Check your mailboxes: new Child Benefit program begins

Brian Rosenberg, right, and his husband Ferd van Gameren sit down for lunch with children Levi, 5, and three-year-old twins Sadie, centre, and Ella in Toronto, Monday, June 9, 2014. (Galit Rodan / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA - The federal government's new child benefit will arrive in bank accounts and mailboxes starting today.

The money replaces payments made to families with children under the universal child care benefit, the Canada child tax benefit and the national child benefit supplement.

The new benefit, promised by the federal Liberals in last year's election campaign, is non-taxable and is expected to mean more money for many households, and less for others.

Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the new one-payment system is simpler.

Those already receiving the universal child care benefit, or the child tax benefit, didn't have to apply for it. But if you didn't yet file a 2015 tax return, don't expect a cheque in the mail.

How much you receive is based on the number of children under age 18 in a household, and net family income.

Families with a net income of less than $30,000 a year can expect to receive the full benefit, which amounts to $533 per month for a child under six, and $450 per month for children six to 17.

Families earning more than $150,000 a year will receive much less.

An extra $227 per month is also added for each child who qualifies for a disability payment.