> Capital region reaction,

OTTAWA — A federal budget billed as helping Canadians better navigate the modern-day economy cashed out Wednesday on a 71-year-old program that used to be a cornerstone of helping people plan for their future.

The federal government is eliminating the venerable Canada Savings Bonds program, for generations a beacon of savings for Canadians keen to sock away a few dollars or teach their children a thing or two about managing money.

The program costs more to run than the benefits it brings in, and has become out of date in an era of wide-ranging, more effective savings tools, the government said in the spending blueprint unveiled Wednesday.

The savings bond dates back to 1946, building on the success of the Victory Bonds campaign that enlisted prudent, frugalityminded Canadians to help pay for the war effort. At the height of its popularity in the late 1980s, the bonds accounted for $60 billion in government debt, about 45 per cent of the total.

This year, the outstanding bonds total about $5 billion, or less than one per cent of total federal market debt. Sales this year are expected to be about $1 billion compared with about $15 billion three decades ago.

Only about 115,000 people are expected to buy the bonds this year, government officials say.

“This decline in the program’s popularity can be attributed to the proliferation of higher-yielding alternative retail investment instruments, such as government of Canada insured retail products,” budget documents say.