CRA Medical Travel Expenses Deduction Guide 2026

1. What Medical Travel Expenses Can Qualify

For the 2025 tax year, which is generally the return filed in 2026, CRA allows certain medical travel expenses to be claimed as part of the Medical Expense Tax Credit when a taxpayer has to travel to obtain medical services. The travel rules depend on the one-way distance from the taxpayer's home to the place where the medical service is obtained and on the type of expense. Travel must satisfy the applicable medical-service conditions; merely travelling for convenience is not enough.

2. The 40 Kilometre and 80 Kilometre Rules

The distance is measured one way from the taxpayer's home to the location where medical services are obtained. The 40 km threshold is the entry point for certain transportation expenses. The 80 km threshold is required before meals, accommodation and certain additional travel costs can be claimed.

3. Medical Service Availability and the Need to Travel

A medical-travel claim is not based solely on distance. CRA's examples show a claimant travelling to another city because similar medical services were not available within the relevant local area. The taxpayer should be able to demonstrate why travel to the particular facility was necessary for the medical service being obtained. This is separate from the distance test and should not be collapsed into a generic requirement that a doctor must always provide a certificate saying treatment was unavailable locally.

4. What You Can Claim at 40 Kilometres

When the taxpayer has to travel at least 40 km one way from home to obtain medical services, qualifying public transportation costs can generally be included. Where public transportation is not readily available, qualifying vehicle expenses can instead be calculated using the detailed or simplified method. The trip must satisfy the other medical-travel requirements.

5. What Becomes Available at 80 Kilometres

At least 80 km one way from home, eligible medical-travel expenses can include transportation plus meals, accommodation and parking. Meals can be calculated using the simplified method or actual receipts. Accommodation must be supported by receipts and must be necessary because of the distance travelled and the medical condition.

6. Simplified Meal Method

For the 2025 tax year, CRA's simplified medical-travel meal rate is $23 per meal to a maximum of $69 per day per person. This method avoids the need to retain individual restaurant receipts for the actual meal amounts, although CRA can still ask for documentation supporting the travel and the claim. The simplified meal rate is a CRA medical-travel calculation and should not be confused with the separate CRA employee travel allowance rates.

7. Simplified Vehicle Method

CRA allows a simplified method for medical-travel vehicle expenses. You multiply the number of kilometres travelled for eligible medical purposes during the chosen medical-expense period by the cents-per-kilometre rate for the province or territory where the travel begins. The published rates are different from CRA's employee business-travel allowance rates. The taxpayer should keep a kilometre log even when using the simplified method.

8. Detailed Vehicle Method

Instead of the simplified cents-per-kilometre method, the taxpayer can choose the detailed method for medical vehicle expenses. Under the detailed method, the taxpayer calculates the proportion of total vehicle expenses that relates to eligible medical kilometres during the applicable 12-month period. CRA says vehicle expenses can include operating expenses such as fuel, oil, tires, licence fees, insurance, maintenance and repairs, as well as ownership expenses such as depreciation, provincial or territorial taxes and finance charges.

9. Accommodation, Meals and Parking

Accommodation is available only when the 80 km threshold is met and the accommodation is necessary because of the distance travelled and the medical condition. CRA requires receipts for accommodation. Meals can be claimed using either the detailed receipts method or the simplified rate. Parking can also qualify at the 80 km level.

10. Companion or Accompanying Person Expenses

Travel expenses for an accompanying person can qualify when the patient has to travel to obtain medical services and the patient is unable to travel without an accompanying person. CRA requires the medical practitioner to certify that the patient was unable to travel without the companion. The companion's qualifying transportation and, where the distance rules are met, eligible meals and accommodation can then be considered.

11. 12-Month Claim Period and Timing

Medical expenses are not restricted to expenses paid between January 1 and December 31. CRA generally permits a taxpayer to select a 12-month period ending in the tax year, provided the expenses have not already been claimed for another year. For the 2025 return filed in 2026, the selected period must end in 2025. This rule can allow taxpayers to choose a 12-month period that produces a more favourable medical-expense claim.

12. Lines 33099 and 33199

Line 33099 is used for eligible medical expenses paid by the taxpayer or spouse/common-law partner for the taxpayer, spouse/common-law partner and dependent children who were under 18 at the end of the tax year. Line 33199 is used for eligible medical expenses for certain other dependants, including adult children and specified relatives who depended on the taxpayer for support and met the CRA conditions.

13. Federal Medical-Expense Threshold for the 2026 Filing Season

For the 2025 tax year, the federal Medical Expense Tax Credit calculation reduces eligible medical expenses by the lesser of $2,834 or 3% of the relevant net income. For line 33099, this is based on the claimant's net income. For line 33199, the corresponding amount is based on the dependant's net income. The resulting amount is a non-refundable federal tax credit.

14. Reimbursements, Insurance and Other Assistance

Only the portion of an eligible medical expense that the taxpayer was not and will not be reimbursed for can generally be claimed. This includes reimbursement from insurance or other sources. Taxpayers should therefore determine the net unreimbursed medical cost before entering the expense in the medical-expense calculation.

15. Foreign Medical Travel

CRA allows certain eligible medical expenses paid outside Canada, subject to the medical-expense rules. Medical travel outside Canada can therefore potentially qualify when the underlying service and travel requirements are satisfied. The same 40 km and 80 km concepts can apply to the travel claim, but the taxpayer should retain foreign invoices, travel records, proof of payment, medical-service documentation and any currency-conversion support required to substantiate the Canadian-dollar amounts.

16. Common Medical-Travel Claim Mistakes

Medical travel is often overclaimed because the taxpayer focuses on distance and forgets the underlying medical-expense conditions.

17. Step-by-Step Medical Travel Filing Workflow

A reliable medical-travel claim should be built from the medical service, distance and supporting records rather than from a mileage total alone.

18. Quick Decision Framework

Use this sequence before claiming medical travel expenses on the 2026 filing-season return.

Frequently Asked Questions