Many student grants ask for your Line 15000 to confirm your income eligibility. It’s a single number from your Canadian tax return, and finding it takes about two minutes once you know where to look.

What Is Line 15000?

Line 15000 is your total income for the year, as reported on your T1 General tax return. It includes income from all sources before any deductions are applied: employment, self-employment, EI, scholarships, investment income, and more.

Grants use this number because it reflects your gross income, not what you take home after deductions. A lower Line 15000 generally means a higher chance of qualifying for need-based funding.

Where to Find It

Option 1: Your CRA My Account (fastest)

  1. Log in at canada.ca/my-cra-account
  2. Select Tax returns from the left menu
  3. Open your most recent assessed return
  4. Look for Line 15000 — Total income

CRA My Account is available 24/7. If you’ve never set it up, you can register using your social insurance number and either your tax return or an Interac sign-in partner (most major banks).

Option 2: Your Notice of Assessment (NOA)

When the CRA processes your return, they mail (or email, if you’re registered for email notifications) a Notice of Assessment. Line 15000 appears on page 1 or 2 under “Assessment summary.”

If you filed this year’s return, your NOA usually arrives within two to eight weeks by mail, or within about two weeks if you filed online and receive email notifications.

Option 3: Your Tax Return Copy

If you filed with tax software (TurboTax, Wealthsimple Tax, UFile, etc.), your saved return shows Line 15000 on the T1 General form. Look for page 3 of the return, under “Step 3 — Net income.” The line is labelled “Total income (line 15000).”

If you used a tax clinic or filed on paper, check your copy of the T1 form you submitted.

Which Year’s Line 15000 Do Grants Ask For?

Grant applications typically ask for the previous tax year. If you’re applying in 2026, most grants want your 2025 Line 15000. Check the specific grant’s instructions, because some programs use the year before that, especially if the current year’s return hasn’t been filed yet.

If you haven’t filed a return for the year they’re asking about, file it first. CRA processes most returns in two weeks when filed online.

What If You Had No Income?

If you had no income in the requested year, your Line 15000 is $0. You still need to have filed a return for that year for the CRA to confirm this. File a nil return (a return with zero income) so the record exists. Most grants require a filed return, not just a declaration.

If you’re a newcomer to Canada and don’t have a Canadian tax return for the requested year, check the grant’s eligibility rules. Some programs accept foreign income documentation or exempt applicants who weren’t tax residents in that year.

Common Grants That Require Line 15000

  • Alberta FTSG (Future to Grow Student Grant) — uses your household income from the most recent tax year to verify eligibility
  • Canada Student Grants — assessed automatically through your student aid application, which pulls income from CRA
  • Provincial bursaries and emergency funds — many require a screenshot or printout of your NOA as supporting documentation

For more on how Canada Student Grants work, see Canada Student Grant vs. Loan.

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