Making Life More Affordable
Our government talks a lot about creating opportunities for seniors to retire with dignity, acknowledging the hard work they put into building the Canada we cherish today. That's why we are committed to developing policies and advocating for robust support systems to ensure seniors are well cared for as they transition out of the workforce. It's simply the right thing to do.
Today, I’d like to highlight measures our government put in place to make life more affordable:
Increasing the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) up to $947 annually for low-income single seniors, improving the financial security of about 900,000 vulnerable seniors.
Increasing the Old Age Security (OAS) pension by 10% for all seniors aged 75+, providing an average of $800 over the first year to pensioners receiving the full benefit.
Restoring the age of eligibility for OAS and GIS back to 65, from 67, after the Conservatives raised it.
For the 2022 and subsequent taxation years, the Budget proposes to increase the annual expense limit of the Home Accessibility Tax Credit to $20,000, which would provide a tax credit of up to $3,000.
Improving services to eligible Canadian seniors by introducing automatic enrolment for the Guaranteed Income Supplement and proactively enrolling Canadians who are entitled to a retirement pension under the CPP at age 70, thereby ensuring all seniors receive the pension they are entitled to.
Enhanced the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) maximum yearly benefit for future retirees by about 50%, meaningfully reducing the risk of not saving enough for retirement. The Quebec Pension Plan followed suit.
Moving forward with Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy to reduce poverty by 50% by 2030, from 2015 levels, including among seniors.
Issuing one-time, tax-free payments to help seniors who received pandemic benefits and saw reductions in GIS, worth over $1,500 to a low-income couple.
There’s still much more work ahead of us. Together, we can continue making progress and building on the foundation we’ve created.
If you have specific questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out directly to me.
Thanks,
Jenna
