angie123

On my recent trip back to canada i realised that there is no such thing as carers allowance or DLA for children. I was shocked. I have a child with a disability adn basically, for a child aged 6-18 the government will pay you 6000 bucks to buy services and that is it.

If soemone can correct me please do, cause this would cause immense struggle to a family who had to care for soemone with difficulties. You are on your own in Canada to a large degree where this is concerned.

I presume that if your parents fall ill in Canada that you place them in nursing homes as opposed to getting carers allowance to take care of them yourself.

This would be ok, if there were enough good paying jobs where you could work part time or work and hire someone in and be able to pay for them, as carers.

anybody here in the position of having to look after a loved one?

iaink

Moved to the main forum.

dbd has a special needs kid, and I think others do too. I know it varies from province to province to some extent, so that info might be handy to add.

Dont forget, there are two levels of government here, so what the federal government does may not be the whole story, as healthcare is a provincially funded issue.

dbd33

IME, in Ontario, the custodian of a 100% disabled child is entitled to:

- an amount of allowance per month varying with the age of the child reaching a peak of $1100 per month for an adult. I believe this is tax free but cannot swear to that.

- a parking permit for handicapped spots

- participation in a respite program. That is, if the custodian can find someone to provide respite care, the government will pay the person providing the care directly on approval from the custodian. The program is generous and unaudited. Since it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to find respite caregivers some parents feel comfortable in using the funds for similar purposes such as compensating maids and gardeners they wouldn't need but for having the child.

- children are entitled to full time education up to the age of 21. In the case of completely disabled person this may amount to no more than daycare but it's comfortable daycare with swimming, horseback riding, Snoozelens and the like.

Note that all benefits are highly localized, move house into another district and you lose them, take the child (over the minimum school leaving age) out of school for a fortnight and the delighted school administration will not take him or her back.

My understanding is that, in the case of caring for a disabled parent, one gets nothing from the government.

Aviator

You should get the doctor to fill this out and claim the disability tax credit (they often charge for this). So long as CRA approve it, in addition to the tax credit, you may then qualify for additional disability child support as well as an additional home owners grant on property tax from the municipality you live in.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t2201/

dbd33

Note that you have to do this annually. A form letter arrives asking for evidence that the child is "still permanently disabled". It's a hassle and, for us anyway, the tax credit isn't enough to make it worth the trouble.

Participation in the other programs isn't contigent upon getting the tax credit though proving receipt of the tax credit may be helpful in supporting efforts to gain participation in other programs.

Aviator

Not sure where you got that from, because you only have to do it once if the disability is permanent. We did one 15 years ago and have never been asked to do another. Our accountant files the returns and makes the claim on the tax return. To get the CDB this form must be completed and the municipality relies on this form for property tax exemption.

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/bnfts/dsblty-eng.html

http://www.sbr.gov.bc.ca/documents_l...itPrograms.pdf

http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/disability/

Certain medical expenses can be claimed on a tax return.

This table may help as well
http://www.taxtips.ca/nrcredits/nrcredits2009base.htm

dbd33

Direct personal experience. We stopped claiming the tax allowance because the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto wouldn't issue the letter each year without someone having to go there (some years with the child, some not). The tax break was small and the hassle and fees large so it wasn't worthwhile. iirc we claimed the tax break for four years requiring three letters, in their whimsical way the authorities didn't ask one year.

I don't think we've claimed a property tax exemption. That doesn't seem appropriate, a disabled person doesn't use roads or the dump less than an able bodied person.


I assume that the variation in handling of tax returns is, in part, because the people and computers dealing with the returns are not familiar with all types of disabilities. I suspect a more simply understood disability, such as the lack of some limbs, would be more readily accepted than a more obscure one, Tourette's, for example.

Medical expenses is a difficult deduction to use, the threshold is very high. One year I spent $30,000 on allowable medical expenses for the disabled child and still could only make the deduction valuable by having the dentist forward bill for the other children's braces.

Aviator

CRA only require the form to be done once for permanent disability that meets the criteria. Our doctor charged $25 to fill in the form I believe and the child was not required to be there.

This may also be useful to the OP
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/t...llwbl-eng.html

The Registered Disability Savings Account is another thing worth looking at
http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/t.../menu-eng.html

Talk to an accountant and they will advise you based on your personal circumstances.

dbd33

I edited above. I don't think CRA is consistent on this. What type of disability are you dealing with?

Aviator

CP

dbd33

Autism.

I suspect that the CRA may believe, as I do, that "autism spectrum disorder" is a fashionable description for what used to be a "brat with rich parents" and so is stringent in wanting evidence that the child is far along the autism spectrum. Shame they don't realize that people don't move along that spectrum; this years inability to cope unaided with the simplest tasks is also next year's.