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Canada Dental Care Plan working but costing more than expected: auditor general
Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-10-29 14:50:35.0
Tags: [National, Healthcare, Affordability, Finance, Social Services]A report by Auditor General Karen Hogan found that Health Canada's Canadian Dental Care Plan exceeded its initial budget commitments by $1.1 billion during the 2024–25 and 2025–26 fiscal years, with an anticipated further shortfall of $2.4 billion by 2032 due to higher-than-anticipated claim payments per member. While the program successfully reduced average household out-of-pocket dental expenses from $536 in 2023 to $264 for users, the audit revealed persistent public confusion, with 560,000 members (16 per cent of those accessing services in 2025) receiving full coverage, while dental providers spent roughly an hour a day addressing coverage ambiguities and call centres struggled to meet quality metrics. In response, Health Canada engaged the Office of the Chief Actuary to provide quarterly actuarial forecasts to improve claim payment projections and financial planning.
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S-253 (45-1) - Making Child Care More Affordable for Canadian Families Act
Source: Parliament of Canada (LEGISinfo)
Date: 2026-10-29 00:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Taxation, Affordability, Social Services, Governance]Bill S-253, titled the Making Child Care More Affordable for Canadian Families Act, was introduced and read for the first time in the Senate on October 29, 2026. The Senate Public Bill proposes to amend the Income Tax Act specifically regarding the child care expense deduction indexation. The legislation is currently at the second reading stage in the Senate during the 1st session of the 45th Parliament.
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N.W.T. expands home heating subsidy for seniors
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-21 18:06:17.0
Tags: [National, Seniors, Affordability, Social Services, Energy]The Government of the Northwest Territories announced modifications to the Senior Home Heating Subsidy by raising the household income threshold to $90,000 or less per year to expand financial assistance over the winter. The new policy replaces a previous three-zone system ranging from $66,000 to $87,000 with a uniform income cap while maintaining zone-based monthly subsidy rates of $530 for Zone 1, $685 for Zone 2, and $1,090 for Zone 3. Payments are distributed monthly between September and April, with previously denied applicants automatically reassessed and an application deadline set for March 15, 2027.
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Housing advocate fears removing rent control will thwart plan to end homelessness
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-10-15 19:45:44.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Affordability, Social Services, Governance]The Yukon territorial government endorsed the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition's 112-page community action plan to end homelessness, titled A Place to Be, while simultaneously introducing a bill in the Legislative Assembly via Community Services Minister Cory Bellmore to repeal rent caps and reintroduce no-cause evictions. Kristina Craig, executive director of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, expressed concern that the elimination of rent control will jeopardize housing stability for current renters and undermine progress toward the plan's 29 recommendations. Scott Kent, the minister responsible for the Yukon Housing Corporation, stated that the government supports the plan's vision but declined to endorse its target of reducing homelessness by 50 percent in two years, while highlighting forthcoming housing developments such as 34 units at the former Korbo apartment site in Dawson City and 184 units delivered in partnership with the Da Daghay Development Corporation.
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S-251 (45-1) - An Act to establish a national strategy to end energy poverty
Source: Parliament of Canada (LEGISinfo)
Date: 2026-10-01 00:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Energy, Affordability, Social Services, Governance]Senator Mary Coyle introduced Senate Public Bill S-251, entitled An Act to establish a national strategy to end energy poverty, in the Senate of Canada. The legislation reached its first reading on October 1, 2026, during the 1st session of the 45th Parliament. The bill aims to create a comprehensive federal framework and national strategy to address and eliminate energy poverty across Canada. Currently, the bill is positioned at the second reading stage in the Senate for future debate and committee review.
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Ottawa Commits Additional Funding for Federal Child Care Program in Ontario
Source: Ontario - Ministry of Education
Date: 2026-09-29 14:34:00.0
Tags: [Ontario, National, Education, Social Services, Affordability, Finance]Ontario Minister of Education Paul Calandra announced that the federal government has extended additional funding to the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care program, maintaining current average child care fees at $19 a day with maximum caps at $22 per day until June 30, 2027. Between the 2021-22 and 2026-27 fiscal years, Ontario is investing approximately $34.5 billion in child care and early years programs, which includes $12.3 billion dedicated specifically to child care programs, fee subsidies, wage enhancements, EarlyON Child and Family Centres, and the CARE tax credit. Both governments have committed to ongoing discussions regarding long-term program sustainability beyond June 2027 to ensure continued stability for families and the child care sector.
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Province and feds extending affordable child-care program in Ontario, but fees stay the same
Source: CBC Politics
Date: 2026-09-29 13:51:37.0
Tags: [National, Ontario, Education, Social Services, Affordability]The federal government and the Government of Ontario have agreed to a four-year extension of the national affordable child-care program, backed by a funding envelope of nearly $12 billion plus a share of an additional $5.4 billion. Under the agreement, Ontario has committed to maintaining parent fees at an average of $19 a day—capped at $22—until June 30, 2027, falling short of the national program's $10-a-day goal. The province has created nearly 60,000 of its targeted 86,000 affordable child-care spaces as waitlists continue to grow across the province.
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'Right back where I started': Housing First tenants in Yellowknife prepare to lose their homes
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-17 18:55:44.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Social Services, Affordability]Twenty-six clients of the Yellowknife Women’s Society's Housing First program face potential homelessness after corporate landlords Northview Residential REIT and Balto Capital Inc. terminated their leases across multiple apartment buildings, including units on Gitzel Street in Yellowknife. The lease terminations stem from a building portfolio sale from Northview to Balto Capital Inc. at the end of July, setting an eviction deadline for October. The Yellowknife Women’s Society is actively searching for alternative housing units to accommodate the displaced clients as public officials from the City of Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories government express alarm over the loss of housing.
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Nunavut is paying foster parents more. Advocates say it still isn't enough
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-11 12:00:00.0
Tags: [National, Social Services, Indigenous, Affordability]Nunavut’s Department of Family Services has increased daily foster care rates by 45 per cent, raising payments from $58 to $84.10 per day in communities such as Iqaluit, Arviat, and Rankin Inlet, with corresponding percentage increases in other settlements. The rate adjustment, which is the first of its kind in six years, applies retroactively as of April 1, 2026, to address rising living costs and increased demands on the territory's 218 foster homes. However, child and youth advocate Jane Bates and former foster parents report that structural program deficiencies, administrative communication gaps, and severe payment delays persist within the department.
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Housing First tenants face eviction after Northview sale of some Yellowknife buildings
Source: Territories - Northern Affairs (Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
Date: 2026-09-03 01:02:34.0
Tags: [National, Housing, Social Services, Affordability]The Yellowknife Women's Society announced that 26 people face eviction and potential homelessness after receiving eviction notices for 23 units in the Housing First program. The crisis stems from Northview Residential REIT selling six apartment buildings in Yellowknife—including Dorset Apartments, Simpson House, and Norseman Apartments—to Balto Capital, whose operating model excludes the Housing First program. Additionally, Northview intends to evict Housing First tenants from its Fort Gary apartment building, impacting a program that currently has over 100 people on its waitlist.
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