Canada seniors’ benefits: Cost of a boost examined by PBO [Video]

Canada’s budget watchdog says the federal government may not meet its fiscal anchors if it acquiesces to the Bloc Québécois’ demand to expand seniors benefits in exchange for keeping the minority Liberals in power.

Last week, Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet confirmed his party will vote against a Conservative non-confidence motion set to take place this week, giving the Liberals enough support to avoid an imminent election.

In return, Blanchet is pushing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government — through a private member’s bill — to expand the government’s increase in Old Age Security (OAS) payments to pensioners aged 65 to 74. The Liberals had announced an increase of 10 per cent in OAS payments in 2022, but only to those aged 75 years and older.

“We have deposed a law which is now at the very centre of the survival of this government. This is what we call power,” Blanchet told …