How long do you need to keep medical receipts in Canada?

Short answer: keep a medical receipt six years from the end of the tax year you claim it. You do not send receipts with your return; the CRA's instruction is to keep them in case it asks later. And because the medical expense credit is claimed over any 12-month period ending in the tax year, a receipt you have not claimed yet is not garbage: it may belong to next year's claim.

Six years, counted from the tax year you claim

Medical receipts follow the same supporting-document rule as every other receipt behind a tax claim in Canada: six years from the end of the tax year the claim relates to. The CRA's own instruction on the medical expense lines is blunt: "Do not send any documents with your tax return. Keep them in case the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) asks to see them later" (CRA: lines 33099 and 33199, eligible medical expenses). Medical claims are reviewed often precisely because no receipts travel with the return, so the ask-to-see-them letter is routine, not a red flag.

The 12-month window makes medical receipts different

Most expenses are claimed in the calendar year you paid them. Medical expenses are not: you claim amounts paid in any 12-month period ending in the tax year, as long as they were not claimed the year before. A family with big dental work in July can choose a July-to-June window that captures all of it in one claim, which matters because the credit only counts expenses above a threshold tied to your income.

The practical consequence for record keeping: the moment you pay, you usually do not know yet which return the receipt belongs to. A physio receipt from October might be claimed this year, or it might anchor a window ending next year. Toss it because "we are not claiming this year" and you may have thrown away the start of next year's claim. Keep every medical receipt when you pay it, decide at filing time.

What the receipt has to show

The CRA is specific: receipts must show the name of the company or individual the expense was paid to, and for some expense types the medical expenses guide (RC4065) also expects a prescription or a practitioner's certification. In practice a keepable medical receipt shows:

• Who was paid: the clinic, pharmacy, dentist, or practitioner's name.
• Who it was for: you, your spouse or common-law partner, or the dependant.
• Date and amount: the date paid decides which 12-month windows it can join.
• The insurance leftover: if a plan reimbursed part, only the unreimbursed part is claimable, so keep the benefits statement with the receipt.

Pharmacy slips rarely survive six years

Register receipts from pharmacies are mostly thermal paper, and thermal print fades, often within months to a few years. Six years is a long time for a slip that lives in a wallet. The CRA accepts a properly captured digital image as the record (acceptable format and imaging), so a clear photo taken the day you pay is the version that will still be legible when a review letter arrives in year four.

The takeaway

• Claimed medical receipts: keep six years from the end of the tax year of the claim.
• Unclaimed medical receipts: keep them too; the any-12-month window means they may belong to a future claim.
• Nothing gets mailed with the return; the CRA asks later, and medical claims get reviewed routinely.
• Photograph pharmacy slips when you pay; a legible image counts and the paper will not last.
• For how long every other document type keeps, see the full Canadian retention table.

Common questions

How long should you keep medical receipts after claiming them?

Six years from the end of the tax year the claim relates to. The CRA tells filers not to send medical receipts with the return but to keep them in case they are asked for later, and that ask can come years after filing.

Can you claim medical expenses from last year?

Often, yes. The medical expense credit is claimed for any 12-month period ending in the tax year, as long as the expenses were not claimed before. A receipt from last summer can sit inside this year's chosen window, which is exactly why medical receipts are worth keeping even in a year you do not claim.

Do you send medical receipts with your tax return?

No. The CRA's instruction is to not send any documents with the return and to keep them in case it asks to see them later. Filing electronically does not change this: the receipts stay with you, and the CRA can request them during review.

What if insurance reimbursed part of a medical expense?

Only the part no one reimbursed can be claimed. Keep the insurer's benefits statement together with the receipt, because the pair is what shows both the expense and the portion that was actually yours.

Are pharmacy receipts thermal paper that fades?

The register slip usually is, and it can fade well before a six-year window ends. Official prescription receipts are often laser printed and last longer, but the safe habit is the same either way: capture a clear digital copy when you pay, because the CRA accepts a legible image as the record.