. So we ought to be picking individuals over families, and no grandparents as they eat up pension money like OAS and GIS..
The Family reunification program should be abolished. There is no need for it and it is just a drain on our social system, the old folks do not pay into it at all but get all the benefits. Besides, anyone who can't live here without their parents, should stay in there own country.
Here is an example of what goes on;
Parents from Philippines may qualify for OAS
By Allan Thompson, the Star
Q: My husband and I sponsored my parents last year to come to Canada under the family reunification process. My parents want to apply for Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), but as part of the sponsorship agreement my husband and I said we would make a 10-year commitment to the Canadian government to support my parents. Would my husband and I be penalized or chased after by the Canadian government for return of OAS/GIS benefits? My father thinks that these are benefits accorded to all legal residents. I must add that Canada has a standing Social Security agreement with our home country, Philippines. This issue is causing some division between my parents and me and so I would like some clarity on this issue. All the government websites (such as Service Canada and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) are vague on this issue. What I am trying to avoid is the government approving them upon application and then clawing the benefits back after a reassessment.
A: The Old Age Security pension is a monthly benefit that is available on application to most Canadians who are 65 or over. Old Age Security recipients still pay federal and provincial income tax and those with higher incomes will end up repaying part or all of their benefit through taxes. Typically, the OAS pension can be paid to eligible people who are 65 years of age and have at least 10 years of residence in Canada after age 18. And it is payable regardless of whether someone is under a sponsorship agreement or not. And you are right, under the terms of an International Social Security Agreement — and one of those exists between Canada and the Philippines — someone with less than 10 years of residence in Canada and who has been sponsored is eligible for the OAS pension. But those who have been sponsored are not eligible for the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) until they have 10 years of residence in Canada and the sponsorship undertaking has expired. (The GIS is a monthly benefit paid to eligible residents of Canada who receive a basic, full or partial OAS pension and who have little or no other income.) For more information on individual cases, you can contact Service Canada at 1-800-277-9914.
It was thinking like yours that put a couple of my great uncles into a concentration camp in Manitoba. What good did that do?
It kept them off the streets and gave them food and water. It could have worst, they could have been sent back home and gotten no shelter, food or water!!