Finance committee  Thank you for the question. The Canada Child Benefit established by the government is much more generous than the previous program. The government wanted to stick to the July 2016 deadline for implementing this new benefit, despite the economic conditions and other budget pressures, and announced its intention to implement indexing by 2020.

Finance committee  Nine out of ten families benefit from this program. It also involves keeping a balance between these benefits and the expenses. I think that's why the government chose July 2020.

Finance committee  Sure. What I can do is give you an example. I'll start with one example for 2019. Take a worker who is making $15,000. We're projecting that they'll receive about $150 more in WITB. We're projecting that their employee contributions to CPP, they'll pay about $100 more net of tax.

Finance committee  The idea is to provide a general offset for that additional contribution during their working years.

Finance committee  I appreciate the question. The working income tax benefit will be enhanced beginning in 2019, meaning that the maximum benefit will increase, both for single individuals and families. In addition, an inclusion rate will be applied to the enhanced benefit so that low-income workers can access the maximum benefit more quickly.

Human Resources committee  It's been recognized as a very important issue. What I think I can tell you is that quite a few departments, such as Statistics Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Indigenous Affairs are working together on outreach with communities to increase filing rates for people filing T1 returns, so that they can have access to the benefits to which they are entitled.

Human Resources committee  The government has indicated its intention to index no later that 2020. I think the government wanted to make sure that when the program was first introduced, it was introduced fully and especially at a time of a fair bit of economic and fiscal uncertainty, so that families would have the income support that the CCB is intended to provide.

Human Resources committee  Okay. I said they would be more beneficial than RRSPs. In the case of RRSPs, contributions are deductible. In addition, contributions and investment income are not taxed at the time, but are taxed during retirement. They are also included in the income used to calculate income-tested benefits such as the GIS.

Human Resources committee  As I mentioned, almost half of TFSA holders had an individual income under $40,000.

Human Resources committee  That's a good question. One would need to think across the range of federal and provincial benefits and programs. I'm thinking of income-tested benefits delivered through the tax system. As you mentioned, that's part of the reason that the Canada child benefit is delivered on the 20th of the month.

Human Resources committee  The same goes for our department. As you explained so well, a number of elements and factors come into play as far as poverty is concerned. A rather complex study would have to be done in order to answer that.

Human Resources committee  That's a good question, but we don't have a good answer to it.

Human Resources committee  The latest stat I have is from 2013, and it was about 6.7% of adult Canadians. That's not only for those who had a TFSA but also for those who potentially had a TFSA and maximized their TFSA contribution room.

Human Resources committee  I don't have a number with me. The thing I will point out is that it's certainly less than double the revenue cost of a $5,500 limit, given that only so many Canadians would take advantage of the difference in contribution room. It's also something that the revenue costs of the TFSAs will grow over time under a $5,500 limit, but that would be also the case, or a bit more of the case, under a $10,000 limit.

Human Resources committee  That was a good response. I have nothing to add.