On April 16, the Government of Canada tabled its 2024-2025 budget. Under the theme of \u201cfairness for every generation,\u201d Budget 2024 promises, \u201ca fair chance to build a good middle class life\u2014to do as well as your parents, or better\u2014that\u2019s the promise of Canada. For too many, especially for younger Canadians, that promise is at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While this framing centers millennials and Gen Z as top priorities for the federal government, in practice Budget 2024 makes significant investments across the life course that will address not only inequalities between generations, but also within<\/em> generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the highlights of Budget 2024 for older adults:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Housing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The landmark investment of the Budget 2024 is the new Canada Housing Plan, which aims to tackle Canada\u2019s growing housing affordability crisis by unlocking 3.87 million new homes by 2031. The most substantial investments here focus on spurring more housing development by leveraging federally-owned public lands for housing development, increasing loans for purpose-built rentals, initiatives to accelerate construction, and investments to ensure critical infrastructure is keeping pace with housing development. There are a number of initiatives that benefit older adults, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supporting caregivers and the care economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Home and community care, and long-term care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Health care, pharmacare and dental care<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The federal government has made a number of recent announcements that are echoed in Budget 2024 that will improve health outcomes for older adults. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Canada Disability Benefit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After considerable advocacy by the disability community, Budget 2024 announced a long-awaited funding commitment for the Canada Disability Benefit. At $6.1 billion over six years, the benefit will provide a maximum of $2,400 annually, beginning in July 2025, to an estimated 600,000 eligible recipients aged 18 – 64 who hold a valid Disability Tax Credit certificate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Close to one in four Canadians aged 55 \u2013 64 are living with a disability<\/a>, making this a particularly important new program for older adults. While we are pleased to see the Canada Disability Benefit is moving forward, the funding level falls woefully short of achieving the government\u2019s stated intent, which was to design a new benefit for working-aged people with disabilities modeled after the Guaranteed Income Supplement<\/a> (which, by comparison, provides a monthly maximum of $1,065 for a single individual) that will reduce poverty<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pensions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is a critical pillar in Canada\u2019s retirement income system. Budget 2024 announced the government will amend CPP legislation in a number of areas, including providing a top-up to the Death Benefit for certain contributors, introducing a partial children\u2019s benefit for part-time students, extending eligibility for the disabled contributors children\u2019s benefit when a parent reaches age 65, and ending eligibility for a survivor pension to people who are legally separated after a division of pensionable earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Budget 2024 announces the formation of a working group to \u201cexplore how to catalyze greater domestic investment opportunities\u201d among Canada\u2019s pension funds, which hold $3 trillion in assets, according to the Government of Canada. Pension funds have a fiduciary responsibility to invest in the best interests of the pension plan members, which often involves international diversification of investments. The working group\u2019s mandate will include exploring domestic investment opportunities and consider the implications of removing the rule that limits pensions from having more than 30% of the voting shares in a domestic company. The NIA will be following this issue closely to ensure that the financial security of pension holders is prioritized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Improving benefit uptake and navigation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While Budget 2024 contains a number of important investments in programs and services aimed to improve the wellbeing of Canadians, it also makes investments in making sure people can actually access these benefits. With Canadians leaving $1.7 billion on the table<\/a> each year in unclaimed benefits, we are pleased to see investments in benefit uptake, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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