CALEDON, Ont. - David Tilson, Member of Parliament for Dufferin–Caledon, today announced Federal support to the Caledon Seniors Council under the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program.

Mr. Tilson highlighted $12,520 in funding for the Caledon Seniors Council, to help ensure that seniors have the opportunity to participate and take an active leadership role within their community.

“I’m proud to be here today to present this funding on behalf of our Federal Government to this outstanding organization. The Caledon Seniors Council has always been sincerely committed to encouraging Caledon seniors to take an active role in their community,” said Mr. Tilson. “This funding will assist the organization in continuing to deliver its many programs and services to these seniors.”

The Caledon Seniors Council received funding for renovating the facility's kitchen and storage units, as well as to purchase equipment and furniture.

“We’re quite pleased with this funding and what it will mean for our facility,” said Alex Rodrigues, President of the Caledon Seniors Council. “We appreciate this investment by the Federal Government, as it will give a much-needed boost to the kitchen and storage units and will improve efficiency.”

The investment highlighted today falls under the Community Participation and Leadership component of the New Horizons for Seniors Program, which encourages seniors to continue to play an important role in their communities by helping those in need, providing leadership, and sharing their knowledge and skills with others.

With two additional components of the New Horizons for Seniors Program—Capital Assistance and Elder Abuse Awareness—the overall budget of the Program is now $35 million per year.

Since its beginning, the New Horizons for Seniors Program has funded over 5,000 projects in hundreds of communities across Canada. For more information about the Program, please visit www.hrsdc.gc.ca/seniors.

In Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government made a clear commitment to protect Canadians, including seniors, in difficult times by implementing several key measures:

• Increasing the Age Credit by $1,000 for 2009 and beyond to allow eligible seniors to receive up to an additional $150 in annual tax savings.
• Providing seniors with $200 million in tax relief by reducing the required minimum withdrawal amount for 2008 from Registered Retirement Income Funds by 25 percent, in recognition of the impact of the deterioration in market conditions on retirement savings.
• Helping older workers and their families through these tough economic times by investing an additional $60 million over three years in the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers, and by expanding the number of eligible communities to include older workers in small cities.
• Providing $400 million over two years through the Affordable Housing Initiative for the construction of housing units for low-income seniors.
• Establishing an independent Task Force to make recommendations on a cohesive national strategy on financial literacy for Canadians.