Tickets are running out fast for the 2018 ABLE conference!

Join financial empowerment leaders from across the country on May 8-9 in Richmond, BC at the 2018 ABLE Financial Empowerment Conference.

This year’s conference theme is Financial well-being for all. The 2018 ABLE conference promises to be two action-packed days of inspirational speakers with thought-provoking discussions on financial empowerment.

Hear from dynamic speakers including:

• The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
• Rachel Schneider, co-author of The Financial Diaries: How American Families Cope in a World of Uncertainty and Omidyar Network Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program
• Sheila Regehr, Chairperson of the Basic Income Canada Network
• Tim Ames, Executive Director, PLAN and Plan Institute
• Neil Belanger, Executive Director, BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Services
• Aliza Gutman, Senior Director, The Center For Financial Services Innovation (CFSI)

Register Now

Plan your conference
Once you register you will receive an invitation to set up your Sched profile. Sched is an online event scheduling platform that allows you to select the sessions you wish to attend. You can view the conference agenda, including descriptions on plenary and breakout sessions, and biographical information on conference speakers. Sched also lets you see other conference attendees who have created and shared their profiles.

Please email info@prospercanada.org if you have any inquiries and follow #2018ABLE on social media for more conference updates.

The 2018 ABLE Financial Empowerment Conference is hosted by the ABLE Steering Committee with the support of Prosper Canada and Family Services of Greater Vancouver.

Event Sponsors:

Dear Community Partner,

The following is taken from a Reminder Notice in the Annual Statement of Grant Entitlement for 2018 that RDSP holders will receive. We are sharing this with you to help ensure that people with RDSPs are clear about the rules on taking money out of their Plans.

As 2019 is approaching some people will have had an RDSP for 10 years and may be thinking about taking money out of their Savings Plan.

It’s important to remember that the money the government deposits into an RDSP must remain in it for at least 10 years after the last government contribution was made to the Plan. If money is withdrawn before this time, all or part of the government contribution will have to be repaid to the government.

What this means is that if a person takes money out of their RDSP within 10 years of receiving the last government contribution they will be subject to one of the following repayment rules:

1. Return $3 of government contributions for every $1 that is withdrawn from the RDSP, or
2. Return all of the government contributions received in the last 10 years; whichever of these two amounts is less.

Please share this information with your networks. If you have any questions or concerns about this information please call Access RDSP at 604-872-1278 or 1-800-663-1278 and ask to speak to an RDSP advocate.

Best regards,

Sam Turcott, Program Director, Advocacy Access

After many decades the Liberal government is loosening the medical inadmissibility rules for immigrants, but is not yet eliminating the policy that many people have called discriminatory.

From the news release:

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said the policy, which has been in place for more than 40 years, is “way out of date” and not in line with Canadian values or government policies of inclusion.

Under the revised policy, newcomers won’t be denied permanent residency if they or any of their children have developmental delays, special education requirements, or a hearing or visual impairment. The anticipated health-care cost threshold will also be increased to about $20,000 a year — about three times the previous threshold.

To read the rest of the news release, please click here.