Harper announced further support for people with disabilities

shutterstock

Today Prime Minister Stephen Harper demonstrated his commitment to helping Canadian families save for the future by announcing new measures to support Canadians with disabilities.

Prime Minister Harper announced that a re-elected Conservative government would increase the maximum annual Canada Disability Savings Grant for low- and middle-class families from $3,500 to $4,000.  This means that these families will now receive a grant of for every dollar contributed on the first 0 they contribute to their Registered Disability Savings Plans each year.

  This initiative is expected to cost the federal government $35 million per year.

The Harper Government established Registered Disability Savings Plans in 2008, thanks to the vision of the late Jim Flaherty. These plans allow parents and the families of children with disabilities, and those children themselves as they grow up, to set aside money for the future in an account where it can grow with them, tax-free, until it’s needed.

A re-elected Harper Government will also continue to work with the provinces and Canada’s financial institutions to improve the administration of the RDSP program, and to expand the range of investment options for RDSP holders.

Canadians have opened more than 100,000 Registered Disability Savings Plans since 2008. And, through the Canada Disability Savings Grant and the Canada Disability Savings Bond programs, the Harper Government has added more than $1 billion to their savings.

“Registered Disability Savings Plans help those who need financial security the most to generate significant savings,” said Mr.

Harper. “And I believe that people with disabilities and their families know best how to use those savings to secure their futures.”

Prime Minister Harper noted that Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair have no interest in assisting these Canadians to save for the future. “Justin wants to reverse our Tax-Free Savings Account contribution limits because he needs those tax revenues from Canadians who are working hard to save for the future in order to support his expensive spending plans now.”

“Mulcair’s NDP,” the Prime Minister said, “would rather deliver expensive, bureaucratic programs from Ottawa. Those programs will always be subject to budget uncertainties, leaving families with no assurance around how their loved ones will be cared for in the years ahead.”

The Prime Minister’s commitment to helping these families save would provide that certainty.

“When the future is financially secure for every member of a family,” Prime Minister Harper pointed out, “families can focus on the important things that matter in the present.”