Ontario Liberals want to see more children take part in sports and other extracurricular activities.
They have put forward a Private Member’s Bill proposing a $1,000 tax credit on registration fees and other expenses related to a child’s activities.
Ottawa MPP Stephen Blais estimates one-quarter of all children in middle-class families do not participate because of the cost.
“That number gets worse as the income levels go down. And so, anything we can do to help their families defer the cost of putting them into extracurricular activities is a benefit, obviously, to the families and to the mental and physical well-being of the kids just on that point,” says Blais.
Blais adds that with recent rises in the cost of living, families are finding it harder to put their kids in extracurricular activities.
He says costs should not be a barrier to keeping kids active.
“If it is adopted, this bill, we will now have a credit for the taxes, which is non-reinforceable, which will help these children’s parents to choose to keep their kids in leisure activities. We want the choice to play to be a little bit easier.”
Blais wants the credit to be as inclusive as possible and cover a wide array of activities, including sports, drama and art.
A similar credit, put in by the Liberal government under Premier Dalton McGuinty, existed between 2010 and 2016.
It was discontinued following criticism it benefitted mainly high-income families who were financially stable enough to pay for their children’s registration.
