Can weight-loss surgery count as a medical expense on your tax return?

If you pay for surgery yourself, it is fair to ask whether any of it comes back at tax time. In Canada, eligible medical expenses can be claimed for a tax credit. This article explains the general rules from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). It is general information, not tax advice. Rules change and every situation is different, so check with the CRA or a tax professional.

How the credit works

The medical expense tax credit is a non-refundable tax credit. You can use it to reduce the tax you paid or may have to pay. You claim it on lines 33099 and 33199 of your return. Ontario and the other provinces and territories have a matching credit on your provincial or territorial form.

You do not claim everything you spent. For 2025, you claim your eligible expenses minus the lower of two amounts: 3% of your net income, or $2,834. The dollar amount can change from year to year, so check the current figure.

You can claim expenses paid in any 12-month period that ends in the tax year, as long as they were not claimed the year before. You can also claim for your spouse or common-law partner and your children under 18, and in some cases for other dependants. The CRA's guide shows that it can be worth comparing which partner should claim, because the 3% is based on the net income of the person who claims.

Working people with low incomes and high medical expenses may also qualify for the refundable medical expense supplement.

Does weight-loss surgery qualify?

The CRA's list of common medical expenses does not name weight-loss surgery as its own item. It does list medical services from medical practitioners, such as doctors and specialists, and hospital services as eligible. Procedures done only for appearance are not eligible, unless they are needed for a medical or reconstructive purpose.

Weight-loss surgery is a medical treatment, done for health reasons, so its fees may count as medical services. Whether your own costs qualify, and how much they lower your tax, depends on your situation. Check with the CRA or a tax professional before you count on it.

What may count

These are examples from the CRA list. Some need a prescription or other proof.

• Fees paid to medical practitioners, and hospital services.
• Prescription medicines, and lab tests with a prescription.
• Vitamin B12, with a prescription.
• Premiums you pay for a private health services plan.
• Some travel costs. If similar care is not available near your home and you travel at least 40 km one way, you may claim public transportation, or vehicle costs if public transit is not readily available. At 80 km or more one way, you may also claim accommodation, meals and parking.
• A companion's travel costs, if a medical practitioner certifies in writing that you cannot travel alone.

What does not count

• Procedures done only for appearance.
• Supplements and vitamins, apart from items the CRA lists with a prescription, such as vitamin B12.
• Over-the-counter medicines.
• Gym or fitness club fees.
• Travel of less than 40 km.
• Any part of a cost that was or will be paid back to you, for example by an insurance or workplace plan.

Keep your receipts

You do not send receipts with your return, but you need to keep them in case the CRA asks to see them later. A receipt must show who was paid, and should also show what it was for, the date of payment and the patient's name. The CRA may also ask for proof of payment, such as a bank or credit card statement.

A simple folder for each year, on paper or on your computer, makes this easier: invoices, receipts, prescriptions and a note of any travel dates and distances. If you pay over time, the rules look at when amounts are paid, so ask a tax professional how this applies to you.

Before you file

• Choose the 12-month period that suits your expenses.
• Decide with your partner who should claim.
• Check the current dollar amount and your provincial credit.
• Gather every receipt and proof of payment.