Evidence of meeting #100 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was income.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
When those are available, would you be able to table them with this committee, since this is the committee that the Minister of Seniors is supposed to be accountable to?
Responsible for the Income and Taxation Committee for Retirees Without an Employer Pension, Association québécoise de défense des droits des personnes retraitées et préretraitées
Of course.
Conservative
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Okay. Thank you very much.
I'm also wondering, do any of your members make mention of why they need to go back to work, if they are going back to work?
Responsible for the Income and Taxation Committee for Retirees Without an Employer Pension, Association québécoise de défense des droits des personnes retraitées et préretraitées
Mainly because of a shortage of income.
I talked about municipal taxation, for instance. Municipal taxes have been increasing significantly. There are cities in Quebec where they have increased by 9%. Those who are only receiving benefits from the Régime de rentes du Québec, or the CPP and OAS, only have these small amounts indexed. Municipal taxes often increase much more quickly than that, so their income is getting smaller from year to year.
It's the same for renters. They live in a building, which is also subject to a municipal tax, and an increase in this tax frequently affects the rent. If OAS payments don't rise sufficiently, they have to move or sell their house.
Conservative
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
I think you make a very good point as well that it's not just federal tax. It's provincial tax. It's municipal tax. There's the carbon tax, and then the federal government is taxing GST on top of the carbon tax, so there's a tax on a tax. People are literally being taxed to death. I'm just wondering—very quickly, Monsieur Poulin—do you have any suggestions for what the federal government could do to ensure that seniors who have to or want to return to work can actually get ahead, since they are taxed and taxed and taxed?
Responsible for the Income and Taxation Committee for Retirees Without an Employer Pension, Association québécoise de défense des droits des personnes retraitées et préretraitées
The priority is to increase the OAS because 10% of retirees who received a pension do not get the guaranteed income supplement and will never have access to it. The only way for them to increase their income and change their circumstances would be through an increase in the OAS. An increase in the basic pension is one of our formal requests.
If the OAS had been increased as it normally would have been, there would be no need for the GIS. There is a loss of income, and some catching up needs to be done. I would also say that it's not just in Canada, but in Great Britain as well. In the western countries, some catching up is required for basic pensions. They need to be increased.
People who receive a pension from their employer also receive government pension plan payments. If their contribution to the employer's plan is 12.5%—which is the case for most workers—and the employer's contribution is also 12.5%, that means 25%. Added to that is 12% from a government pension plan. These people are therefore receiving 25% more in their retirement pension. It's difficult to make up that gap.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Mrs. Falk.
Thank you, Mr. Poulin.
Mr. Van Bynen, you have five minutes.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I find it interesting that there's concern about the Canada pension plan and its structure, when the individuals across from us here were the ones who raised the age of eligibility for old age retirement to 67.
Mr. Poulin, how would that have affected the individuals who would have had to work for two additional years?
Responsible for the Income and Taxation Committee for Retirees Without an Employer Pension, Association québécoise de défense des droits des personnes retraitées et préretraitées
The morale of those who had planned to retire when they were 65 has taken a hit. High-income earners are generally not affected. In fact, they also get a pension from their employer. This therefore tops up the pension from their employer.
Conversely, for factory workers things are extremely tough. They often don't work up to the age of 65. The more difficult the work is, the harder it is to work until you're 65.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Thank you. It was a good thing that we returned the retirement age back down to 65.
Mr. Casbarro, I'm interested in your organization. I love York region. As you know, my riding is in York region.
Where is your organization based?
Co-Founder, Bridges of Love York Region
It is for now. It's a relatively new organization. We started in late 2019. We all know what happened shortly after, but we're working hard to expand throughout York region.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Have you had an opportunity to connect with a group called Chats?
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Have you done anything to work in conjunction with them?
Co-Founder, Bridges of Love York Region
Chats provides a snow removal service and lawn maintenance service, as you're aware. Unfortunately, through Chats, you have to pay even if you are a recipient of the program. In our case, it is a free service, but it is based on income. We do not give the service to everyone.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
How do you go about finding your clients? Do your clients come to you, or do you go visit areas? I'm trying to find out where this client base is identified.
Co-Founder, Bridges of Love York Region
Whether it be through senior stakeholders in our community or through resources such as social media—application forms are available on our website—we're doing a lot of work to make seniors aware that this service is available.
We introduced this service because we saw a need. A number of seniors would come to me or to people in our organization and say that they need assistance with snow removal to be able to maintain their homes and be able to age in place. As I said earlier, $600 for snow removal when you're struggling to make ends meet is a big deal. We're happy to provide that service to seniors.
February 12th, 2024 / 4:45 p.m.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
In your discussion with Chats, have you heard about the naturally occurring retirement communities and how the community members support each other so that people can age in place?
Co-Founder, Bridges of Love York Region
I personally have not heard of that, no.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
It's gaining a lot of momentum, and there are a couple of very good pilot projects that are under way that would help people age in place. I don't want to take away from the good things that you're doing as well, but these are ways you could supplement it.
The Minister of Labour and Seniors indicated in February to this committee that older seniors are more financially challenged, since seniors over the age of 75 are less likely to be working, have higher expenses due to illness or disability and are more likely to be widowed.
What do you think of the minister's perspective, and what additional support could have been provided to individuals aged 65 to 74? I'd like to relate that to the client base you are serving. Are they predominantly over the age of 74?
Co-Founder, Bridges of Love York Region
Yes, I would say there has been an increase in the number of widows who really require that service.
Can you repeat the question?
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
The minister's position was that the older seniors would be more financially challenged, and I think you're confirming that.