The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party released its final budget before the next election which includes $500 payouts for people making less than $100,000 in Quebec..Quebec Premier François Legault announced the update Tuesday, as the province’s finance minister expects costs to continue rising for the next few months..The one-time payment is available to each individual making less than $100,000, no questions asked as long as tax returns are filed for 2021..If a citizen makes less than $105,000 they will receive a partial payment, but those with incomes over $105,000 are not eligible..The payout does not take household income into consideration, which means a couple both making $100,000 will receive $1,000 between them..Roughly 6.4 million people are predicted to be eligible for the $500..In 2019, the median individual income after taxes in Quebec was $32,700, according to the Institute of Statistics of Quebec..The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) found Equalization payments Albertans paid to Quebec have amounted to a $2.9 billion cost to Alberta’s taxpayers in 2021 alone..On average each Albertan paid $650 in 2021 or $2,600 for a family of four, according to the CTF..Albertans have received less than 0.02% of all Equalization payments, the last payment Alberta received was in 1964-1965..Ewa Sudyk is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.esudyk@westernstandardonline.com
