Children’s Special Allowance Regulations

Regulations Respecting the Children’s Special Allowances His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of National Health and Welfare, pursuant to paragraph 4(1)(a), sections 5 and 6, subsection 9(3) and sections 11 and 13 of the Children’s Special Allowances Act*, is pleased hereby to make the annexed Regulations respecting the children’s special allowances. S.C. 1992, c. 48, s. 23(1) (Sch.) These Regulations may be cited as the Children’s Special Allowance Regulations. In these Regulations, Act means the Children’s Special Allowances Act; (Loi) applicant means a department, agency, institution or Indigenous governing body referred to in subsection 3(1) of the Act; (demandeur) application means an application for a special allowance made under subsection 4(1) of the Act. (demande) An application for a special allowance by an applicant in respect of a child shall be addressed to the Minister, in writing or in an electronic format that is compatible with the one used by the latter, and shall contain the following information: the full name of the child; the date and place of birth of the child; the name, address and telephone number of the applicant; the signature of the chief executive officer of the applicant; and the date on which the child began to be maintained by the applicant. Where a child is residing in the private home of foster parents and payment of the special allowance is to be made directly to one of the foster parents, the application shall contain the name and address of the foster parent. On receipt of an application, the Minister shall examine the application and any information and evidence that is legally authorized to be furnished in connection therewith. If, after the examination referred to in subsection (1), it appears that the applicant is eligible to receive a special allowance, the Minister shall approve the application. [Repealed, SOR/97-35, s. 1] Where payment of a special allowance has been approved, the special allowance shall be paid to the foster parent if the child on behalf of whom the special allowance is being paid resides in the private home of foster parents and the information required by subsection 3(2) has been provided. Where a special allowance ceases to be payable pursuant to paragraph 4(4)(a), (b) or (c) of the Act, the chief executive officer of the applicant shall notify the Minister in writing or in an electronic format that is compatible with the one used by the latter. The notification referred to in subsection (1) must contain the following information: the reason, under paragraph 4(4)(a), (b) or (c) of the Act, why the special allowance ceases to be payable; and the date on which the event described in paragraph 4(4)(a), (b) or (c) of the Act occurred. Where applicable, the notification shall also contain the name and address of the foster parent who has been paid the special allowance. [Repealed, SOR/2003-161, s. 1] The information referred to in section 11 of the Act may be furnished to the government of a province or to an Indigenous governing body, under the terms of an agreement between the Minister and that government or Indigenous governing body, for the purpose of the administration of a social, income assistance or health insurance program of that province or Indigenous governing body that is specified in the agreement, on condition that the agreement is in writing and provides that the information shall remain privileged and shall not be communicated to anyone not legally entitled thereto; and the information is used only to determine a person’s eligibility under that program. The Minister may suspend payment of a special allowance where the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe, on the basis of information received, that an applicant’s continuing eligibility to receive the special allowance is in question and an investigation respecting that applicant’s eligibility for a special allowance has been commenced. Payment of a special allowance shall be resumed in the circumstance where the investigation establishes that the applicant is eligible to receive the special allowance. Where payment of a special allowance is resumed under subsection (2), the special allowance shall be paid for all portions of the period of suspension for which the applicant was eligible to receive the special allowance. For the purposes of the Act, a child is considered to be maintained by an applicant in a month if the applicant, at the end of the month, provides for the child’s care, maintenance, education, training and advancement to a greater extent than any other department, agency, institution, Indigenous governing body or any person; or the applicant is an entity referred to in any of paragraphs 3(1)(a) to (c) of the Act that has applied in respect of a child who was formerly in the care of foster parents or was formerly maintained by an entity referred to in any of paragraphs 3(1)(a) to (c) of the Act, and has been placed in the permanent or temporary custody of a guardian, tutor or other individual occupying a similar role for the month, under a decree, order or judgment of a competent tribunal, or under the laws of an Indigenous governing body, who has received financial assistance from the applicant for the month in respect of the child’s maintenance. The amount of a special allowance payment made to a person or applicant to which the person or applicant is not entitled, or the amount in excess of the amount to which the person or applicant is entitled, may be deducted and retained, up to the full amount, from any payments of the special allowance thereafter payable to that person or applicant. These Regulations come into force on January 1, 1993. Application Section 9 of the Regulations, as enacted by subsection (1), applies to special allowances payable for months after December 2011.