Care aide talks to a disabled senior (Photo 197277423 © Dragoscondrea | Dreamstime.com)

By Kevin Rothwell

New benefits effective in April

Permanent increases in B.C. assistance rates

Mar 16, 2021 | 4:17 PM

The province is boosting payments for seniors and those receiving income assistance and disability benefits starting next month.

It says individuals on income and disability assistance will get a permanent increase of 175-dollars per month.

The province says it’s the third increase since July 2017 but is short of the 300-dollar COVID-19 supplement that ended in December.

Under the new rates, a single person on income assistance will receive $935 per month and a single person on disability assistance will receive about $1,358 per month.

There will also be an increase of 50-dollars a month in the senior’s supplement — which the government says is the first hike since the benefit was introduced in 1987.

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For people on income assistance living in special care facilities, their comforts allowance will increase by $20 to $115 per month. The comforts allowance lets people buy basic personal items. The increased amount reflects the rising costs of goods since the allowance for income assistance was last increased in 2005.

“This past year has been challenging for everyone, and especially so for those British Columbians already relying on assistance to make ends meet,” Nicholas Simons, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction said. “Now that we are seeing signs of some economic recovery from COVID-19, it’s essential we provide the stability of a permanent rate increase for people and families, including 49,000 children who live in poverty.”

In the legislature, the Opposition Liberals accused the government of clawing back portions of a COVID-19 crisis supplement and recovery benefit from disabled and low-income people.

With files from the Canadian Press.

by Kevin Rothwell

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