As affordability payment portal launches, ineligible Albertans share reaction

Now that the application process has opened up for the province's affordability payments, reaction is pouring in from Albertans who do not qualify for the instalments totalling $600.

Persons with disabilities who already receiving income support through the province are automatically eligible.

Parents of children under 18 and seniors over 65 who don't receive the Alberta seniors benefit are eligible to apply -- so long as the annual household income is less than $180,000 per Canada Revenue Agency tax records in 2021.

Some post-secondary students without children say they feel overlooked by the province's affordability payment program.

"I'm paying for school. I got to pay for rent, I got to pay for my car I got to pay for all that. It's a little upsetting not knowing that the government is there to help me out a little bit and back me up and give me some extra cash," said Waleed Saeed, an open studies student at the University of Calgary.

University student Waleed Saeed says rising tuition and other expenses make it difficult to afford life as a Calgary student

Saeed also works part-time, and relies on student loans to cover tuition costs.

"The years that I need it and I'm struggling, they're not giving me anything there," he added.

STUDENTS LEFT OUT

Some other students say they feel overlooked by the Alberta government.

"I think (Premier) Danielle Smith's policies have generally been tone deaf. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. We're the poorer. We are going to university. We are the next generation who struggles," said Ryan Lee, also attending University of Calgary.

He then added, "It is generally easier to let us (students) go by and push us on the back-burner but we are often actively hurting. Tuition hikes that we've never seen before."

His friend echoed feeling left out of a payment plan to help with rising living costs.

"It's just very unfair to us, who are not covered by any of those benefits," said undergraduate student Precious Hilario.

THRESHOLD TOO HIGH

Other Albertans have concerns about the maximum household income limit set by the province at $180,000.

"They don't really need the $100 a month. I would set it a lot lower. Less than $100,000 combined income. You should be able to live on that amount of money," said Tom Yanota.

Tom Yanota thinks the Alberta thresho

He added, "I don't have a problem with giving the money to people that can't afford, but $180,000 is a little high."

PORTAL LAUNCHES WITH HIGH DEMAND

The province says the initial hours since the application launched some minor issues.

"Almost 40,000 Albertans have been able to successfully submit applications since the portal opened," said Andrea Farmer, press secretary for the Minister of Affordability and Utilities in an e-mailed statement to CTV News. 

She added, "due to this high demand, some users have experienced slower than usual site speeds, however our team is working diligently to ensure the site is running as smoothly as possible."

Great news!

Over 40,000 applications for $600 over six months have already been submitted through the https://t.co/MGUiRLctpv portal.

The portal continues to accept applications, Albertans can apply until June 30. pic.twitter.com/ojqcYc7D7n

— Matt Jones (@MattJonesYYC) January 18, 2023

An economist at Mount Royal University believes the influx of cash into the Alberta economy will not have an adverse affect on inflation, which has been trending downward in recent months.

“I think the next 12 months or so, we'll see that the inflation will actually go down. And that policy that interest rate policy of the central bank will offset any of the demand increase that we might see," said economics professor Anupam Das.