The Canadian government has set goals to increase support for Canadian seniors. The government believes they deserve this support after a “lifetime of hard work” and it will come in the form of improving financial security.
This decision has required both the government’s historical measures and planning. After a long, studied discussion the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage, alongside the Minister of Seniors, and the Quebec Lieutenant announced that the security pension had been increased by ten percent for seniors of the age seventy-five and older.
This increase is the first since 1973 other than inflation adjustments. Moreover, this increase is expected to strengthen the “financial security of 3.3 million seniors”. This plan keeps up the broader work to “support the financial security of seniors of all ages.” Many wonder if the increase would be large enough with the inflation problem Canada is facing right now.
“The permanent increase to the OAS pension will help provide older seniors with greater financial security now and in the future. Younger seniors—and all Canadians—can enjoy greater peace of mind while planning their retirement finances, knowing they will be able to count on more support from the OAS pension in their later years,” said Minister of Seniors, The Honourable Kamal Khera.
Moreover, the chief community officer for the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP), Anthony Quinn said, “We are glad that the government is looking at OAS, but they’re leaving out a large portion of seniors who are in need, this measure discriminates on the basis of age and risks setting a dangerous precedent by creating two classes of seniors, Not only during the most immediate inflationary period, but generally those costs have been rising and seniors have not been seeing it reflected in the OAS indexation.”
Therefore, there are different opinions regarding this increase in the Old Age Security Pension, some people think the increase is too little for the inflation happening right now, and some believe that this increase should happen to all seniors, from sixty-five years old and older. Jamil Ahmad, a retired mechanic and a senior said “I appreciate that the Canadian government is doing that to us seniors. Increasing the old security pension by ten percent means that the government is looking at OAS, which I’m happy about, but what about seniors aged 65 to 75?” when asked about the increase. The increase in the Old Age Security pension is a plan for Canadian seniors to feel more secure and get more help from the Canadian government. Although there are many opinions regarding this topic, it all comes to the conclusion that this is a new step that the Canadian government has taken forward.
– Halla Alhamed, U Multicultural
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of U Multicultural.
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