During the week of July 6, 2020, seniors eligible for the Old Age Security (“OAS”) pension received a one-time, tax-free payment of $300 plus an additional $200 for seniors eligible for the Guaranteed Income Supplement. Guaranteed Income Supplement (“GIS”) and Allowance payments are temporarily extended for seniors whose 2019 income information has not been assessed. Seniors are encouraged to submit their 2019 income information as soon as possible and no later than October 1, 2020 to avoid an interruption in benefits.

The Government of Canada provides a one-time^[56], tax-free, non-reportable payment of $600 to help Canadians with disabilities who are holders of a valid Disability Tax Credit certificate, and are beneficiaries as at July 1, 2020 of any of the following: Canada Pension Plan Disability; Quebec Pension Plan Disability Pension; or Disability supports provided by Veterans Affairs Canada. Those who are eligible but never applied for the Disability Tax Credit, or holds a certificate that expired in 2019, must apply by September 25, 2020. Seniors with disabilities, who were eligible for the one-time seniors payment announced on May 12, 2020 (above), will also be eligible for the one-time payment to persons with disabilities. Those eligible for both payments will receive a total amount of $600 broken into 2 payments: (i) an additional $300 for seniors who received the $300 one-time OAS pension payment; and (ii) an additional $100 for seniors who received the $500 one-time payment for both the OAS pension and the GIS or the Allowance.

On December 2, 2020, the government introduced Bill C-14^[57] which includes measures that would:

• introduce a temporary and immediate support for low- and middle-income families who are entitled to the Canada Child Benefit, totaling up to $1,200 in 2021 for each child under the age of six;
• ease the financial burden of student debt for up to 1.4 million Canadians by eliminating the interest on repayment of the federal portion of the Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans for one year (2021-2022);

Flexibility for Taxpayers