Ottawa’s fiscal watchdog says a surge in inflation a few years back drove a substantial jump in the cost of delivering the Canada Child Benefit after the pandemic.
The new report from parliamentary budget officer Annette Ryan also suggests most of those benefiting from the increased payout were not among Canada’s lowest-income households.
The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer said in a report Thursday that the cost of delivering the federal payment to families increased $4.2 billion between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 benefit years.
That increase—which amounts to more than 16 percent—brought the total payout for the Canada Child Benefit to $29.2 billion in 2024-25….