A new adjustment for people who are single came into force in February 2014. Eligible persons are those without constraints who are eligible for financial assistance of last resort for at least the last six consecutive months*.
The following people are ineligible:
- Adults who are accommodated or required to be accommodated for their social reintegration or those who are supported by an intermediate resource or a family-type resource;
- People who stay in a centre offering addictions services with accommodations;
- Clients with a spouse who receive the allowance for two adults, single parent families and spouses of students;
- People who receive an allowance for temporary employment constraints or severe employment constraints;
- Adults with a spouse who is eligible for the 66/72 benefit.
The amount of the adjustment is introduced progressively according to the following calendar:
- $20 per month starting on February 1, 2014 ($220/year)
- $30 per month starting on January 1, 2015 ($360/year)
- $40 per month starting on January 1, 2016 ($480/year)
- $50 per month starting on January 1, 2017 ($600/year)
Decrease in the adjustment for people who are single
The adjustment amount is reduced by the amount of the shelter allowance paid by Revenu Québec up to the amount of the adjustment for people who are single. Note that amount paid by the shelter allowance program can reach $170 per month.
Note
The $500 one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit paid by the federal government does not reduce the amount of the adjustment for people who are single.
Single persons who are not temporarily limited
To be eligible for the adjustment for people who are single, beneficiaries must not be receiving the temporarily limited capacity allowance.
In certain situations, a temporarily limited capacity may be entered in an individual’s file without them being eligible for the temporarily limited capacity allowance because:
- They are receiving employment assistance benefits.
In these situations, the adjustment for people who are single is granted since the temporarily limited capacity allowance is not being paid.
* Calculating the six months during which a client must be receiving assistance to be eligible for the adjustment, it is necessary to establish a six-month period during which the client received assistance. This six-month period is reset to zero as soon as the client goes off assistance, unless the client goes off assistance to take a job but submits a new application for assistance within a period of six months. In addition, when a client receives financial assistance of last resort from the province but moves to a First Nations community in Quebec, the six-month period is not reset to zero. However, when more than one month passes between the interruption of provincial financial assistance and the application for financial assistance of last resort in a community, the six-month period is reset to zero.