Three new affordability measures were announced Thursday morning by the federal government.
The government plans to renew the Canada Strong Pass, which waived the charge to get into any Parks Canada locations, with an extra 25 per cent off on camping and overnight stays.
The pass ended on Sept. 2, but Prime Minister Mark Carney said it would start again in mid-December, in time for the holiday season.
They are also going to make the national food program permanent. So far, it has been a pilot program.
“No child should go to school hungry or sit in a classroom all day wondering where their next meal will come from,” Carney said during a Friday morning news conference.
Although those two measures renew or make permanent two existing government initiatives, the feds did introduce a new one.
Anyone who can get federal financial benefits will be able to automatically get them, Carney said.
Using an automated process through the Canada Revenue Agency, people must simply add some information to a pre-filled out tax form to qualify.
Often times people who need those benefits the most do not file their taxes because they do not think they make enough money, he said.
“That means too often that the people who most need benefits often don’t get them,” said Carney.
Those programs include the GST/HST tax credit, the Canada child benefit, the Canada workers benefit, the Canadian disability benefit and the disability tax credit.
He gave an example of a parent with two young children, who might be earning $15,000 a year from a part-time job. If that parent used the automatic tax filing system, they could get $25,000 in benefits they are otherwise missing out on.
All three measures will be in the upcoming federal budget. Tentatively, the feds say they will table it on Nov. 4.
