Nunavut families catch a break: GN ends its claw-back policy

The Government of Nunavut announced April 1 that it will no longer penalize families on social assistance who received National Child Benefit Supplement payments from the federal government, a move they say will benefit about 2,500 Nunavut families. (FILE PHOTO)

The Government of Nunavut will no longer claw back National Child Benefit Supplement payments from Nunavut families with children who collect social assistance, the GN said April 1 in a news release.

The move will benefit about 2,500 low-income families and put up to $6.8 million more into the pockets of social assistance recipients, the GN said.

“A family with one child can receive up to $190 more in social assistance per month; a family with two children can receive up to $358 more per month; and for each additional child thereafter, a family can receive an extra $160 per month,” the GN news release said.

In 2014, the GN clawback policy drew criticism from Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu Pat Angnakak, who said the GN was depriving low-income people of an important tool for coping with the high cost of living.

She also said that by counting National Child Benefit Supplement payments as income, the GN was using it to deny social assistance payments to otherwise eligible families.

The National Child Benefit Supplement is a monthly payment the federal government paid out to eligible low income families, using information from their income tax returns.

In 2013-14, the program paid benefits of $3,654 a year for the first child, $3,397 for the second child, and $3,402 for each additional child.

This July, that scheme, along with Universal Child Care Benefit, will be replaced by the Liberal government’s new Canada Child Benefit, which is non-universal, and decreases as family income rises.

The GN has already said they will not claw those payments back from social assistance recipients.

In its April 1 news release, the GN said the move is “part of the GN’s ongoing commitment to review and reform the social assistance program to better meet the needs of Nunavummiut.”

The GN policy change is effective April 1.