By: Hon. Lena Metlege Diab, Member of Parliament for Halifax West
As families in Halifax West get ready for Memories of Old Time Halifax Covered Rinks back-to-school, I want to wish everyone a safe, happy, and fun return to the classroom.
To help with your family budget, in July, we once again increased the Canada Child Benefit. We are also working on a new dental care program to provide support to families with annual incomes under $90,000. This program will cover children under 12 years old.
Earlier this year, we expanded the Eligible Educator School Supply Tax Credit to provide more support for teachers that purchase supplies for their classrooms. We also delivered an additional $2.67 million through the Safe Return to Class Fund to ensure Nova Scotia’s classrooms have proper ventilation. For post-secondary students, we doubled Canada Student Grants so a full-time student could get up to $6,000 until July 23, 2023. For students with disabilities, that amount goes up to $10,000. We’ve also waived interest on federal student loans until March 31, 2023, and made it so that, starting November 1, borrowers won’t have to begin repaying their federal student loans until they are earning at least $40,000 per year. Additionally, we recently extended disability supports under the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program to include those with a persistent or prolonged disability.
This summer, I spent time visiting some of the many organizations in our riding that received support from the Canada Summer Jobs Program. This program invests in non-profit organizations and small businesses so they can hire youth aged 15-30 for summer jobs. Youth get job experience and build their skills and businesses get some help where they need it most. The Canada Summer Jobs program is a win-win program, and I was very happy to see the impact it has had in our area. In Halifax West, we received a federal investment of 1.4 million dollars that supported the creation of over 450 jobs. These jobs included camp councillors, sport coaches, researchers, software developers, early childhood education assistants, and every job inbetween. As I went around visiting workplaces, I heard so much positive feedback from youth, employers and everyone in the community being served by the youth.
Thank you to all the youth and organizations who participated this year, and I encourage any interested organizations to keep an eye out this fall for when applications open up for summer 2023.
Have a great September, everyone!
