rent relief canada

Canada is spending $4.5 billon on rent relief and free dental care

While inflation continues to do a number on the wallets of, well, everyone, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced some new measures that should help the Canadians who are getting hit the hardest by skyrocketing prices.

As residents continue to stress about money and find themselves unable to keep up while the basic costs of living soar and incomes fail to keep pace, the PM is introducing a whopping $4.5 billion in inflation relief for low-income earners, as per a previous agreement made with the NDP.

This is set to include some help with rent in the form of a one-time $500 addition to the standard housing benefit for tenants within a certain tax bracket, which should include hundreds of thousands of students.

These households will also receive a larger tax credit — double the current quarterly amount — to compensate for higher prices and sales taxes on everyday goods.

And, families who are unable to provide dental insurance for their children will receive $260-$650 per child per year, depending on their income, to go toward dental care through a new Canada Dental Benefit.

The program will be reserved only for children under 12 this year, to be expanded to children under 18 in 2023, as well as other vulnerable groups, like seniors.

Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday that due to the fact that these aids are targeted to the demographic that's struggling the most financially, it will not contribute to overall inflation, which has been escalating a runaway pace this summer.

"These are things that will make a difference in people's lives right now," he said.

But, experts disagree with this claim, with one chief economist telling the Financial Post that these benefits will almost surely add to "inflationary pressures" next year once people start using them — and other stakeholders have chimed in to say the same.

Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre echoed the sentiment, saying in a press conference in Ottawa following the news that spending more money as a solution to inflation "simply pours more gasoline on the inflationary fire."

Applications for things like the dental credit are expected to be available via the Canada Revenue Agency by Dec. 1.

Meanwhile, continued interest rate hikes are now leading us into a full-blown recession, in the opinion of many.

Lead photo by

Alex


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