Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today as part of your pre-budget consultations.
My name is James Janeiro, and I'm with the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence. We are a pan-Canadian organization focused on caregivers, such as parents, siblings, friends, neighbours and so on, as well as care providers such as personal support workers and direct support professionals who support people with disabilities. Our goal is to make Canada the best place in the world to give and receive care.
I have two budget proposals to bring forward to you today. The first is that the budget begin to fund the promised national caregiving strategy by converting the Canada caregiver credit from a non-refundable tax credit to a refundable credit of a minimum of $1,250 per year, per the 2021Minister of Finance mandate letter commitment.
The second is that the forthcoming federal budget allocate sufficient resources to the national caregiving strategy, including multi-year funding for ongoing priorities and initiatives.
One in four Canadians is a caregiver today, and one in two will be a caregiver at some point in their lives. Half of all Canadian women are caregivers already today. Unpaid family and friend caregivers provide three hours of care in the community for every hour of care provided by the health care system.
Caregivers are also the unseen backbone of our economy. They spend 5.7 billion hours each year supporting others and contribute the equivalent of 5% of our national GDP. Insufficient support for caregivers is costing our economy nearly $1.5 billion in lost productivity, and the equivalent of half a million full-time employees.
Caregivers, care providers and care recipients are in crisis. Our recent report, “Caring in Canada”, confirmed that caregivers are struggling with mental health, physical health and financial distress.
About 65% of caregivers reported financial hardship. More than one-third of caregivers reported significant financial hardship in the past year alone. Approximately a quarter of all caregivers are out-of-pocket about $1,000 a month for necessary expenses like dietary aids, incontinence supplies and care services. We suggest that funding the national caregiving strategy begin with converting the existing non-refundable Canada caregiver credit, the CCC, into a refundable credit, per the aforementioned commitment in the minister's mandate letter.
The Canada caregiver credit is a little-known non-refundable tax credit that can be claimed if a person supports a spouse, a common-law partner or a dependent with a physical or mental impairment. Many features of the credit make it difficult to access and prevent it from supporting caregivers who need financial support today. Only 8% of caregivers access the CCC as it stands now.
Since the credit is non-refundable, it can only lower the tax bill a person owes rather than create a new cash-in-hand payment. This means it only benefits people who have tax owing on their net income and does not benefit lower income caregivers or those who do not owe tax.
The federal government should support caregivers by making this credit refundable and adjusting the full amount to a minimum of $1,250 per year. It would directly impact the lives of millions of caregivers who do not typically have taxes owing and who face significant financial strain. Enacting this change to the credit is a necessary first step that can form the basis of a comprehensive and fully funded national caregiving strategy.
Best estimates, using publicly available data, suggest that this amendment to the credit would cost approximately $70 million per year using current, publicly available uptake figures.
Though the national caregiving strategy is yet to be released, budget 2025 must include sufficient funding to implement the policy changes and initiatives that will be included therein. Moreover, the funding must be structured to fund new initiatives in the long term and beyond whatever timeline is stipulated in that strategy.
We recommend an ambitious and comprehensive approach to the strategy that meets the needs of both today and tomorrow. It must cover financial supports, changes to employment insurance care leaves and benefits, and Canada pension plan reform, which would ensure that seniors are not punished for being caregivers well into their retirement years.
I'm happy to elaborate on these and our other ideas for the strategy during the question and answer period of our meeting.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I look forward to your questions.