New Canada Child Benefit launches Wednesday

The first cheques the federal Liberals’ Canada Child Benefit goes out tomorrow. Your information is already on file and all you have to do is file your 2015 tax return.

Families Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the child poverty rate in Canada is expected to drop to 6.7 per cent from 11.2 per cent by this time next year once the families feel the full effect of the new child benefit.

“This is a big help for them and it’s important that they receive the funds”, he said.

But with household debt-to-income ratios near record highs, some Canadians will likely opt to save the money or pay down debt, economists said.

That is why we increased and expanded the Universal Child Care Benefit, introduced the Family Tax Cut, increased the Child Care Expense Deduction, doubled the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit and established the Children’s Art Tax Credit.

The benefit replaces a similar measure under the previous Conservative government but was aimed at giving more to lower and middle income Canadians.

Families will receive as much $6,400 per year for children under the age of six, and up to $5,400 per year for children aged six to 17.

All parents with children under the age of 17 will notice a difference.

To be clear, the entitlement to the CCB is based on adjusted family net income, which is gross income minus deductions for things like contributions to registered retirement savings plans and union dues. Provinces have also said they won’t count the new money when calculating income-tested benefits like rent and child care supplements.

Check out our online calculator to find out how much your family will get with the new and improved #CCB.

8,000: Number of indigenous children on reserve estimated to be lifted out of poverty through the benefit. One is from high earners who are upset that they will not receive anything, and the other is from single people who object to subsidizing families with kids.

They include whether the new benefit allows for more children to access post-secondary education and land jobs, as well as whether their parents are more easily able to enter the workforce.