Question Period Note: Canadian Benefit for Parents of Young Victims of Crime

What changes have been introduced to this program? Why is the uptake of this program so low?

Losing a child is one of the worst things that a parent can experience.

Parents often need to take time off work to cope with the death or disappearance of their child or children.

In April 2023, we made several changes to the Canadian Benefit for Parents of Young Victims of Crime to make it more inclusive and flexible.

For example, the weekly benefit payment was increased from $450 to $500 per week, the minimum earnings threshold to be eligible has been lowered from $6,500 to $5,000, and the period in which parents could apply for the grant was extended to 3 years following the incident.

In addition, there is ongoing outreach to increase awareness of the grant among families who are affected by such tragic circumstances.

These changes were designed to ensure that families in these tragic circumstances can have access to the benefit.

In May 2018, The Canadian Benefit for Parents of Young Victims of Crime (PYVC) was announced to replace the Parents of Murdered or Missing Children (PMMC) grant, established in 2013.

The benefit provides income support payments to eligible parents who have suffered a loss of income because they took time away from work to cope with the death or disappearance of their child or children, as a result of a probable Criminal Code offence. Eligible parents have three years following the date of the incident to apply for and receive payments of $500 per week, paid bi-weekly for a maximum of 35 weeks.

On April 2, 2023, amendments to the Canadian Benefit for PYVC came into effect. They include:

Providing additional time for parents of victims to apply for the benefit, by extending the Income Support Period from 104 weeks (two years) to 156 weeks (three years);

Lowering the income threshold requirement from $6,500 to $5,000 in the previous calendar year, or in the year immediately prior to the incident;

Modifying the eligibility criteria to remove the requirement that the child (14 years of age or older) was not a willing party to the crime which led to their death; and,

Modifying to $500 the weekly payment under PYVC from the existing $450.

Changes to the PYVC benefit allow for more parents of victims to take the time they need to cope with the death or disappearance of their child and will increase the benefit amount to align with the amount the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) provided. As Canadians face increasing costs of living, the additional $50 per week will allow parents of victims more flexibility to continue supporting their families.

In Budget 2023, the Government of Canada proposed to introduce amendments to the Canada Labour Code to improve eligibility for leave related to the death or disappearance of a child for workers in federally regulated sectors.

The grant may not be paid for any week where the recipient works more than half of their regular work week, or receives Employment Insurance income, or Quebec Parental Insurance Program benefits. However, other types of income such as severance pay, disability insurance or provincial compensation payments do not affect an applicant’s eligibility.

The difference between total program funding and amounts paid is due to fewer applications being received than forecasted at the grant's initiation. The changes made in spring 2023 were designed to improve the grant by expanding eligibility criteria, increasing flexibility, and enhancing financial support for eligible working parents by raising the grant amount. It is expected that, overtime, these changes will have a modest but important impact on uptake of the grant.

The benefit is funded out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund with up to $10 million available annually.

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