The survey showed Toronto had the most expensive median monthly costs at $1,675. This is almost ten times what parents pay in Montreal, where there is a universal child-care plan.
However, not all Canadians have been paying higher fees. Newfoundland’s provincial government introduced a new set-fee system that saw median preschool fees drop in St. John’s by 13 per cent in 2018.
Provincial governments in Alberta and British Columbia also introduced new policies last year to tackle high daycare costs.
Vincent Lefaive is a retired Durham Regional Police Service sergeant and medical cannabis patient. Photo/Jewl Studios
Vincent Lefaive says medical marijuana
saved his life.
The retired Durham Regional Police Service
sergeant was diagnosed with PTSD in 2016 after 28 years of responding to 911
calls. He used a prescription for medical marijuana to successfully treat the
nightmares, anxiety and other symptoms that came along with the affliction.
But Lefaive is worried about the cost of
the drug, which recently became more expensive with a new tax.
As of October 2018, when the federal
government legalized recreational marijuana, all marijuana producers have been
charged excise tax. Advocates say that tax has been passed along to medical
cannabis patients, who were already paying sales tax for their prescriptions.
As medical marijuana is not covered under
insurance plans, advocates say the taxes have made the drug’s cost prohibitive.
This prompted Lefaive and other patients to
join a campaign — launched by non-profit
Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana — asking the federal government to do away with all taxes on medical
marijuana in its upcoming budget, which is expect to be unveiled this month.
The CFAMM has argued that medical marijuana
should be treated like other prescription drugs, which are not taxed at
all.
Lefaive said the costs are pushing
patients, many of which are seniors, to choose between the drugs they need and
other necessities.
“They are now deciding, I’ve got a medicine
that works for me, and it’s working well, but do I have to cut my grocery
budget? Do I have to cut my heating or hydro budget, or my clothing budget?” he
said.
Advocates say the excise tax and sales
taxes combined have increased the cost of medical cannabis by up to 25 per cent
in some provinces.
Lefaive has already spent more than $1,000 in HST alone since he first started using medical marijuana.
“Even with my financial stability, I am
worried that I cannot afford this,” he said.
Advocates warn that if the cost of medical
marijuana is too prohibitive, it could also push patients to riskier
alternatives that are covered under drug plans, such as opioids.
The federal government has said in the past
that the tax framework is necessary to stop recreational users from abusing the
medicinal prescription system.
A spokesman for Finance Minister Bill
Morneau did not provide comment before deadline.
Debt is holding back many Canadians from big milestones like buying a house, getting married and having children, according to a new study.
The survey, conducted by the Angus Reid Institute, found 32 per cent of Canadians are putting off saving for retirement because of their debt and 18 per cent have pushed back buying a home.
Of the respondents aged 26 to 37, almost four in ten have put off buying a house due to debt.
The survey suggested most Canadians are stressed about money, but that millenials are less pessimistic in their view of retirement, despite not having much in savings.
Angus Reid Institute
Only 24 per cent of Canadians said they don’t have any debt.
