Canadian Press File Photo

By Chris Brown

Update from the PM

Trudeau announces financial support for seniors

May 12, 2020 | 9:22 AM

Seniors who have faced an increased cost living due to COVID-19 will get a one-time payment to help alleviate those costs.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said seniors who receive Old Age Security will get $300, and those who receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement will get $200. Seniors who are recipients of both programs are eligible to get both top-ups.

The total cost will be about $2.5 billion and will assist almost seven million seniors.

“There’s no question that COVID-19 is taking its toll on seniors both emotionally and financially,” Trudeau said.

He said that these additional measures will help, “but there’s a lot more work to be done, not only to find short-term fixes but long-term solutions.”

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He added the pandemic has exposed some uncomfortable truths about certain things, including how society treats seniors, referencing overworked staff in understaffed continuing care facilities and grieving families.

“There are serious, underlying challenges facing these facilities, and in the coming months the federal government will be there to help the provinces find lasting solutions,” Trudeau said outside Rideau Cottage.

Seniors Minister Deb Schulte said today seniors’ savings have taken a beating as stock markets have tumbled.

The government is also announcing that it won’t suspend OAS and GIS payments to seniors who forget to file their taxes on time.

An additional $20-million investment in the New Horizons for Seniors program, which helps provide delivery services and helps seniors stay in touch during the pandemic, said the prime minister.

During his daily address, Trudeau said that as the Canada-U.S. border opens, stronger measures may be needed to ensure people are following the 14-day self-quarantine.

He said the government will be “very, very careful” about opening to any international travel, including the U.S., before it is time.

“Preventing transmission from outside of Canada into once we have controlled the spread within Canada will be an essential part of making sure we don’t fall back into a second wave that could be as serious as the wave we’re going through or even more,” he said.

Trudeau again asked Canadians to remember the basics of keeping everyone safe — washing your hands, staying home when sick and physical distancing — and asked people to keep in mind the mental health of potentially lonely seniors.

“We need to be there for those who built this country for the rest of us and that’s what Canadians will continue to do,” he said.

Trudeau also announced a significant contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

GAVI is helping developing countries build capacity to respond to crises like COVID-19, said Trudeau.

“To end this pandemic for good in Canada we have to end it everywhere.”

As of Tuesday morning, Canada had 70,342 confirmed cases, zero probable cases and 5,049 deaths. There have been 1,145,759 Canadians tested.

In Alberta, there are 6,300 cases and 117 deaths. A total of 175,502 Albertans have been tested.