Adam Prudhomme
Editor
An audience of gymnastics campers behind them, the federal minister of families children and social development Jean-Yves Duclos and Hastings-Lennox and Addington MP Mike Bossio were in Napanee on Thursday to announce an increase to the Canadian Child Benefit (CCB).
Effective July 20, the maximum benefit will be $6,639 per child under the age of six and $5,602 per child aged six through 17, prorated to reflect the parent or guardian’s income.
Gathered at the Greater Napanee Gymnastics Club, the minister and Liberal MP announced the bump was initiated to reflect the rising cost of living.
“The cost of everything goes up every year,” said Duclos. “Sports activities, food, clothing, shelter, transportation. All of them tends to often be more expensive every year. It’s important for the federal government to adjust its help to middle class families with the cost of everything, including the cost of living.”
Along with the increase, the minister also announced changes to the CCB application program in an effort to streamline the process.
“This is not a tax credit, it’s a benefit,” said Bossio. “It’s a tax free benefit. It’s very simple for the government to implement and manage. It’s very simple for families to manage. They fill out their tax return, it’s automatically calculated into the tax return and then they automatically get the benefit every 20th of every month.”
Greater Napanee was selected as the location of the announcement as this area has a higher than average number of children receiving the benefit.
“In our riding its $5.5 to $5.9 million every single month that’s coming to the riding,” Bossio said of the CCB. “It’s benefitting 9,400 families, that’s 16,000 children. What’s great about that, it’s benefiting those families but it’s also hugely benefiting our rural community because when you put money in the pocket of low middle class families, they spend it and they spend it locally.”
According to the federal government’s numbers, there were 278,000 fewer children living in poverty in 2017 as compared to 2015, the year prior to the CCB’s implementation.
How much a family is eligible to receive is dependant on their income. A single family with one child under the age of six and earning $25,000 would receive an additional $143 per month, bringing their new yearly total to the maximum single child benefit of $6,639.
A two parent family with two children aged four to nine and earning $55,000 would receive an additional $354 per month, a yearly total of $9,017.
A two parent family earning $90,000 with two children under the age of six would be eligible for an additional $263 a month, a yearly total of $7,090.