Tuition Tax Credit in Canada: How Students Can Save in 2025

Post-secondary education is expensive, but the tuition tax credit helps recover some of it through the tax system. For 2025, students can claim a non-refundable federal credit of 15% on eligible tuition fees, plus a provincial credit that varies from 4% in Ontario (after partial elimination) to over 20% in Quebec.

Here’s how the tuition credit works, who can claim it, and the often-overlooked rules around carrying forward unused amounts or transferring them to a supporting family member.

What Counts as Eligible Tuition

Eligible tuition fees include:

• Tuition paid to a designated post-secondary institution in Canada (university, college, or accredited trade school)
• Fees paid to a Canadian educational institution providing occupational-skills training certified by Employment and Social Development Canada (students must be 16+)
• Tuition at a university outside Canada if the student is enrolled full-time in a course lasting at least three consecutive weeks leading to a degree at the bachelor level or higher
• Tuition paid to a U.S. institution for a student living near the border who commutes

Ancillary fees (student association, athletics, health plans) are eligible up to $250 per year unless they’re mandatory for all students.

Not eligible: tuition under $100 per institution, tuition reimbursed by an employer, fees paid by a scholarship if the scholarship itself is tax-exempt, and textbook costs (the separate federal textbook credit was eliminated in 2017).

The Federal Credit

The federal tuition tax credit is calculated as:

15% × eligible tuition fees reported on Form T2202

Your school issues Form T2202 (Tuition and Enrolment Certificate) by the end of February each year. The certificate shows tuition fees paid and months of enrolment. Starting in 2017, the federal education and textbook amounts were eliminated, so only tuition itself generates a credit federally.

Worked Example — $8,500 Tuition

Emma is a full-time student at the University of Calgary and paid $8,500 in tuition for 2025.

• Federal tuition credit: 15% × $8,500 = $1,275
• Alberta provincial credit: 10% × $8,500 = $850
• Total tax reduction: $2,125

If Emma’s tax owing for 2025 is only $400 (she worked part-time and earned $18,000), she can only use $400 of the credit this year. The unused $1,725 can be carried forward or transferred.

Carry-Forward and Transfer Rules

This is where the tuition credit becomes genuinely valuable — even students with zero income benefit.

Carry-Forward

Unused federal tuition credits can be carried forward indefinitely and applied against the student’s own tax in any future year. Most students accumulate $5,000–$20,000 of carry-forward by graduation, which shelters their first few years of post-grad income from tax.

Carry-forward happens automatically once reported on Schedule 11. CRA tracks the balance on your notice of assessment.

Transfer to a Supporting Person

If the student can’t use the full credit in the current year, they may transfer up to $5,000 of federal tuition (minus the amount used by the student) to:

• A parent or grandparent
• A spouse or common-law partner
• The student’s spouse’s parent or grandparent

The transfer is current-year only — carry-forward amounts cannot be transferred later. If a student doesn’t transfer this year and carries forward instead, the credit is locked to the student forever.

Worked Example — Transfer to Parent

Continuing Emma’s example: she used $400 of her federal credit against her own tax. She has $1,275 − $400 = $875 of federal credit unused.

Options:

1. Carry forward all $875 to use against her own future tax
2. Transfer up to $875 (still under the $5,000 cap) to her parent’s return for immediate use

If Emma’s parent is in the 29% federal bracket, transferring saves them $875 immediately — but Emma loses it forever. If Emma expects to earn well after graduation, carrying forward is usually better because her own future marginal rate will likely match or exceed her parent’s.

Provincial Tuition Credits in 2025

Most provinces mirror the federal credit but at the province’s lowest tax rate:

Province	Tuition credit rate 2025	Notes
Alberta	10%	Still available
British Columbia	5.06%	Still available
Manitoba	10.8%	Still available
New Brunswick	9.4%	Still available
Newfoundland & Labrador	8.7%	Still available
Nova Scotia	8.79%	Still available
Ontario	Eliminated for studies after Sept 2017	Carry-forward of pre-2017 amounts still usable
PEI	9.65%	Still available
Quebec	8% (separate provincial form)	Non-refundable; uses Schedule T
Saskatchewan	10.5%	Still available

Ontario and Saskatchewan (briefly) have the most restricted versions — Ontario eliminated the credit for new study periods but still honours pre-2017 carry-forward.

Other Education-Related Benefits

The tuition credit is only part of the picture. Students should also look at:

• Canada Training Credit — refundable credit of up to $250/year for workers 26+ with a training credit balance
• Interest on student loans — non-refundable credit of 15% of interest paid on Canada Student Loans or provincial equivalents (not private lines of credit)
• Moving expenses — deductible if you moved 40+ km closer to your school
• Scholarships and bursaries — fully tax-exempt if you’re a full-time student qualifying for the education amount

Key Takeaways

• Federal tuition credit = 15% of eligible tuition on Form T2202
• Unused credits carry forward indefinitely to the student’s future returns
• Up to $5,000 (federal) can be transferred to a parent, grandparent, or spouse in the current year only
• Ontario has eliminated the provincial tuition credit for new study periods (pre-2017 carry-forward still works)
• The credit is non-refundable — it can’t reduce tax below zero

Estimate your credit with the Tuition Tax Credit Calculator. If you’re also paying student loan interest, check how that interacts on our Student Loan Calculator.