Child benefit payments available for six months after child’s death

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The Canada Revenue Agency is implementing changes to its Canada Child Benefit (CCB) program.

Starting this month, it will continue to pay CCB for six months after a child’s death, it says in the 2024 federal budget report. This is longer than the previous timeline, which saw payments stop one month after the child’s date of death.

“To support parents who have lost a child, the government is providing new support through the Canada Child Benefit to ensure they can focus on what matters most — healing,” per the report.

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The change, which came into effect in the new year, is expected to cost $15 million over five years, starting in 2024-2025, the report said. It will then cost “$4 million per year ongoing.”

This comes years after a petition about the matter circulated in 2021 and was later presented to the House of Commons. It said that roughly five out of every 1,000 children under the age of 18 die in Canada every year from different causes.

“Losing a child generates unexpected monetary expenses for grieving families, most of whom had been already struggling with the cost of caring for a seriously ill child,” the petition said.

It called on the government to consider funeral and burial costs, and asked for payments to continue for two months following a death.

In response, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland cited other programs — including Employment Insurance family caregiver benefits, compassionate care benefits and sickness benefits  — that help families “who find themselves in this very tragic situation of having lost a child.”

The federal government has gone beyond the two-month suggestion, opting to extend the payments for half a year.

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CCB is a tax-free monthly payment made to eligible families to help with the cost of raising children under 18 years of age, per the federal government. “The CCB may include the child disability benefit and any related provincial and territorial programs,” it says online.

The amount received by each family is calculated based on the number of children, the age of the children and the adjusted family net income (AFNI), as reported in the previous year’s tax return.

For example, if a family’s AFNI is under $36,502, they would receive the maximum amount for each child. For children under six years old, that would amount to $7,787 a year. For children between six and 17 years old, that would be $6,570 per year.

There will also be a 2.7 per cent pay increase starting in July. That means eligible families with an AFNI below $37,487 with one child under six would receive $7,997, whereas such families with one child between six and 17 years old would receive $6,748.

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