The Canada Assistance Plan Act (CAP) was enacted on 15 July 1966, with an effective date of 1 April 1966. Under Part I of the Act, the Minister of National Health and Welfare is empowered to enter into an agreement between the federal government and any province that will provide for the payment of federal contributions towards the cost of provincial/municipal assistance and welfare services. The agreement includes schedules which list institutions within the province which fall under the Act's definition of a "home for special care" or "provincial approved agency" and are therefore acceptable for funding purposes, as well as a schedule listing the provincial assistance and welfare acts under which the province operates its programs. Under Part II of the CAP Act, the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs has a legal responsibility to ensure the welfare of any native living on a reserve, on crown land, or in an unorganized territory. This is accomplished by ensuring that natives who are not eligible for existing federal, provincial or municipal assistance have such services made available to them through agreements with the provincial authorities or CAP itself. Such an agreement relating to Indian Welfare is presently in place for the province of Ontario. Finally, Part III of the Act, which relates to Work Activity Projects, allows Health and Welfare, in consultation with Employment and Immigration, to commit the federal government to a further agreement with any province which already has a general agreement under Part I to fund half the cost of a work activity project. Such projects/programs are designed to improve the motivation and work capacity of those on public assistance who have not been able to obtain training, or have unusual difficulty in securing and/or retaining a job.
The records in this accession consist of material prepared by the Ontario Regional Office of the Cost Shared Programs Directorate for claims relating to all three parts of CAP. The files contain data sheets with the claim figures, working spreadsheets used to compile the figures, and covering correspondence and memoranda in which details of the claims (or their subsequent audits) are clarified. The files are not arranged numerically, but bear a common file title (based on the type of claim) with subdivision by date or claim number within the file itself.
