Claiming IVF Abroad on Your Canadian Taxes: The Medical Expense Tax Credit Explained

For many Canadians, the decision to travel for IVF comes after a look at provincial coverage and clinic waitlists at home. Our guide to IVF in Canada covers that side. Once you've decided to go, the money question shifts: how much of what you spend abroad can you recover at tax time?

The main tool is the federal Medical Expense Tax Credit, or METC, claimed on lines 33099 and 33199 of your return. It is a non-refundable credit, which means it reduces tax you owe rather than producing a cheque on its own. This article explains how the Canada Revenue Agency's published guidance applies to a fertility cycle outside Canada. It isn't tax advice, and provincial credits work alongside the federal one with their own rules, so a tax professional should confirm your claim.

Fertility Treatment Is an Eligible Expense

CRA's list of eligible medical expenses includes an in vitro fertility program and the freezing and storage of eggs and sperm (CRA, lines 33099 and 33199, 2025).

A 2017 federal budget change matters for many patients. From the 2017 tax year onward, costs paid for the purpose of conceiving a child count as medical expenses even if the person doesn't have a medical condition preventing conception, as long as they would qualify for someone who did. CRA lists medical services, drugs and lab tests for treatments such as IVF as generally eligible under that rule (CRA, METC and reproductive technologies). That opened the credit to single people and same-sex couples using fertility treatment, who were previously in a grey zone.

The same CRA page notes that the credit generally isn't available for a surrogate's fees, although a surrogate can claim her own eligible reproductive expenses. Expenses involving donors or a surrogate are flagged on CRA's main list as needing a closer look at the details, so if your plan uses donor eggs, donor sperm or a carrier, have your accountant review those specific lines.

Paying Abroad Doesn't Disqualify You

This is the question most Canadians ask first. CRA's guidance says you can generally claim all eligible amounts paid, even if they were not paid in Canada, and it lists medical services outside Canada among eligible expenses (CRA, 2025). An IVF cycle in Mexico, Colombia, Spain or anywhere else is therefore not excluded simply because of where it happened.

What changes abroad is the paperwork. Your receipts will be in another currency, possibly another language, and issued by a clinic CRA has never heard of. If CRA asks you to support your claim, clear documentation is what carries it.

How the Credit Is Calculated

Two features shape the size of any claim.

The 12-month window

You don't have to use the calendar year. CRA lets you claim eligible expenses paid in any 12-month period ending in the tax year, provided you didn't claim them in a previous year (CRA, 2025). For a cycle that starts with a deposit in October and ends with a transfer in March, choosing the right window can let you group the whole treatment into a single claim.

The threshold

For 2025, your eligible expenses are reduced by the lesser of 3% of your net income (line 23600) or $2,834. Only the amount above that reduction generates the credit. People with moderate incomes often hit the 3% figure first; higher earners hit the fixed amount. Either way, a cycle abroad is usually large enough to clear the threshold, but your accountant can tell you what the credit is actually worth once federal and provincial rates are applied.

Line by Line: A Cross-Border Cycle

Travel Expenses: Proceed Carefully

CRA's main list marks travel of less than 40 km as not eligible and points to separate detailed rules for longer trips and for travel outside Canada. We weren't able to review those detailed conditions for this article, so we won't paraphrase them. What we can say is that CRA treats travel as its own category with its own tests, and you shouldn't assume flights, hotels and meals for an IVF trip are claimable simply because the treatment is. Ask your accountant to apply the current travel rules to your specific trip, and keep receipts in case they qualify.

Claiming a Past Cycle

If you did IVF abroad in a previous year and never claimed it, you may still be able to. CRA says it will consider adjustment requests for returns from the 10 calendar years before the year of the request, made through My Account or a T1 adjustment request form (CRA). Fertility expenses from 2017 onward fall under the broader rule described above.

Receipts That Stand Up

CRA can ask you to support any claim. For foreign medical bills, strong documentation looks like this:

• An itemized invoice from the clinic showing the patient's name, the date, each service and the amount.
• A translation if the invoice isn't in English or French. Ask the clinic's international coordinator for an English version; many already prepare them.
• Proof of payment showing the Canadian-dollar amount actually charged, such as a card statement or bank transfer record.
• A record of the exchange rate you used if you convert amounts yourself. Using the amount your bank actually charged is often the simplest route.
• Pharmacy receipts and prescriptions, particularly for drugs bought in the destination country.
• Any reimbursement records. If a private health plan reimbursed part of the bill, you can only claim the portion you paid yourself.

Private Plans and Workplace Benefits

Some employer plans include a fertility benefit, sometimes with a lifetime maximum. Before you travel, ask your plan administrator whether it reimburses treatment or drugs purchased outside Canada and what documents it requires. Claim the plan first, then put the unreimbursed balance into your METC calculation. The same dollar can't be both reimbursed and claimed.

Bringing Donor Material or Embryos Home

A tax receipt is one thing; bringing reproductive material into Canada is another. Canada's Safety of Sperm and Ova Regulations, in force since February 4, 2020, set safety requirements for donor sperm and eggs under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (Health Canada). If you might want to ship frozen embryos or donor gametes back to a Canadian clinic later, ask that clinic before your trip what it needs, and read our guide to moving frozen embryos between countries.

Mistakes That Shrink a Claim

Splitting one cycle across two tax years by accident

If your deposit, stimulation drugs and final balance fall on both sides of December 31, a calendar-year view can leave each year's total barely above the threshold. Because CRA lets you pick the 12-month period, a cycle spread across two calendar years can often be gathered into one claim instead. Work out the window before you file, not after.

Losing the pharmacy receipts

Stimulation drugs are frequently bought in pieces: some from a Canadian pharmacy before you leave, some from a pharmacy near the clinic, some top-ups mid-cycle. Each receipt is small, and together they're a meaningful share of the bill. Photograph each one the day you get it.

Claiming the gross amount after a plan paid part

If a workplace plan reimbursed a portion, only your out-of-pocket share belongs in the claim. Overstating it invites a reassessment.

Assuming everything on the clinic invoice is medical

Some international packages bundle airport transfers, hotel nights or translation services into one price. Ask the clinic to break those lines out, so the medical services stand on their own and the rest can be assessed under the separate travel rules, or left out.

A Simple Year-End Routine

1. Pick the 12-month window that captures the most of your treatment.
2. List every eligible receipt with the date paid and the Canadian-dollar amount.
3. Subtract anything reimbursed by a plan.
4. Ask your preparer which return the claim belongs on if you have a partner.
5. Keep the full file, translated where needed, in case CRA asks for it.

The METC won't make IVF abroad free, and it shouldn't drive the choice of destination. But for a Canadian paying out of pocket, it's real money, and claiming it well comes down to organised receipts and a window chosen on purpose.