No surprises
But worth quantifying.
	
BMC Public Health
Volume 10
Open Access
Research article 
Uptake and effectiveness of the Children's Fitness Tax Credit in Canada: the
rich get richer
John C Spence, Nicholas L Holt, Julia K Dutoveand Valerie Carson 
BMC Public Health 2010, 10:356doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-356
Published:	 21 June 2010	
Abstract (provisional)
Background
The Government of Canada implemented a Children's Fitness Tax Credit (CFTC)
in 2007 which allows a non-refundable tax credit of up to $500 to register a
child in an eligible physical activity (PA) program. The purposes of this
study were to assess whether the awareness, uptake, and perceived
effectiveness of this tax credit varied by household income among Canadian
parents. Methods: An internet-based panel survey was conducted in March 2009
with a representative sample of 2135 Canadians. Of those, parents with
children aged 2 to 18 years of age (n = 1004) were asked if their child was
involved in organized PA programs (including dance and sports), the
associated costs to register their child in these programs, awareness of the
CFTC, if they had claimed the CFTC for the tax year 2007, and whether they
planned to claim it in the upcoming year. Parents were also asked if they
believed the CFTC has lead to their child being more involved in PA
programs. Results: Among parents, 54.4% stated their child was in organized
PA and 55.5% were aware of the CFTC. Parents in the lowest income quartile
were significantly less aware and less likely to claim the CFTC than other
income groups. Among parents who had claimed the CFTC, few (15.6%) believed
it had increased their child's participation in PA programs. Conclusions:
More than half of Canadian parents with children have claimed the CFTC.
However, the tax credit appears to benefit the wealthier families in Canada.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/356/abstract
<http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/356/abstract> 

Melissa Raven
Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Public Health, Flinders University,
Adelaide, South Australia

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