Medicare is an unofficial designation used to refer to the publicly funded single-payer healthcare system of Canada. Canada's health care system consists of 13 provincial and territorial health insurance plans, which provide universal healthcare coverage to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and depending on the province or territory, certain temporary residents. The systems are individually administered on a provincial or territorial basis, within guidelines set by the federal government. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the Canada Health Act and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.
E-government is the use of technological communications devices, such as computers and the Internet, to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers new opportunities for more direct and convenient citizen access to government and for government provision of services directly to citizens.
The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify for most of these benefits, most workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings; the claimant's benefits are based on the wage earner's contributions. Otherwise benefits such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are given based on need.
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance programs which provide support only to those who have previously contributed, as opposed to social assistance programs which provide support on the basis of need alone. The International Labour Organization defines social security as covering support for those in old age, support for the maintenance of children, medical treatment, parental and sick leave, unemployment and disability benefits, and support for sufferers of occupational injury.
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a compulsory governmental insurance system, not taxes on individual citizens. Depending on the jurisdiction and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary.
Welfare reforms are changes in the operation of a given welfare system, with the goals of reducing the number of individuals dependent on government assistance, keeping the welfare systems affordable, and assisting recipients to become self-sufficient. Classical liberals, libertarians, and conservatives generally argue that welfare and other tax-funded services reduce incentives to work, exacerbate the free-rider problem, and intensify poverty. On the other hand, socialists generally criticize welfare reform because it usually minimizes the public safety net and strengthens the capitalist economic system. Welfare reform is constantly debated because of the varying opinions on the government's determined balance of providing guaranteed welfare benefits and promoting self-sufficiency.
The Canada Revenue Agency is the revenue service of the Canadian federal government, and most provincial and territorial governments. The CRA collects taxes, administers tax law and policy, and delivers benefit programs and tax credits. Legislation administered by the CRA includes the Income Tax Act, parts of the Excise Tax Act, and parts of laws relating to the Canada Pension Plan, employment insurance (EI), tariffs and duties. The agency also oversees the registration of charities in Canada, and enforces much of the country's tax laws.
A social insurance number (SIN) is a number issued in Canada to administer various government programs. The SIN was created in 1964 to serve as a client account number in the administration of the Canada Pension Plan and Canada's varied employment insurance programs. In 1967, Revenue Canada started using the SIN for tax reporting purposes. SINs are issued by Employment and Social Development Canada.
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 Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage, is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity and values, cultural development, and heritage."
Employment and Social Development Canada is a department of the Government of Canada responsible for social programs and the labour market at the federal level. The department delivers a number of federal government programs and services including Employment Insurance (EI), Service Canada centres, Canada Student Loan Program (CSLP), Canada Pension Plan (CPP), issuing social insurance numbers (SIN) and the federal Labour Program among others things.
Manitoba Health is the department of the Government of Manitoba that is responsible for leading the development of policy and publicly-administered health system planning in the province of Manitoba; the overall funding, performance requirements, oversight, and accountability within the system; promoting prevention and positive health practices; and administering other non-devolved health services in the province.
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 includes a broad spectrum of programs, many of which are run by the provinces and territories. 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.
In California, the Employment Development Department (EDD) is a department of government that administers the Unemployment Insurance (UI), Disability Insurance (DI), and Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs. The department also provides employment service programs and collects the state's labor market information and employment data. The department is one of California's three major taxation agencies, alongside California Department of Tax and Fee Administration and the Franchise Tax Board; in addition to collecting unemployment insurance taxes, the department administers the reporting, collection, and enforcement of the state's personal income taxes.
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.
The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OKHCA) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma responsible for providing health insurance benefits for the state's SoonerCare members. The Authority is the state-level counterpart to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Disability benefits are funds provided from public or private sources to a person who is ill or who has a disability.
The Canadian Child Care Federation (CCCF) is Canada's largest national service based early learning and child care organization. Registered as a charitable status non-profit with Canada Revenue Agency since 1987, CCCF is a federation of 20 provincial/territorial organizations from across the country, representing 9,000 members – practitioners, academics, parents and policy makers. The organization aims to improve child care and early learning in Canada by supporting child care practitioners through the dissemination of applied research and best and promising practices.
The Community Futures Network of Canada is an extensive network of 269 community futures development corporations. The national Community Futures Program is administered by four regional development agencies, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), Canadian Economic Development for Québec Regions (CED-Q), Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD), and the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor) under Industry Canada (IC). In Western Canada the Community Futures Program is delivered through a network of 90 non-profit organizations that are supported by four associations and one Pan-West Community Futures Network.
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.
