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.

Line 15000 at a Glance (2026)

  • Is Line 15000 gross income? Yes. It’s your total income from all sources before deductions.
  • Where it comes from: page 3 of your T1 General tax return, or page 1–2 of your Notice of Assessment.
  • Fastest way to find it: CRA My Account, under Tax returns.
  • Which year grants want: the previous tax year. For a 2026 application, that’s usually your 2025 return.
  • No income that year? Your Line 15000 is $0, and you still need a filed (nil) return to prove it.

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 deductions: employment, self-employment, EI, scholarships, investment income, and more.

Is Line 15000 Gross Income?

Yes. Line 15000 is your gross income: everything you earned from every source in the tax year, before deductions like RRSP contributions, union dues, or childcare expenses.

The distinction matters because grants compare this gross figure against their income thresholds, not your take-home pay. If you earned $22,000 and deducted $3,000 in RRSP contributions, your Line 15000 is $22,000, not $19,000. (Net income, after deductions, sits further down the return on line 23600, which some programs use instead.) So when a grant asks for gross income, Line 15000 is the number to give them.

Where to Find It

Option 1: Your CRA My Account (fastest)

  1. Go to canada.ca/my-cra-account
  2. Select Tax returns from the left menu
  3. Open your most recent assessed return
  4. Find Line 15000 — Total income

CRA My Account is available 24/7. If you’ve never set it up, you can register with 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, page 3, 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 isn’t 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 a filed return for the CRA to confirm it. To get one, submit 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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