Province is committed to supporting grandparents and caregivers
Supporting Island families -
Our government is committed to the well-being of children. Unfortunately some children are unable to be cared for by their parents. In those situations, we want to make sure that grandparents and other care givers receive the help they need to care for these children.
That is why our government identified providing grandparents and other care givers more help as a priority.
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has informed the provincial Department of Family and Human Services that it is reviewing whether the federal government will claw-back the Canada Child Benefit currently received by grandparents and families who are caring for children whose parents are unable to safely care for them.
“We find this unacceptable as the well-being of children should always be our main priority,” said Family and Human Services Minister Tina Mundy. “I will be reaching out to my federal counterpart Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Jean-Yves Duclos and the federal Minister of National Revenue Diane Lebouthillier to inform them that our government rejects the idea of clawing back any benefits.
“I will also be in contact with the four members of Parliament representing Prince Edward Island to ensure they are fully aware of the situation.
“Any decision to reduce benefits not only demonstrates a lack of compassion, it is counter-intuitive to our commitment to support families and children to ensure they receive the greatest opportunities to succeed,” Minister Mundy said.
The provincial government does not include the Canada Child Benefit as income when determining whether an Island family is entitled to provincial benefits.
“I would expect the federal government to reciprocate this approach in order to ensure the well-being of children and families is at the centre of all of our decisions,” the minister said. “I trust the federal government will realize our shared priority of helping these particular families and immediately suspend any discussions on reducing the benefits they are entitled to and allow the province to administer the program as intended.”
The provincial government in November 2017 announced a program to give a $700 benefit per month per child to families who care for children for safety reasons.
The Grandparents and Care Providers program has been expanded to include all grandparents or other care givers members caring for children. There are currently 88 applications being reviewed and 18 care givers receiving payments. All payments for this program are retroactive to December 1, 2017.
“Government is committed to the well-being of children and we believe that grandparents and other primary care givers are entitled to – and deserve – the support of both provincial and federal levels of government,” Minister Mundy said.
Information about the Grandparents and Care Providers program is available by contacting the Department of Family and Human Services at 1-877-341-3101.
Media contact:
Darlene Gillis
ddgillis@gov.pe.ca