If you paid tuition or eligible fees while studying in Canada, you may be able to lower your tax bill when you file your return. The form that makes this possible is the T2202, a slip your school issues to show how much you paid and how long you were enrolled.
This guide walks through what the T2202 is, who is eligible for one, how to get your copy, what each box means, and how to claim or transfer the tuition tax credit it supports.
What is a T2202?
A T2202 is a Tuition and Enrolment Certificate that designated educational institutions in Canada issue to qualifying students. It reports how much eligible tuition or fees you paid and how long you were enrolled, so you can claim the tuition amount tax credit on your income tax return.
The institution that offered the eligible course generates the slip. The tuition amount tax credit is available to qualifying resident students and some international students. The T2202 replaced the T2202A and TL11B forms used in 2018 and earlier years.
If you study at a university outside Canada, you'll receive a TL11A slip instead. Commuters to the U.S. receive a TL11C, and deemed residents of Canada (under section 250 of the Income Tax Act) studying at a post-secondary institution outside Canada receive a TL11D, a Tuition Fees Certificate. All three also support the tuition amount tax credit.
Who is eligible for the T2202?
You don't fill out a T2202 yourself — your designated educational institution issues it to you. You generally qualify to receive one if you meet these conditions:
Qualifying institution: you're a student at a college, university, or other qualifying institution in Canada.
Eligible courses: your courses qualify for a tax credit.
Minimum spend: you paid more than $100 in tuition or fees, and you can't combine fees paid to different institutions to meet the threshold.
Local vs. international students
The T2202 is available to both local and international students. Local students must be enrolled in a qualifying course at an educational institution in Canada, There's no minimum age for regular university or college courses; the 16-and-over requirement applies only to occupational-skills courses at an ESDC-certified institution (or non-post-secondary-level courses taken to build job skills).
You can also claim fees paid to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) certified institutions, or fees for post-secondary courses that improve your skills in a given occupation.
International students who are required to file an income tax return in Canada can claim T2202 tax credits to reduce their tax burden. Whether an international student is a resident for tax purposes depends on their residential ties to Canada (and the 183-day "deemed resident" rule), not simply on earning Canadian income. Students who have to file a Canadian return can generally claim the credit. Non-resident international students who aren't required to file cannot claim the credit.
How do I get my T2202?
The institution you paid tuition to generates and issues the slip. You can usually download and print it from your institution's online student portal. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requires students to provide their social insurance number for display on the T2202.
Understanding the boxes on your T2202
Like other taxpayer slips, the T2202 features several boxes and lines. Here are the boxes you'll find on the slip:
Box | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Boxes 11 and 12 | Box 11 is the school type; Box 12 is the flying-school or club type and is completed only when Box 11 is 5 (Flying school or club) and feature single-digit codes for each type (University, College, Flying School, etc.). Choose the school type by entering the corresponding letter — e.g., 1 for University. |
| Boxes 13 to 18 | Box 13 is for the course name, 14 for the student number, the Filer Account Number is the institution's own 15-character CRA account number (format 000000000RZ0000) — not a course number, and it isn't Box 15. The student name and student address appear as their own (un-numbered) fields, and the social insurance number is Box 17. |
| Boxes 19 and 20 | Box 19 is where you enter the start date of your course or when you were enrolled in the program. Make sure the year is the same as the tax/calendar year. Box 20 is for the end date of your course/program. |
| Boxes 21, 22, 24, and 25 | Box 21 is for the months you enrolled as a part-time student, if applicable. A single T2202 can report up to four session periods, each using boxes 19–23. Box 22 is for the months you enrolled as a full-time student and also has a maximum of four sessions. Boxes 24 and 25 are for the total number of part-time and full-time months, respectively. |
| Boxes 23 and 26 | Box 23 is for eligible part-time and full-time fees, while Box 26 reports the total amount of eligible tuition fees paid for an eligible course or specified educational program. |
How to claim the tuition tax credit
Once you have your T2202, the tuition amount becomes a non-refundable tax credit that lowers the tax you owe. You claim it on your income tax return using the eligible fees reported in Box 26 — the total of the per-session Box 23 amounts..
The federal tuition amount is reported on Schedule 11, and the credit is entered on line 32300 of your return. Your province or territory may have its own tuition credit on a provincial Schedule 11.
Because it's a non-refundable credit, it can reduce your tax owing to $0 but won't create a refund on its own. Any amount you can't use can be transferred or carried forward.
Can you transfer or carry forward tuition tax credits?
If you don't need the full credit to bring your tax to $0, you can transfer the unused amount to someone else. The CRA allows transfers to your spouse or common-law partner, your parent or grandparent, or your spouse's or common-law partner's parent or grandparent.
You can only transfer credits from the current tax year, up to a maximum of $5,000. If there's no one to transfer to, the CRA carries the unused amount forward to a future tax year.
Keep all T2202 forms you receive for at least 6 years, since the CRA can request them at any time.
