Saskatchewan Seniors Income Plan: What Kinship Caregivers Need to Know

Grandparents raising grandchildren in Saskatchewan often live on a pension that was never designed to support a child. The Saskatchewan Seniors Income Plan (SIP) is a provincial seniors income program; confirm its current eligibility and payment details before counting it in a household budget.

What the Seniors Income Plan Is

The Saskatchewan Seniors Income Plan is a provincial seniors income program that may form part of a grandparent's pension income. Before counting it as available support, confirm the current eligibility rules, payment dates, and amount with Saskatchewan. Do not assume that receiving OAS and GIS automatically qualifies you or enrolls you.

How SIP Interacts With Kinship Care Benefits

If you are a grandparent raising a grandchild on your pension, the care arrangement affects which child-related benefits you can apply for. Check SIP's treatment separately with Saskatchewan before assuming that it is unaffected by the child's placement.

Informal care (no court order): If you are the child's primary caregiver, you can apply for the Canada Child Benefit through CRA using Form RC66 and proof of care. The CCB is non-taxable and excluded from SIS means testing. If your income is low enough, you may also qualify for Saskatchewan Income Support. Confirm separately how CCB and other benefits are treated under current SIP rules.

PSI order (child protection stream): PSI maintenance payments are non-taxable under paragraph 81(1)(h) of the federal Income Tax Act. They are excluded from income testing for SIS and SAID. You cannot claim the CCB for that child — the Ministry of Social Services claims the federal Children's Special Allowance instead. Confirm separately how current SIP rules treat the placement.

CCB is excluded from SIS and SAID means testing, and PSI maintenance is excluded from those same tests. Those rules do not establish whether the child's placement affects a caregiver's SIP eligibility or payment.

The Pension Gap

The challenge for senior kinship caregivers is the gap between a retirement income and the cost of raising a child. A grandparent receiving $1,600 per month in combined OAS, CPP, and GIS was managing on a tight single-person budget. Adding a grandchild's food, clothing, school supplies, and childcare costs can push expenses well beyond what the pension covers.

The SIP is one part of a senior caregiver's budget; confirm its current amount before estimating what is available for the child's expenses. Other possible supports include:

• The CCB (up to $7,787 per year for a child under 6) if the child is in informal care or under a private parenting order, or
• PSI maintenance (monthly payments at the foster care basic rate) if the child is placed under a Section 37 order through the Ministry

A grandparent caring informally may want to check CCB eligibility. PSI maintenance is available only when child-protection authorities find that the child needs protection and a court makes a Section 37 order; it is not a private benefits application.

CPP for Kinship Caregivers

If the child's biological parent has died or is receiving CPP Disability, the child may also be entitled to the CPP Children's Benefit — $307.81 per month per qualifying parent. This is paid in the child's name and is taxable to the child, but is typically below their personal exemption. The benefit counts as child income for SIS/SAID means testing and is included in family income for SEI.

Getting the Full Picture

The Saskatchewan Seniors Income Plan is one piece of a pension-based household's support. The Saskatchewan Kinship Financial Help Guide maps the main programs senior caregivers can check — SIP, CCB, PSI maintenance, CPP Children's Benefit, SIS, and health coverage — and shows how your care arrangement affects which combination is available.

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