Dear John,

You may remember in 2015, when Justin Trudeau accused the former government of mistargeting governmental assistance for families, and of “sending cheques to millionaires ”.

His proposed solution on child care was to replace two existing child care benefits with his new Canada Child Benefit (CCB), which he did in 2016.

Trudeau’s Liberals often tout the CCB’s tax-free status as a benefit over its predecessors, and they continue to claim that these benefits go to Canadian families who need the money the most.

But it turns out that when you adjust for that tax-free status, the CCB has actually shifted the share of overall spending on child benefits away from lower-income families to middle- and upper-income families.

Under Trudeau’s CCB:

• The share of total child-benefit spending on families with incomes less than $60,000 declined from 43% to 30%.
• The share of total child-benefit spending on families with incomes between $60,000 and $180,000 increased from 49% to 67%.

At a time when Ottawa is running record-high deficits with no end in sight, the CCB is yet another poorly targeted federal program.

John, this is the kind of important research the Fraser Institute conducts every week. We give Canadians the facts and numbers they need to hold their governments accountable!

Are you able to help us continue this work? If so, please consider making a donation today.

We don’t accept government funding – we rely on our supporters like you!

Thank you for your continued support,

Niels Veldhuis
President
The Fraser Institute