Canada Child Benefit Would Have Cost $1.1B More Without Pandemic Supports: PBO

The landing page for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit is seen in Toronto, Aug. 10, 2020. The Canadian Press/Giordano Ciampini

The parliamentary budget office estimates the Canada Child Benefit program would cost $1.1 billion more over the 2021-2024 fiscal years if pandemic supports had not been paid out to families and the employment insurance program had not been interrupted by COVID-19.

The report, released Wednesday, focuses on the effect the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the Canada Recovery Benefits had on child benefit payments to families. It provided costing estimates for several scenarios.