ONTARIO CHILD BENEFIT

March 31, 2007
A letter is sent to the Women’s Caucus commending them for their work.

Maria Van Bommel, MPP
Chair, Liberal Women's Caucus
Queen's Park
Rm 186, Main Legislative Building
Toronto ON M7A 1A4

Dear Ms. Van Bommel,

On behalf of the Ontario Council of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW OC), I would like to commend the Women's Caucus for its work on the 2007 Ontario Budget, in particular, the Ontario Child Benefit.

We truly appreciate the effort and the work to provide children of low income families with a monthly benefit that depends solely on income, and will continue to be available for families as they move off social assistance.

We are, of course, disappointed that the clawback of the National Child Benefit Supplement (NCBS) has not been truly ended. The $50.00 Ontario Child Benefit does not correspond to the $122.00 Supplement that is clawed back. We do hope that you will continue to work towards ending the NCBS clawback.

CFUW Ontario Council is made up of more than 5700 women university graduates living in 58 Ontario communities, including large urban areas as well as rural and northern towns. We are non-partisan, non-sectarian and totally member-funded. CFUW Ontario Council is part of the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) and is affiliated with the International Federation of University Women (IFUW).

Like you, we work toward equality for women and children in Ontario. Thank you for your role in making the concerns of women heard at Queen's Park.

Yours sincerely,

Linda MacGregor
President

March 22, 2007
The Ontario Child Benefit is established in the 2007 Ontario Budget.

From the Ontario Budget 2007:

“The government proposes to issue an Ontario Child Benefit down payment of up to $250 per child under age 18 in July 2007, providing an additional $190 million to nearly one million children in more than 460,000 families. This down payment would be made in addition to social assistance and Ontario Child Care Supplement payments. It would be reduced by 3.4 cents for every dollar of adjusted family net income over $20,000.

Beginning in July 2008, OCB payments would begin to flow monthly. Social assistance benefits would be restructured so that most child-related payments would be consolidated with the OCB. The maximum OCB payment level would increase annually through 2011… Once the OCB is fully implemented, families would receive annual OCB payments of up to $1,100 per child…

Families with adjusted family net income of up to $20,000 a year would receive the full OCB amount. After July 1, 2008, OCB payments would be reduced by eight per cent of adjusted family net income over $20,000.

MAXIMUM ANNUAL ONTARIO
CHILD BENEFIT PAYMENT
($ PER CHILD PER BENEFIT YEAR)
Benefit Level
2007 $250
2008 $600
2009 $805
2010 $900
2011 $1,100
Benefit year is from July 1 to June 30.”