The social-policy-is-back budget /

Caledon assesses the quality of any given Budget from the perspective of two lenses: the attention it pays to social well-being, in general, and the degree to which it helps lower-. [...] The introduction of the Registered Disability Savings Plan, the coming of the Working Income Tax Benefit, the Labour Market Agreements (subsequently cancelled as discussed in our section on skills and training below) and financial support for Housing First initiatives throughout the country were notable exceptions. [...] The Canada Child Benefit pays the same amount to all families with the same income, regardless of the sources of that income, place of residence or family type. [...] The 2016 Budget also confirmed the Liberal Platform promise to withdraw the scheduled increase in the retirement age for seniors’ benefits (Old Age Security, the Guaranteed Income Supplement and the Allowance) from 65 to 67. [...] In December 2015, the federal Finance Minister began discussions with his provincial and territorial counterparts on enhancing the Canada Pension Plan, with the goal of coming to a joint decision prior to the end of 2016.