Resources in Canada?!

[quantumleap]

Does this thread already exist somewhere on here? (point me to it?)
I'm not going to knock Canada too hard, because I'm really grateful that we have a free (mostly) health care system, and I do appreciate the Harper bribe. Even though it's taxable, it's still 100$ a month we wouldn't otherwise see! And, I am also super grateful for my full year of ei/mat leave benefits. Super.
*But*, I read/hear about WIC, Food Stamps, Medicaid, many coupons, certain "cheaper" stores (ie: Target) etc, etc, in the US and I just wonder if there's a Canadian equivalent to any of these things?
We recently left the North, where I qualified for free prescription medication due to a "chronic condition" (asthma), and where we all get free optical checks every two years. We had reasonably paying jobs there, but now we live with a severely limited income in another province. I would jump through a lot of hoops for WIC, or Food Stamps, or paying only a co-pay to get my $$$ meds.
Am I missing something in terms of resources? I know we have food banks. I know we have interest relief for federal student loans. I checked into subsidized housing, and in our area, the wait list for a priority family is about TEN YEARS!!! We're not even a priority family, because we're partnered!

So, can we open up this space to resources in Canada?

and, will *someone* please help defeat my thread killing luck?

[HeatherAtHome]

Well... we have welfare. And if you're on welfare you qualify for different programs. I think that your prescriptions are free or incredibly cheap, you can get free legal aid (this is also a low income/unemployment thing) if you're pregnant in Qc you can get free milk, eggs and vitamins (OLO program) you qualify for help from CLSCs (low income in general) which loan car seats, give out freebie samples, counselling etc.

I know there's a certain class of welfare you get if you have medical problems. A family member was born with certain developmental issues that make it difficult to find/hold down a job. No where near enough to live off but certainly helps.

For those who think it's a "free ride", it's only enough for bare bones living.
Here's a news story from a year ago that mentions rates

Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program

Also, are you getting GST and Provincial tax credit? Given out 2 and 4 times per year?

List of programs that might be of interest

I'll post more if I think of anything else.

Unemployment: sometimes you can get it if you move. (I can't remember the hoops you have to jump through for it, but it may be an option)

Another tidbit on unemployment: Sometimes you can get supplemental EI if you're working part time, again, can't remember the rules for this, it's something you'd have to look into.

ETA: if you relocated for work.. or was it school? (bit fuzzy on this, it's been a while) you can claim the moving expenses on your tax form. Others to claim: transit costs, union fees, uniforms... if you're in Qc, the amount of box J on your Releve 1 count as medical expenses that can be claimed.

ETAA: We should totally start a thread at tax time for tips. I can't remember half of the goodies without the booklets in front of me.

[jillyofthevalley]

I wish we had some sort of WIC program up here. It would help out low income families a lot. Here in BC to qualify for welfare you are only allowed to have $2500 in assets, which means if your car is worth more than that you have to sell it. So basically, you can't have a reliable family vehicle if you are on welfare. We tried to get some assistance to help us through a few months between when dh's disability through his union expired and when he could finally get some medical treatment for his injuries (gotta love the waiting lists for specialists, MRI's and surgeries) and we decided against it. I'm not going to sell my minivan and cash in our tiny amount of RRSP's which took us forever to save as it was just to get income assistance for 3 months. It would be nice to have a program to help out families with their food costs. Groceries in Canada are so expensive compared to the US and it's tough to come up with grocery money on top of all our other living expenses. GST cheques are nice but they only come every 3 months.

Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely grateful for the services we do get like healthcare but I don't think there is enough assistance for lower income families. Not people with no income that have nothing and need welfare, but people who don't quite make enough to make ends meet month to month and have to give up healthy, good quality food in order to pay the hydro bill.

[yeahwhat]

Between the CCTB, Quebec's child benefit, harper bucks, qst credit, gst credit, our provincial prescription plan, medical care, and the worker's tax credit, there is far more help available to me than what is provided by WIC and/or food stamps.

Then there's welfare, subsidized housing and programs to pay part of your non-subisdized rent, and the OLO program that Heather mentioned. I've never received help from the last three, so I don't know how good they are.

I will say that, without counting the medical/prescription part, my family of 6, with about a $26000 income on 2008's taxes, received over $20000 in cash benefits this year. I don't see any need to have wic or food stamps to supplement that. And none of those first set of programs required extensive, embarrassing, or in person applications. There is also no problem with how much money you have in the bank or how many assets you own for any of those programs. Your income qualifies you, you fill out the simple form, you get the money.

I will add that there is, indeed, an unfortunate delay between your income dropping and you qualifying to get all these things. Your benefits for them run from July to June, based on the previous years taxes. So my 2008 income is still determining how much $$ help I'm getting until June 2010.

Most provinces do have some sort of prescription plan. I don't know what province you're in, so try here to see if you're missing something. http://www.drugcoverage.ca/

[jillyofthevalley]

Wow, it sounds like Quebec has more services to offer than BC. Good for them! We do have Pharmacare here for perscriptions but the deductibles can be quite high and are based on your income from two years ago, which doesn't do us a lot of good right now. Our deductible is about $3000 right now. We don't get a PST credit either, just GST. What are "Harper Bucks"? Is that the $100 per child under 6?

[Malva]

Originally Posted by SunflowerMommy

What are "Harper Bucks"? Is that the $100 per child under 6?

Yes.

[mama_ani]

In Ontario there is the The Children in Need of Treatment (CINOT) program currently provides emergency dental care to low-income children from birth to age 18.

Also in Ontario there is the Trillium Drug Plan to cover prescriptions with an income based deductible.

[josybear]

in mb we have a whole bunch of provincial programs targeted at reducing child poverty. federally there's only the harper hundred, child tax benefit and gst, but provincially there's a list of things to qualify for. i would suggest going to your provincial government's website and looking around for programs.

[quantumleap]

Wow, PQ does sound like the place to be! We're doing "ok". I mean, we eat food, and we wear clothes, and we sleep in a bed in a warm, dry place. We could just use some help. A fair bit of help, actually, as the way we are funding the basics is not sustainable at all. All appendages crossed that a job comes through for dh. And a part-time something for me in Feb, when my mat leave runs out. And some sort of childcare arrangement! Ah!

I mostly posted this because I was wondering if I was just missing something, given the programs in the US I would love to have access to!

My only prescription med tip is to ask the prescribing doctor if they have any samples of the med they have just prescribed you, and to make sure they know you have no coverage so that they will give you a generic form instead of the name brand.

I grew up with enough, and room to spare, so I find it has been very humbling to ask for these things.

[HeatherAtHome]

Originally Posted by selkat

I grew up with enough, and room to spare, so I find it has been very humbling to ask for these things.

I figure we all need help at some point or another. Sometimes you're the one giving help, sometimes you're the one receiving it. It all evens out in the end.