The Canada Learning Bond (CLB) is a grant paid by the government of Canada to assist low-income families with saving money for their children's post-secondary education. The CLB relies primarily on the National Child Benefit (NCB) program to determine which families may be eligible and the tax regulations for the Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) to guide the eventual use of the CLB funds. As of 1 July 2005, the CLB is legislated by the Canada Education Savings Act .
As part of the 2004 Canadian federal budget, the Minister of Finance Ralph Goodale introduced the Canada Learning Bond as a way to encourage low-income families to use a RESP for saving money to be used for a child's post-secondary education. [1] The maximum net benefit outlined per child was $2000 (CA$) over fifteen years and the budget estimated over 120,000 newborn children would be eligible in 2004 with an estimated budget cost of $85 million. [1] As part of the 2006 Canadian federal budget, Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty maintained the status quo of the CLB program by specifying that the proposed 2006 Universal Child Care Benefit (i.e., $1,200 per year per child under six) would not be considered as income when determining eligibility for the CLB. [2] As of 2006, the program did not achieve its participation or distribution goals. [3] Less than five percent of eligible children received the grant over the program's first two and a half years (i.e., 19,259 out of 422,048). [3] In addition, the federal government distributed $12 million rather than the $192.5 million budgeted for the same time period. [3] In December 2006, a spokesperson for Minister of Human Resources Diane Finley described the launch of marketing efforts to address the low awareness of the CLB program. [3] In a presentation to the House of Commons of Canada Standing Committee on Finance in August 2007, the Canadian Association of University Teachers recommended converting the CLB, Canada Education Savings Grant, and Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation into one annual needs-based grant program for eligible post-secondary students. [4]
The Canadian federal government provides the CLB to families who are entitled to the NCB and have children under the age of fifteen who were born after 2003. [1] In the first year of eligibility per child, the family receives $25 to cover the cost of setting up a RESP with the child as a beneficiary and $500 payable into that RESP. [1] After setup, the Canadian federal government provides a $100 CLB installment payment for each year the family remains entitled to the NCB and until the child turns fifteen. [1] If an eligible family does not apply for a CLB after the birth of a child, then they have until the child's eighteenth birthday to apply and receive payments for the years the family was eligible. [5] If the family does not apply prior to the child's eighteenth birthday, then the child can apply for their own RESP and receive the CLB as long as they do so before their twenty-first birthday. [5] Once the beneficiary of the RESP enrolls in a qualified educational program, then the beneficiary receives the balance in the account through Educational Assistance Payments. [5] If the beneficiary of the RESP does not enroll in an educational program after high school, then the CLB payments must be returned to the Canadian federal government because the CLB is not transferable. [5]
Medicare is a national health insurance program in the United States, begun in 1966 under the Social Security Administration (SSA) and now administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It primarily provides health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older, but also for some younger people with disability status as determined by the SSA, and people with end stage renal disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
A registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), or retirement savings plan (RSP), is a type of financial account in Canada for holding savings and investment assets. RRSPs have various tax advantages compared to investing outside of tax-preferred accounts. They were introduced in 1957 to promote savings for retirement by employees and self-employed people.
The Canadian federal budget of 2004 was a budget for the Government of Canada. It was read in the House of Commons of Canada on March 23, 2004 by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale of the governing Liberal Party. It was prepared by Goodale with significant input from Prime Minister Paul Martin, who had previously served as Minister of Finance in the government of Jean Chrétien.
James Michael Flaherty, was a Canadian politician who served as Canada's federal Minister of Finance (2006–2014) and a provincial Minister of Finance for Ontario (2001–2002). From 1995 until 2005, he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, and a member of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party caucus and unsuccessfully sought the leadership of the provincial party on two occasions.
A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged investment vehicle in the United States designed to encourage saving for the future higher education expenses of a designated beneficiary. In 2017, K–12 public, private, and religious school tuition were included as qualified expenses for 529 plans along with post-secondary education costs after passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
A registered education savings plan (RESP) in Canada is an investment vehicle available to caregivers to save for their children's post-secondary education. The principal advantages of RESPs are the access they provide to the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) and as a method of generating tax-deferred income.
The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) (French: Régime d'aide financière aux étudiantes et étudiants de l'Ontario ) is a provincial financial aid program that offers grants and loans to help Ontario students pay for their post-secondary education. OSAP determines the amount of money that a student is eligible to receive by considering factors such as tuition, course load, and the financial resources of the student. More than 380,000 students – more than half of all full-time students –received student financial aid in 2014-15.
The Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) was a tax-free monthly payment available to eligible Canadian families to help with the cost of raising children. The CCTB could incorporate the National Child Benefit (NCB), a monthly benefit for low-income families with children, and the Child Disability Benefit (CDB), a monthly benefit for families caring for children with severe and prolonged mental or physical disabilities.
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997,, was an omnibus legislative package enacted by the United States Congress, using the budget reconciliation process, and designed to balance the federal budget by 2002. This act was enacted during Bill Clinton's second term as president.
In the United States, federal assistance, also known as federal aid, federal benefits, or federal funds, is defined as any federal program, project, service, or activity provided by the federal government that directly assists domestic governments, organizations, or individuals in the areas of education, health, public safety, public welfare, and public works, among others.
The Canadian federal budget for the 2007–2008 fiscal year was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Flaherty presented the 2007 budget on March 19, 2007. No income tax or GST cuts were announced but there were tax credits for some families with children under 18. The federal budget included $14 billion in new spending and $5.7 billion in tax cuts. This was the second budget of the 39th Canadian Parliament.
The Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG) is part of a Government of Canada program, administered through Employment and Social Development Canada, to assist with savings for Canadian children's higher education. Under the CESG program, the government will contribute an amount to a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) according to a formula which is dependent on the amount contributed and the income level of the family making the contributions. As of 1 July 2005, the CESG is legislated by the Canada Education Savings Act.
Social programs in Canada include all Canadian government programs designed to give assistance to citizens outside of what the market provides. The Canadian social safety net covers a broad spectrum of programs, many of which are run by the provinces. Canada also has a wide range of government transfer payments to individuals, which totaled $176.6 billion in 2009—this cost only includes social programs that administer funds to individuals; programs such as medicare and public education are additional costs.
Higher education in Ontario includes postsecondary education and skills training regulated by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and provided by universities, colleges of applied arts and technology, and private career colleges. The current minister is Ross Romano who was appointed in June 2019. The ministry administers laws covering 22 public universities, 24 public colleges, 17 privately funded religious universities, and over 500 private career colleges. 18 of the top 50 research universities in Canada are in Ontario.
The Canadian federal budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on January 27, 2009. The federal budget included $40 billion in stimulus and $20 billion in personal income tax cuts.
Jordan's Principle is a child-first and needs-based principle used in Canada to ensure that First Nations children living on and off reserve have equitable access to all government funded public services. It holds that First Nations children should not be denied access to public services while governments fight over who should pay. In order to ensure substantive equality, this can also include services that are not ordinarily available to other children. According to the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada, the organization that hosts the Jordan's Principle campaign:
Jordan’s Principle ensures that First Nations children can access all public services when they need them. Services need to be culturally-based and take into full account the historical disadvantage linked to colonization that many First Nations children live with. The government of first contact pays for the service and resolves jurisdictional/payment disputes later.
A Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is a Government of Canada program designed to enable individuals with disabilities, with assistance from family and friends to save for their future financial security. The Government of Canada assists people to save with the Canada Disability Savings Program, consisting of the Canada Disability Savings Grant and Canada Disability Savings Bond. The Canada Disability Savings Grant matches personal contributions. The Canada Disability Savings Bond provides funding to RDSPs of people with low and moderate incomes.
The Canadian federal budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on February 26, 2008.
The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 2014–2015 was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Jim Flaherty on 11 February 2014. This was the last budget presented by the Finance Minister before his resignation in March and death in April. At the end of the fiscal year, the government was surprised to post a budgetary surplus of $1.9 billion. This however would later be overturned to a small deficit of $550 million due to improper accounting methodologies for the Government's unfunded pension obligations, as pointed out for years by the Auditor General.
The Government of Canada introduced multiple temporary social security and financial aid programs in response to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The initial CA$82-billion aid package was announced on March 18, 2020 by Justin Trudeau.
