Benefit Programs and Other Services

The Benefit Programs and Other Services business line delivers income-based benefits, credits, and other services that contribute directly to the economic and social well-being of Canadians. We administer four federal programs: the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB), the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) credit, Children's Special Allowances (CSA), and the Disability Tax Credit (DTC). We leverage our federal delivery infrastructure to administer a range of on-going benefits and one-time payment programs on behalf of the provinces and territories. In all, we issued almost $11.9 billion in tax-free benefit payments and credits to over 10.6 million low- and moderate-income Canadians and processed approximately $441 million in tax credits under the DTC program.

We also supply information authorized by law to federal, provincial, and territorial partners to support the delivery of their programs, issue rulings for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI) programs, and we account to jurisdictions about our efforts on their behalf.

Our job is made easier by the support of strong federal, provincial, and territorial legislation to clearly identify who is eligible to receive benefits and the amount of their entitlements. We rely on consultations with our partners to define program objectives and identify cost-effective solutions for delivering benefit programs and other services, using flexible and adaptable systems. We count on Public Works and Government Services Canada, acting as our agent, to issue cheques and direct deposit payments on our behalf. We also count on Canada Post to deliver our payments, so that clients receive the benefits they expect, and they receive them on time.

Date modified:

2004-10-28