This article was written by Michael J. Prince.  It originally appeared in the edition of DABC’s Transition magazine, Canada Disability Benefit: What protection does it actually offer? (Fall/Winter 2024).

Read the full edition in PDF format here and in text-only format here.

If you’re interested in contributing to Transition as an individual or an organization, please email transition@dabc.ca.

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A few days after the April 2024 federal government budget outlined key details about the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), I contacted the Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities, and gave formal notice of my resignation from the Minister’s Disability Advisory Group effective immediately.

The Trudeau government’s decisions around the Canada Disability Benefit announced in the federal budget triggered my resignation.

The budget fails to heed the long-declared recommendations by national disability organizations and other groups for a properly-funded benefit, one that recognizes the additional costs of living for people with disabilities.

The benefit, although depicted as a key pillar in the government’s plan to provide direct support to those who need it most, does not adequately address the serious needs of more than one million adults living with disabilities across the country, many of whom live in poverty.

I initially thought the benefit amount of $200 was a misprint. The benefit is too low and too few people in need are covered. It is complicated to access, lacks collaboration, and waits too long to meaningfully reduce poverty.

In 2020, the federal government described the CDB as modeled after the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for low-income seniors aged sixty-five and older.

In 2024, the maximum benefit amount of the GIS is $12,785 annually. For the CDB, the proposed maximum benefit amount is $2,400 per year for low-income people with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 64. The proposed maximum annual payment for the CDB equates to about two months of the support for low-income seniors.

A Retreat from Real Poverty Reduction

The government estimates that more than 600,000 low-income people with disabilities may qualify for the CDB. However, Employment and Social Development Canada later revealed the CDB might, at most, lift only 25,000 recipients out of financial poverty.

These numbers for coverage and poverty reduction fall well short of the estimated 1.2 million people with disabilities across Canada living in poverty. In contrast to previous statements about the intended effects of the CDB, it simply may not bring significant poverty-reduction effects.

So Much for “Nothing About Us, Without Us”

The budget included a statement that, in the spirit of “nothing about us without us”, the government would provide meaningful opportunities for people living with disability to collaborate.

However, not on everything. Whatever the eventual design of the program, the budget adds the fundamental constraint that “the design will need to fit the investment proposed in Budget 2024.”

This fiscal condition, set down by the Minister of Finance, means that the issues of benefit adequacy, effectiveness as a poverty-reduction policy and the coverage of the program are not truly up for discussion.

In the words of this budget, the federal government “aspires to see” that, one day, the combined amount of federal and provincial or territorial income supports for people with disabilities grow to the level of Old Age Security and the GIS to tackle disability poverty.

Significant Investments are Required

The history of social policy in Canada teaches us that major reform in income support often comes from federal leadership in investments and program reform. It has long been apparent that not all provinces and none of the territories have the financial capacity to tackle disability poverty in a fundamental and sustainable way.

Out of sync with public opinion and community needs, this budget announcement fails to take strong federal responsibility for income security for working-age adults with disabilities who are working hard to join the middle class.

I concluded my voice was no longer making a difference on this advisory group and that by remaining, people would assume I supported this benefit design. So I resigned.

However, I continue to work with self-advocates and community allies in other ways and places.

Michael J. Prince is Lansdowne Professor of Social Policy at the University of Victoria. From 2018 to 2024, he was Board Chair of Community Living BC. He was also a member of the federal Ministerial Disability Advisory Group from April 2020 to April 2024.