Late in 2025 hundreds of Canadians collectively brought national attention to the critical role grandparents and kinship caregivers play — and to the unfair gaps in financial support they face. These seniors are not just providing love and care; they are preventing children from entering the foster care system and ensuring they remain connected to family, culture, and community.
Championed by Fairness for Children Raised by Relatives, the e-petition received enough signatures to be certified on January 2, 2026. On February 2 we received confirmation that the petition was presented to the government.. A Government response to the petition must be provided within 45 days, and notification will be sent once it has been tabled in the House. [follow for updates]
This Is a National Issue
This is a critical issue for many kinship caregivers across the country. Fairness for Children Raised by Relatives Society, along with other advocacy groups, fully supports this petition and urges all Canadians to take action and contact their local Member of Parliament about this important issue.
BACKGROUND:
Sharon Whiting, a dedicated member of the Fairness for Children Raised by Relatives Society (F4CRR), spearheaded an impressive campaign on behalf of grandparents and kinship caregivers across Canada. Sharon has been raising her grandchild for several years, providing a stable and loving home, and like many others, she has faced significant financial challenges.
When Sharon applied for her Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits, she was shocked to discover that the CPP program does not allow seniors like her to claim dependent children. Currently, the only CPP child benefits available are for contributors receiving CPP Disability or for children who have lost a parent under the Survivor’s Benefit. There is no support through CPP for Canadian seniors who are raising their grandchildren — even though these children would likely be in the provincial foster care system if not for their grandparents stepping in.
This is an issue that Fairness for Children Raised by Relatives has also been advocating for (click here for more information). We know that many grandparents and even great-grandparents are raising toddlers to teens while navigating retirement incomes that were never designed to support child-rearing. Without policy adjustments, these caregivers face significant financial instability — as do the children they have committed to care for.
To address this gap, Sharon made sure this issue was in front of her local Member of Parliament, Dan Albas, Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola BC. She initiated a petition which called on the Government of Canada to create a new category of CPP child benefits for seniors aged 60 and older who are raising children again. Petition e-6646 will provide much-needed financial support to kinship caregivers who are giving children safe, nurturing homes outside the foster care system.
