For Immediate Release
July 20, 2007

McGuinty Government Expands Opportunity For Low-Income Families
New Ontario Child Benefit Gives Everyone A Fair Chance

York West - Families who are eligible for the Ontario Child Benefit will soon begin receiving their one-time down payment cheques, a government announcement was made today.
“This is good news for low-income families who work hard to provide opportunity for their children,” said Mario Sergio, “We will continue to work for and help them in every way we can.”

Starting this month, the Ontario Child Benefit will provide eligible low-income families with a down payment of up to $250 per child. The benefit will grow to a maximum of $1,100 per child by 2011.

The Ontario Child Benefit will help more than 600,000 families and nearly 1.3 million children every year, at maturity. To be eligible, a parent needs to file his or her income tax return, register for the Canada Child Tax Benefit, and meet other requirements such as Ontario residency and an income test.

“Investing in our most vulnerable is about giving everyone an opportunity to succeed in life,” said Meilleur, Minister of Community and Social Services in today’s announcement. “Our government has made steady progress each and every year to help people and families get the supports they need to break away from poverty – and we have no intention of slowing down.”

Since taking office, the Liberal government has been transforming social assistance programs to create a simplified system that treats Ontario’s most vulnerable citizens with fairness and dignity, and makes it easier for people to move from social assistance to employment.

By providing benefits for children outside of the social assistance system, the government is helping more people leave social assistance for work. Other improvements to help low-income families in Ontario include:

• Increasing social assistance rates for the third consecutive year: 3% in 2005, 2% in 2006 and 2% in 2007
• Raising the minimum wage to $10.25 per hour by early 2010
• Extending health benefits for people exiting social assistance for employment
• Allowing social assistance recipients to keep registered education savings plan (RESP) funds so that their children can get an education and escape the cycle of financial dependency.
  

“This is the right thing to do for our society and for the economy,” said Meilleur. “The strength of our province lies in its people – that’s why we’re working hard to help them succeed.”

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Contacts:
Mario Sergio, M.P.P.
Tel 416-585-7007
Marc Despatie
Minister's Office
416-325-5219