Local families have praised the announcement of more financial relief through the BC Family Benefit Bonus starting this month.
Castlegar father of a very active 5-year-old boy, Matthew Pierce, says the additional funds will make a big difference.
“That 25 percent boost is going to be great for us.” said Pierce.
“Things are tight financially, and I do want to be able to take my son to whatever activities he wants to go to, trips to the beach, trips to the pool.”
Minister of Finance, Katrine Conroy, sat down with kids and their families today, July 18, at the Castlegar and District Public Library, to promote the bonus.
“It is really important to give support to families in BC, because we know how important it is for families to be able to do the things you want to do and sometimes costs are really expensive, and there’s problems right now worldwide, so we want to make sure that people get a little bit of extra support when they need it.” said Conroy.
“We want to make sure that parents have extra money to help ease pressure, whether it’s making sure that they can buy good food for you to meet the needs of you guys are all growing, so you’ve got to buy you new shoes and clothes and stuff like that.”
The benefits bonus
Starting this month 70 per cent of BC families will qualify for this benefit, roughly 340,000 low- to middle-income family households throughout the province.
An estimated 66,000 families that have not previously received the BC Family Benefit will automatically receive the provincial bonus this year when they file income taxes.
Announced in Budget 2024, the bonus is a boost of up to $445 over the 12-month period.
With a 25% rise in monthly payments, a family of four could now potentially receive up to $3,563 annually, while a single parent with one child could be eligible for up to $2,688 per year.
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