Allowance by Age for Kids in Canada: Choosing a Workable Amount

Short answer: The FCAC doesn't set a dollar amount for kids. A useful guide is $0.50 to $1 a week for each year of your child's age, so $4 to $8 a week for an eight-year-old. Pick a number your family can pay every time, big enough that your child faces real choices, and match it to what the allowance has to cover. Raise it as they grow and take on more.

The amount matters less than what your child learns from managing it. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) says the goal of an allowance is to teach children how to manage money, and suggests an amount that suits your child's age, raised as they grow. This guide helps you turn that into a number.

Why there's no "right" amount

You may find averages online. Check who was surveyed and when. Even a good average tells you what some families pay, not what your child's allowance should cover or what your budget allows.

Three things decide a workable amount:

1. What it has to cover. An allowance for treats needs less than one that also covers birthday gifts for friends or a game subscription.
2. What your family can pay reliably. A smaller amount paid every week is easier to plan around than a bigger one that comes and goes.
3. Whether it creates real choices. If everything is affordable, or nothing ever is, there's no decision to make.

Allowance by age: an illustrative guide

These ranges use $0.50 to $1 a week for each year of age. They're a starting point for your own decision, not a national average or a rule. Yearly totals assume 52 weekly payments.

• Age 5 (Kindergarten): $2.50 to $5 a week, or $130 to $260 a year.
• Age 6 (Grade 1): $3 to $6 a week, or $156 to $312 a year.
• Age 7 (Grade 2): $3.50 to $7 a week, or $182 to $364 a year.
• Age 8 (Grade 3): $4 to $8 a week, or $208 to $416 a year.
• Age 9 (Grade 4): $4.50 to $9 a week, or $234 to $468 a year.
• Age 10 (Grade 5): $5 to $10 a week, or $260 to $520 a year.
• Age 11 (Grade 6): $5.50 to $11 a week, or $286 to $572 a year.
• Age 12 (Grade 7): $6 to $12 a week, or $312 to $624 a year.
• Age 13 (Grade 8): $6.50 to $13 a week, or $338 to $676 a year.

Where you land in the range depends on what the allowance covers. The low end suits a child whose money is mostly for small treats. The high end suits a child who also buys gifts, entertainment or bigger wants from it.

If you pay every two weeks or monthly, multiply the weekly amount. $6 a week is $12 every two weeks, or about $26 a month.

Match the amount to what it covers

The amount and the responsibility go together. When you hand over a new category, raise the amount to match. Here's how that can grow:

• Kindergarten to Grade 2: small treats and toys, plus a simple savings goal. You still buy almost everything else.
• Grades 3 to 4: add bigger wants they save for, such as a LEGO set or a game. Start including tax in prices.
• Grades 5 to 6: add gifts for friends' birthday parties, or snacks out with friends.
• Grades 7 to 8: add a larger category, such as entertainment or digital purchases, that they budget for across the month.

Whatever the age, essentials stay with you: food, clothing, school supplies, health and safety, and activities you've agreed to cover. Your child's choices should never put those at risk. If you haven't set up an allowance yet, how to start an allowance walks through agreeing what it covers, step by step.

Check it fits your budget

Before settling on a number, add it up over a year and across your children.

Illustrative example: a family with children aged 5, 8 and 11 uses $0.75 a week per year of age. That's $3.75, $6 and $8.25, or $18 a week together. Over a year, it's $936.

That can sound like a lot, but much of it may be money you already spend. Look at a few weeks of treats at checkout, small toys, app purchases and "just this once" requests. If those move onto your children's lists, the allowance replaces that spending rather than adding to it.

If the total is more than you can pay reliably, lower the amount or the categories it covers. Don't promise a number you'll struggle to keep.

Worked example: allowance for an 8-year-old

Illustrative example, not a real family. Maya is eight and gets $6 a week. Her allowance covers treats, small toys and anything she saves for. Her parents still pay for everything else.

This week she chooses $3 for Save, $2 for Spend and $1 for Give. She's saving for a LEGO set with a $40 price tag.

In Ontario, where Maya lives, the HST is 13%, so the set costs $45.20 at the till. Sales tax works differently in each province, so use the total your child would actually pay where you live.

Saving $3 a week from zero, Maya needs 16 weeks: 15 weeks gets her to $45, just short. If she moves $1 from Spend to Save, $4 a week gets her there in 12 weeks. That trade-off, a treat now or the set sooner, is the decision $6 makes possible.

At $2 a week, the goal would take 23 weeks and might feel out of reach. At $15 a week, she could put $12 toward the set, keep $3 for treats and giving, and buy it in four weeks. The trade-off would barely cost her anything. In this example, $2 leaves too little room to choose and $15 too much.

Signs the amount needs changing

You'll learn more from the first month than from any chart.

It may be too low if:

• everything they want takes months to save for, so they stop trying;
• they never have money to spend, even after saving; or
• you keep topping it up because the agreed categories cost more than it.

It may be too high if:

• they can buy most things right away, without choosing;
• their balance keeps growing with no goal and no decisions; or
• you're stretching to pay it.

Change the amount before the next payment, and explain why. If you're lowering it, reduce what it covers too.

When to raise it

Raise the amount when the responsibility grows, not as a reward for good behaviour. Natural moments:

• A birthday. If you use the per-year guideline, the increase is built in.
• A new category. When gifts or entertainment move onto their list, add enough to cover it.
• A yearly review. Prices change. Check what their usual treats and goals cost now.

As they get older, you can also stretch the time between paydays. Moving from weekly to every two weeks or monthly is practice making money last.

Siblings and fairness

Children of different ages can get different amounts. A per-year guideline makes the reason easy to explain: "You get more because you're older and you pay for more." Younger children may find that easier to accept when they know their amount will grow too.

Keep the rules the same even when the numbers differ: the same payday, the same essentials covered by you, and the same chance to choose their own split.

Practise it at Monty O'Clock

In Monty, you set each child's allowance amount and choose a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly schedule. At Monty O'Clock, the two-minute weekly check-in, your child sees what came in and decides how much goes to Spend, Save and Give. Their goals show how long a target will take at the rate they're saving, so a change in amount is easy to see.

Monty is the record, not the bank. The money stays in your account, and you make the purchases. Monty keeps track of what's in each of your child's jars. It doesn't hold money, issue a card or connect to your bank.

See how allowance habits work in Monty, or read how Monty O'Clock works. For the bigger picture, start with how to teach kids the value of money.

Start the Monty O'Clock Monthly Challenge: your first four Monty O'Clocks are free, with every feature and no credit card needed. After that, Monty is $10/month or $99/year, plus applicable tax. See pricing for details.