Can I claim child care expense as the higher/only income earner as my wife was on paternity leave in 2017 with no income and we had 2 other kids in daycare?

[mkbboss]

There seems to be specific scenarios where the expenses can be included by the higher earner, but paternity leave is not one listed. I would hope that in a year with only one income that we would be able to benefit from this now more than ever.

[TurboTaxTara]

The rule on when the higher income spouse can claim childcare expenses is pretty specific.

The other person must have been in school, in prison, or very ill. See part C of form T778 for the specifics: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/formspubs/pbg/t778/t778-17e.pdf