Ottawa’s move to replace one tax benefit with another has some Flin Flon area parents worried about their financial future.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced last week that he will replace the existing Child Tax Credit with an expanded version of the Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB).
Angela French, a Flin Flon mother of two, stands to lose $1,416 in 2015 as a result of the plan.
“Now I will be struggling just to make ends meet,” says French, 33, who works as a health care aide.
“Not only were my [property] taxes raised and my hydro bill upped, I will get less money to pay them.”
Based on her income and the age of her children, French has been receiving $238 a month through the Child Tax Credit.
Under the expanded UCCB, she will receive just $120 a month – $60 for each of her children, ages 8 and 12.
‘Better idea’
“It seems the people making these decisions for us don’t have to worry about money themselves,” says French. “If they want Canadians to thrive, they need to get a better idea of the basic needs of people with low or moderate incomes.”
Several other area parents The Reminder contacted expect to lose money under the new plan, though they did not have exact figures.
The federal plan will benefit many other parents, however, given that the UCCB will pay out $160 a month for each child under the age of six, up from the current $100.
The plan also includes expanding the UCCB to include children ages six to 17, whose parents will receive $60 a month.
The new system takes effect on Jan. 1. The first UCCB cheques, retroactive to the start of 2015, will be sent out in July.
In announcing the tax benefit changes, Harper also unveiled a policy known as income splitting, allowing couples with children to “split” up to $50,000 for income tax purposes.
French, who is in a common-law relationship, says her family will not see any financial gain from that change.
