UPDATE: Trudeau says that his government will not impose a tax on health and dental benefits.
Global News reported that, during yesterday’s question period in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally answered the question he’s been avoiding for weeks. When asked by Official Opposition Leader Rona Ambrose about whether his government would ask Canadians to pay an additional $1,000 for their health and dental benefits, the Prime Minister answered, “We are committed to protecting the middle class and that’s why we will not be raising the taxes the member opposite proposes us to do.”
While the Prime Minister’s response was not particularly well worded it does appear that his government will not be taxing health and dental benefits as part of upcoming tax reforms. View here.
24 million Canadians are covered by employer-sponsored health and dental benefit plans.
Employer-paid health and dental benefits ensure that 24 million Canadians have access to mental health, vision care, prescription drug, dental care and paramedical services (physiotherapy, chiropractic therapy and massage therapy).
Taxing benefits would have negatively impacted the health of Canadians.
The Canadian population is aging and waging a battle against chronic diseases. It is a great time for government to help ensure that access to quality preventative health care continues.