Vancouver: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to provide some relief from the inflation to low-income Canadians, a government source said.
Inflation eased to 7.6 percent in July from an almost four-decade high of 8.1 percent, however, Bank of Canada is concerned about rising prices and it indicates a further broadening of price pressures, particularly in services.
The Bank’s core measures of inflation continued to move up, ranging from 5% to 5.5% in July.
According to reports, PM Justin Trudeau will today announce a three-point plan to address affordability at the Liberal Cabinet Retreat in Vancouver. A dental-care plan is also on the cards.
The Cabinet Ministers are in Vancouver for Cabinet Retreat ans they are mainly to discuss the government’s strategies to combat the rising cost of living and strengthening health care and inflation across the country.
Two federal sources familiar with the development said GST payments will be doubled for the next six months and government will boost a tax-free quarterly payment, to extend help to Canadians struggling to pay their rents.
Under the proposed legislation, PM Trudeau government to provide a C$500 ($381) one time top-up to a housing benefit that is provided to low income Canadians.
Notably, these were the two main demands of the New Democrats Party (NDP) that were raised by them in March at the time of the agreement when Trudeau’s Liberals were left a minority of seats in the parliament.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh had unequivocally stated that if his priority issues were not fulfilled by the Liberals, then the agreement between the two parties would be collapsed.
Meanwhile, the Canada Child Benefit is unlikely to be listed in the plan to be announced by the government today, sources said.