Albertans on income support programs will automatically receive the first instalment of the government’s inflation-relief payments at the end of the month, while other eligible residents can submit applications next week.
The government outlined the details Monday of its plan to hand out at least $600 to families with children, seniors and low-income Albertans as part of a $2.8-billion package of measures aimed at providing relief from inflation and the high cost of living. Alberta is among several provinces to announce direct payments to the public amid a debate about whether such relief could further contribute to high inflation.
Matt Jones, Minister of Affordability and Utilities, told a news conference that anyone currently receiving aid through the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped, Alberta Seniors Benefit, Persons with Developmental Disabilities and Income Support programs will receive $100 a month for six months, beginning on Jan. 31. The payments will be tax-free.
Beginning Jan. 18, he said, seniors 65 and older and parents or guardians with children under 18 can apply for the tax-free payments through a government portal. Applicants must have a household income below $180,000 and can receive $100 monthly for each child. The deadline to apply is June 30.
“With any program at this scale, we can expect that there will be a few bumps along the way,” said Mr. Jones, who expects millions of payments will be distributed in the months ahead. “Our commitment to Albertans is that we will deliver these payments in a safe, fast and effective way and that we will act quickly to adapt and respond as needed.”
Benjamin Milner, an assistant professor in the University of Alberta’s economics department, said the relief payments in Alberta are a step in the right direction to address the rising cost of living but could go further to support individuals without children. He also said the program rightly provides aid to residents on income supports but that the focus on seniors is a “little bit stranger,” considering the Canadian Pension Plan and Old Age Security are indexed to inflation.
It’s likely that seniors’ income has risen more than that of an average worker, which Mr. Milner said leads him to believe inclusion of this age group is “sort of political” because they’re a reliable voting block and it’s unlikely anyone would complain about an older Albertan getting extra cash.
“They have an incentive to help those who they think will vote and seniors are just much more likely to vote than young people,” he said. “A working person who has a salary of $50,000 a year would be much more in need of this but won’t be getting it, unless they have kids.”
Mr. Milner also said the payments could make inflation worse but only in a “very small way” because of the low amount. He also noted the income cut-off is unusually high.
Irfan Sabir, member of the Opposition New Democratic Party, questioned why the ruling United Conservatives set up their own portal for people to apply for the payments, instead of issuing them through the Canada Revenue Agency. He said he is concerned that the new portal will not function well under high demand, which happened in 2020 when the government paused applications for emergency COVID-19 isolation funding after the website crashed.
Premier Danielle Smith, who faces her first election this spring, announced the payments in a televised address in November. During her weekly radio show on Saturday, she said she expects the new portal system will be overwhelmed and a “couple of glitches” will occur.
She was not present at the Monday announcement, but Minister of Technology and Innovation Nate Glubish told reporters he is confident this system will work better because the COVID-19 programs were rushed, whereas two months have been spent on the affordability application website.
Mr. Glubish said distributing payments through the CRA would be timely because tax records would need to be integrated with eligibility determinations.
Other provinces across Canada have announced inflation-relief supports of their own, including British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.
About 85 per cent of B.C. residents will automatically receive the full or partial B.C. Affordability Credit through the CRA, which allocates up to $164 per adult and $41 per child with a cap of $410. To be eligible, an individual income cannot exceed $79,376 or a combined income of just over $150,000.
Whereas, in Newfoundland and Labrador, one-time cost-of-living cheques of up to $500 have already been mailed to the majority of eligible residents, which includes people 18 and older with an adjusted income of $125,000 or less.
Alanna Smith