Your total expenses must be more than either 3% of your net income or $2,024, whichever is less. You cannot claim medical expenses that have been reimbursed to you. If your employer or a private insurance or drug plan paid a percentage of the expenses, you can claim the remaining portion that you paid.

You can claim medical expenses you or your spouse or common-law partner paid for any of the following people:

• yourself;
• your spouse or common-law partner;
• your or your spouse's or common-law partner's children aged 18 and under, who depended on you for support.

These expenses are claimed at line 330 of Schedule 1.

Medical expenses for other dependants must be claimed on line 331 of Schedule 1.

You can claim medical expenses paid in any 12-month period ending in the current tax year and not already claimed in the previous tax year.

The more common medical expenses you can claim are:

• payments to a medical doctor, dentist, nurse, or certain other medical professionals, or to a public or licensed private hospital;
• payments for prescription medicines and drugs;
• dental services (including x-rays, fillings, extractions, oral surgery, dentures, and tooth straightening);
• prescription eyeglasses, prescription contact lenses, laser eye surgery;
• ambulance charges to or from hospital;
• premiums paid to private or non-government health services plans (other than those paid by an employer);
• artificial limbs, aids, and other devices and equipment (including artificial eyes and limbs, iron lung, a rocking bed for poliomyelitis victims, wheelchairs, crutches, spinal braces, a brace for a limb, ileostomy or colostomy pads, a truss for a hernia, laryngeal speaking aids, hearing aids, pacemakers, an artificial kidney machine, and certain prescription medical devices;
• repairs to and replacement batteries for the above;
• laboratory tests;
• hospital services (including anaesthesia, oxygen masks/tents, vaccines, and x-rays);
• amounts paid for attendant care, or care in an establishment, provided no one claimed the disability amount for the person receiving the care;
• devices designed to assist in daily living (for example, to enter or leave a bathtub or shower);
• special telephone devices to help people who are hearing-impaired;
• expenses relating to guide and hearing-ear dogs;
• cost of diabetic testing supplies;
• incremental cost of gluten-free food (compared to the cost of non-gluten-free food) if required due to celica disease; and
• reasonable travel expenses (such as meals and accommodation), if medical treatment was not available locally.

Note: You cannot claim payments to a provincial health insurance plan (e.g., Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP), BC Medical Services Plan (MSP). 

For a complete list of what you can claim as medical expenses, visit the CRA Web site at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/ncm-tx/rtrn/cmpltng/ddctns/lns300-350/330/llwbl-eng.html, or get the CRA publication IT519, Medical Expense and Disability Tax Credits and Attendant Care Expense Deduction.

Click here for a list of ineligible medical expenses.

• Where do I enter my medical expenses?
• How do I enter medical expenses on both my spouse's and my own return?
• How do I enter medical expenses for a dependant who is over 18?
• How can I enter a medical expense on my federal return, but not on my Québec TP1?