social assistance

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An idea that would fundamentally change the way governments provide income support has received renewed attention in Canada and around the world. The idea: replace the current complex tangle of government income support programs with a single cash transfer to individuals or families.


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Surrey MLA Jagrup Brar's attempt to spend January living on the $610 welfare rate for a single employable individual has succeeded in getting people talking about the adequacy of welfare. Brar's actions are in response to a challenge issued by Raise the Rates, a coalition of community groups that wants to double welfare benefits. But despite all the publicity Brar has received, the reality is that for most recipients, welfare is adequate and raising benefits would only create further welfare dependency.


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In a disastrous U-turn on welfare reform, the BC Government de-legitimized what was one of Canada’s most important social welfare reforms to date; a limit that capped the amount of time employable adults could collect welfare to 2 out of every 5 years. Late on Friday afternoon, February 6th, the BC Liberals announced a series of new exemptions to the time limits, including one that exempts anyone abiding by their work plan.


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Canada replaced the Canada Assistance Program (CAP) and the Established Program Finance (EPF) with the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST). It provides a single block grant to provinces, with less federal conditions attached, to support post-secondary education, healthcare, and social assistance.

Similarly, in 1996, the US federal government replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), effectively ending welfare as an entitlement program.

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