The Liberal Party announced a number of campaign promises this week, including making maternity and parental benefits tax-free, introducing a 15-week leave for adoptive parents, strengthening the old-age security benefit and increasing the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan survivor’s benefit.
If re-elected, the Liberal government said it will work to establish guaranteed paid family leave, a program that would make sure parents who don’t qualify for paid leave through employment insurance or don’t get enough will receive a guaranteed income during the first year of their child’s life.
Read: Federal government seeking to add more paid personal leave days
“Every parent knows that raising kids is expensive — especially in that first year,” said Justin Trudeau, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. “With everything else on their plates, the last thing new parents need to worry about is making ends meet. That’s why we’ll be there for families, so they can be there for their kids.”
In addition, the Liberals said they’d increase old-age security benefits by 10 per cent — an extra $729 on average, according to a press release. It also pledged to raise the CPP and QPP survivor’s benefit by 25 per cent for an increase in the maximum benefits of more than $2,000 a year.