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122 medical expenses you can claim on your tax return

What is a medical expense tax credit?

If you paid for healthcare expenses, you may be able to claim them as eligible medical expenses on your income tax and benefit return and receive a non-refundable tax credit that you can use to reduce the tax that you paid or may have to pay. 

What documents do I need to keep and submit?

If you are filing your tax return electronically or on paper, you do not need to send any supporting documents, but you do need to keep them in case the CRA asks to see them later.

• Receipts must show the name of the company or individual to whom an expense was paid.
• Receipts for attendant care or therapy paid to an individual should also show the individual’s social insurance number.
• Receipts should also show the purpose of the payment, the date of payment, the name of the patient, and, if applicable, the medical practitioner who prescribed the purchase or gave the service.
• In addition to receipts, the CRA may ask to see proof of payment (such as bank or credit card statements) or proof of support (such as a lease agreement or grocery receipts) if you are claiming amounts for a dependant who is 18 or older.

What expenses can I claim?

The following is a list of 122 items that you may be eligible to claim, and 12 expenses that you can't.

To learn more about the specifics of any of these items, please visit:

Canada Revenue Agency - Medical Expenses 2020

TABLE LEGEND

Eligible - Is the item eligible
Prescription - Is a prescription required
Certification - Is certification in writing required
T2201 - Is a T2201 form required

Medical Expense Eligible Prescription Certification T2201
Acoustic coupler Yes Yes No No  
Air conditioner Yes Yes No No
Air filter, cleaner, or purifier Yes Yes No No
Altered auditory feedback devices Yes Yes No No
Ambulance service Yes No No No
Artificial eye or limb Yes No No No  
Assisted breathing devices Yes No No No
Athletic or fitness club fees NoN/A N/A N/A  
Attendant care expenses Details Details Details Details
Audible signal devices Yes Yes No No
Baby breathing monitor Yes Yes Yes No
Bathroom aids Yes Yes No No
Birth control devices (non-prescription) NoN/A N/A N/A  
Bliss symbol boards Yes Yes No No
Blood coagulation monitors Yes Yes No No
Blood pressure monitors NoN/A N/A N/A  
Bone conduction receiver Yes No No No  
Bone marrow transplant Yes No No No
Braces for a limb Yes No No No
Braille note-taker devices Yes Yes No No
Braille printers, synthetic speech systems, large print-on-screen devices Yes Yes No No
Breast prosthesis Yes Yes No No
Cancer treatment Yes No No No
Catheters, catheter trays, tubing or other products Yes No No No
Certificates Yes No No No
Chair Yes Yes No No
Cochlear implant Yes No No No  
Computer peripherals Yes Yes No No
Cosmetic surgery before March 5, 2010 Yes No No No
Cosmetic surgery after March 4, 2010 DetailsDetails Details Details
Crutches Yes No No No  
Deaf-blind intervening services Yes No No No
Dental services Yes No No No
Dentures and dental implants Yes No No No  
Devices or software Yes Yes No No
Diapers or disposable briefs Yes No No No
Diaper services NoN/A N/A N/A  
Doctor – see Medical services by medical practitioners Yes No No No
Driveway access Yes No No No
Drugs and medical devices bought under Health Canada’s Special Access Program Yes No No No
Elastic support hose Yes Yes No No
Electrolysis Yes No No No
Electronic bone healing devices Yes Yes No No  
Electronic speech synthesizers Yes Yes No No
Electrotherapy devices Yes Yes No No
Environment control system (computerized or electronic) Yes Yes No No
Extremity pump Yes Yes No No
Fertility-related procedures Details Details Details Details
Furnace Yes Yes No No
Gluten-free products Details Details Details Details
Group home – see Attendant care and care in a facility Details Details Details Details
Health plan premiums paid by an employer and not included in your income NoN/A N/A N/A  
Hearing aids Yes No No No
Heart monitoring devices Yes Yes No No
Hospital bed Yes Yes No No
Hospital services Yes No No No
Ileostomy and colostomy pads Yes No No No
Infusion pump Yes Yes No No
Injection pens (such as an insulin pen) Yes Yes No No
Insulin or substitutes Yes Yes No No  
In vitro fertility program Yes No No No
Kidney machine (dialysis) Yes No No No
Laboratory procedures or services Yes Yes No No
Large print-on-screen devices Yes Yes No No
Laryngeal speaking aids Yes No No No  
Laser eye surgery Yes No No No
Lift or transportation equipment (power-operated) Yes Yes No No
Liver extract injections Yes Yes No No
Medical cannabis (marihuana) Yes No No No
Medical services by medical practitioners Yes No No No
Medical services outside Canada Yes No No No
Moving expenses Yes No No No
Needles and syringes Yes Yes No No  
Note-taking services Yes No Yes No
Nurse Yes No No No
Nursing home – see Attendant care and care in a facility Details Details Details Details
Optical scanners Yes Yes No No
Organic food NoN/A N/A N/A  
Organ transplant Yes No No No
Orthodontic work Yes No No No
Orthopaedic shoes, boots, and inserts Yes Yes No No  
Osteogenesis stimulator (inductive coupling) Yes Yes No No
Over-the-counter medications NoN/A N/A N/A
Oxygen and oxygen tent Yes Yes No No
Oxygen concentrator Yes No No No
Pacemakers Yes Yes No No  
Page-turner devices Yes Yes No No
Personalized therapy plan Yes Yes No Yes
Personal response systems such as Lifeline an Health Line Services NoN/A N/A N/A  
Phototherapy equipment Yes No No No
Premiums paid to private health services plans Yes No No No
Pre-natal and post-natal treatments Yes No No No
Prescription drugs and medications Yes Yes No No
Pressure pulse therapy devices Yes Yes No No
Provincial and territorial plans NoN/A N/A N/A
Reading services Yes No Yes No
Real-time captioning Yes No No No
Rehabilitative therapy Yes No No No
Renovation or construction expenses Yes No No No
Respite care expenses – see Attendant care and care in a facility Details Details Details Details
School for persons with a mental or physical impairment Yes No Yes No
Scooter Yes No No No
Service animals Yes No No No
Sign language interpretation services Yes No No No
Spinal brace Yes No No No  
Standing devices Yes Yes No No
Supplements and vitamins NoN/A N/A N/A
Talking textbooks Yes No Yes No
Teletypewriters Yes Yes No No
Television closed caption decoders Yes Yes No No
Tests Yes Yes No No
Therapy Yes Yes No Yes
Training Yes No No No
Travel expenses (less than 40km) NoN/A N/A N/A
Travel expenses (at least 40 km) Details Details Details Details
Travel expenses (at least 80 km) Details Details Details Details
Travel expenses (outside of Canada) Details Details Details Details
Treatment centre Yes No Yes No
Truss for hernia Yes No No No  
Tutoring services Yes No Yes No
Vaccines Yes Yes No No  
Van Yes No No No
Vehicle device Yes Yes No No
Vision devices Yes Yes No No
Visual or vibratory signalling device Yes Yes No No
Vitamin B12 Yes Yes No No
Vitamins – see Supplements and vitamins NoN/A N/A N/A
Voice recognition software Yes No Yes No
Volume control feature (additional) Yes Yes No No
Walking aids Yes Yes No No
Water filter, cleaner, or purifier Yes Yes No No  
Wheelchairs and wheelchair carriers Yes No No No  
Whirlpool bath treatments Yes No No No
Wigs Yes Yes No No

For more information about which medical expenses you can claim, please contact your local Avail office or email our Avail CPA Help Desk.

Contact the Avail CPA Help Desk
Article By Dan Oler
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