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Policy in focus

Protect caregivers from financial ruin as population ages

Published on March 18, 2010
Policy Brief

Policy in Focus, Issue 11

An estimated four million Canadians act as unpaid or informal caregivers to seniors and persons with disabilities. This quarter’s Maytree Policy in Focus (PDF) highlights a report which presents three proposals to protect caregivers from financial ruin:

  1. Expand Employment Insurance (EI) compassionate care leave;
  2. Extend Canada Pension Plan (CPP) provisions; and
  3. Make current tax credits for caregivers refundable.

The report is by Sherri Torjman and Anne Makhoul, and was published by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy.