Government of Canada CALLS for proposals for capital projects SUPPORTING seniors

September 15, 2009

OTTAWA, ONTARIO — Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright, was pleased to see the announcement of another Government program aimed at helping Canadian seniors. “The Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development (HRSD) and the Minister of State (Seniors), today launched a call for proposals* under the Capital Assistance component of the New Horizons for Seniors Program,” explains Benoit.  “The federal support is geared to help non-profit organizations renovate facilities or replace equipment they use to deliver seniors’ programs and activities.”

“The Government of Canada is proud to support seniors in strengthening our communities and building our country,” said The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of HRSD, as she made yesterday’s announcement.

On March 18, 2009, the Government announced more than $11 million in funding to over 900 projects across Canada through the Capital Assistance component of the New Horizons for Seniors Program. “Since its beginning, the New Horizons for Seniors Program has funded over 5,000 projects in hundreds of communities across Canada,” states Benoit. “Twelve seniors’ organizations throughout Vegreville-Wainwright have benefitted from the program to date and, if the opposition parties do not force an election before the application closing date of November 6th,  I expect more to be able to improve and expand their facilities.”

With the other components of the New Horizons for Seniors Program—Community Participation and Leadership and Elder Abuse Awareness—the overall budget of the Program is $35 million per year.

Benoit points out that, in Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government made a clear commitment to protect Canadians, including seniors, in difficult times by implementing several key measures:

• Increasing the Age Credit by $1000 for 2009 and beyond to allow eligible seniors to receive up to an additional $150 in annual tax savings.
• Providing seniors with $200 million in tax relief by reducing the required minimum withdrawal amount for 2008 from Registered Retirement Income Funds by 25 percent, in recognition of the impact of the deterioration in market conditions on retirement savings.
• Helping older workers and their families through these tough economic times by investing an additional $60 million over three years in the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers, and by expanding the number of eligible communities to include older workers in small cities.
• Providing $400 million over two years through the Affordable Housing Initiative for the construction of housing units for low-income seniors.

*The deadline for the latest call for applications is November 6, 2009. For more information on this call for proposals, please visit www.hrsdc.gc.ca/seniors.
For more information on the Government of Canada’s actions to support seniors, please visit http://www.seniors.gc.ca.


Backgrounder

New Horizons for Seniors Program

Across Canada, the New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) helps ensure that seniors are able to actively contribute to and benefit from the quality of life in their communities.

Building on the success of the NHSP, in Budget 2007, the Government of Canada increased the Program’s budget by $10 million per year to provide capital assistance for repairs to facilities and equipment related to existing seniors’ programs, and to raise awareness of elder abuse across Canada.  The total budget for the NHSP is $35 million per year.

The Program offers three types of funding to organizations:

1. Community Participation and Leadership funding (up to $25,000 in funding): this funding supports community-based projects across Canada.  The projects encourage seniors to continue to play an important role in their communities by helping those in need, providing leadership, and sharing their knowledge and skills with others.
   
   
2. Capital Assistance funding (up to $25,000 in funding): this funding helps nonprofit organizations that need to upgrade facilities or equipment used for existing seniors’ programs and activities.  It enables seniors to continue to lead active lives by participating in existing programs and activities in their communities.
   
   
3. Elder Abuse Awareness funding (up to $250,000 in funding annually over a maximum of three years): this funding helps non-profit organizations and coalitions raise awareness of the abuse of older adults on a national or regional level.  Through this funding, new educational and awareness resources about elder abuse will be available to improve quality of life, safety and security for seniors.