the payments to the Ministry with a brief letter of explanation.

Families who have a new child must complete a Canada Child Tax Benefit Application, available from the Canada Revenue Agency. Once the child's eligibility is established, Canada Child Tax Benefit will notify the Ministry of Finance, your supplement will be recalculated and a new Entitlement Notice will be sent to you.

If your child is not in subsidized daycare, changes in child care expenses will not affect your supplement for the current benefit year (July to June), but will be taken into consideration next year when calculating your entitlement. This is because the supplement is based on your family income and qualifying child care expenses for the previous year.

However, if your child is in subsidized daycare, you must report any changes in your monthly child care costs to the Ministry of Finance. Your supplement may need to be recalculated. If so, you will be sent a new Entitlement Notice showing the new calculation.

As long as a government agency pays for the cost of child care, you are considered subsidized and you should complete your OCCS application as "yes" to subsidized child care costs. Write in your out-of-pocket expenses and exclude the amount you are given for the baby sitter.

An overpayment can occur if the Ministry is notified of a change that affects your eligibility. For example, an income tax reassessment by the Canada Revenue Agency will affect your eligibility. (See "Changes Should be Reported").

When your supplement is recalculated, you will receive a new Entitlement Notice which will tell you the amount of your overpayment. If you still have entitlement, the Ministry will automatically hold back 50 percent of your monthly payment until the overpayment is repaid. If you no longer have entitlement, you must repay the overpayment by sending a cheque payable to the "Minister of Finance - Child Care Supplement", or contact the Ministry to make other repayment arrangements.

When the Ministry obtains information to administer a program, each person's information is protected under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. You must give written authorization for a person, including your spouse or common-law partner, to act on your behalf before any information on your account can be released. This protects your right to privacy and ensures that your information is kept confidential and disclosed only to those to whom you have given permission.

OCCS has an "Authorization to Disclose Information" form which authorizes the Ontario Ministry of Finance to disclose personal information to a designated representative. Information on your account can be released when you complete this form and designate your spouse or common-law partner as your representative.

The supplement is intended to help working families earning modest incomes. Earnings over $5,000 are roughly equivalent to two days' pay per week at the minimum wage for a full year. This level is considered to be the minimum acceptable level of attachment to the work force.

All families pay child care costs either directly or indirectly. For example, families with one parent in the work force and one parent at home caring for young children have indirect costs in the form of lost earnings by keeping one parent at home.

As long as their total work earnings, as reported on their prior year's tax returns, exceed $5,000, low and middle income families with either one or two earners are eligible for the supplement. It is not necessary to have child care expenses in order to qualify for the supplement if the applicant meets the income requirements.

In order to evaluate a family's entitlement for OCCS, the Ministry relies on the income tax information as reported on the previous year's tax return. Income tax rules allow self-employed individuals to reduce their net earnings by claiming business expenses and federal deductions and exemptions. Families with reported net earnings of less than $5,000 are not eligible for the supplement unless they have qualifying child care expenses in the previous year. This is the same approach taken with employed individuals.

No, the Ministry will always recalculate entitlement whenever a change is received and will adjust payments accordingly. However, there is a special instance when the Ministry will recalculate entitlement but will not adjust payments for the balance of the benefit year.

This happens when a marital status change takes place during the benefit year. The addition or subtraction of a spouse's or common-law partner's income may result in a reduction or loss of a family's entitlement. Therefore a new calculation is done using the new information, a comparison with the previous entitlement is done, and the family is paid at the higher rate for the balance of the benefit year. This is applied only to the benefit year in which the change in marital status occurs.

The amount of family earned income, family net income and qualifying child care expenses are obtained from the Canada Child Tax Benefit program. If you do not agree with any of these amounts, you should contact the Canada Revenue Agency.

If you do not agree with any other information on the Entitlement Notice, you have the right to file an objection within 90 days from the date on the Entitlement Notice. Call the Ministry of Finance's Information Centre to obtain a Notice of Objection form.