By the time I opened the tax folder, the adoption paperwork had stopped being the centre of our evenings. My daughter was interested in a puzzle with far too much blue sky. I was interested in knowing whether the folder could finally go in the cabinet.
It could, but first I needed to put two years of receipts into the correct tax year. Paying a fee in 2024 did not necessarily mean claiming it on my 2024 return.
Find the end of the adoption period
The federal claim belongs to the year the adoption period ends, for a child under 18 when the adoption order is issued or recognized by a Canadian government.
The period begins at the earlier qualifying registration application with a provincial or territorial ministry or licensed agency, or an adoption-related application to a Canadian court. It ends at the later of the recognized adoption order and the child's first permanent residence with you. CRA's adoption-period rules.
In my example, the process began in 2024, my daughter began living permanently with us in August 2025, and the recognized order followed in November 2025. The period ended in 2025. Qualifying expenses from the whole period belong in that year's calculation.
I kept evidence of those dates with the receipts. A payment date alone could not explain the claim.
Sort the costs before adding them
Eligible categories include licensed-agency fees, adoption-order legal and court costs, required translations and immigration costs, and reasonable necessary travel and living costs for the adoption. Other required expenses have specific conditions. Ordinary costs of raising a child do not become adoption expenses because they happen near the adoption date. Eligible expenses.
My working list had four columns: date, purpose, amount and assistance. I kept the explanation beside unusual travel or document costs instead of expecting an old card statement to explain them later.
Subtract assistance and share the limit
Suppose the qualifying expenses total $18,000 and $2,000 is reimbursed. The remaining amount is $16,000. Assistance or reimbursement that anyone is entitled to receive also matters, even if it has not arrived yet.
For 2025, the federal maximum is $19,580 per child. Our $16,000 is below it. If both parents claim, their combined claim cannot duplicate the expenses or exceed the child's limit. Federal calculation and limits.
Ontario's 2025 limit is $15,551, so an Ontario provincial claim can be smaller than the federal one. The federal amount goes at line 31300; the Ontario amount is calculated at line 58330. These are non-refundable credit calculations, not $16,000 or $15,551 cash reimbursements. Ontario's 2025 tax guide.
My partner and I wrote down who would claim which amount before filing. Then the file went into the cabinet, with the order, dates, invoices and assistance records still together. The puzzle stayed out. We had found only three sky pieces that evening.
Checked October 20, 2026. Numerical limits are for 2025 returns; provincial rules depend on residence and Quebec has its own return.