Premier Horgan announced on December 8th that British Columbians receiving provincial income or disability assistance will be eligible for the BC Recovery Benefit, and the Benefit will include additional benefits for people receiving provincial income or disability assistance.

The Benefit will provide:

• $1,000 for families with incomes under $125,000. Families earning up to $175,000 will qualify for a reduced benefit amount. Single-parent families also qualify for these benefit amounts.
• $500 for single people earning less than $62,500. Single people earning up to $87,500 will qualify for a reduced benefit amount.

“As well, people on income assistance, disability assistance and low-income seniors receiving the senior’s supplement will receive an additional recovery benefit at $150 per month from January 2021 to March 2021.

“This pandemic has had significant impacts on vulnerable populations so that’s why, unlike with the previous workers’ benefit, people on income or disability assistance will be eligible for the recovery benefit, and they will receive a recovery supplement of $150/month,” said Nicholas Simons, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. “Coupled together, the recovery benefit and recovery supplement will provide vulnerable families with up to $1,900 during this difficult winter season.””

Link for the news release is here: 
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020FIN0064-002019

We are unsure if the monthly $150 recovery benefit will take the place of the $300 supplement that has been in place for the past several months. Once we have more information, we will post an update.

Applying for the BC Recovery Benefit

Have you filed your 2019 taxes? If not, it’s time to hurry! If you were required to file a 2019 Canadian personal income tax return but have not yet done so, you must file a 2019 return before applying for the benefit. You can apply for the benefit starting December 18th.

More info is available here.