Dear Community Partner,

Disability Alliance BC is pleased to announce today, August 14, 2020 a Call for Proposals (CFP) for projects that promote greater accessibility and inclusivity for people with disabilities in BC communities. 

BC celebrated its first annual Accessibility Week from May 27th to June 2nd, 2018. As part of the Province’s goal to improve accessibility for people with disabilities in BC, DABC was selected by the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (MSDPR) to disburse funding to community based “Accessibility Projects.” With the successful administration of the Accessibility Project grants in 2018 and 2019, DABC was again selected to administer Accessibility Project 2020.

Accessibility Projects must focus on at least one of the following:
– Accessible employment;
– Accessible emergency planning and response;
– Accessible arts, culture and tourism;
– Accessible sports and recreation;
– Accessible education and learning;
– Accessible community participation.

Funding of $10,000 to $40,000 per project will be disbursed to a maximum of $450,000. Proposals are due by October 9th, 2020 and funding for successful projects will be disbursed in early 2021. 

For complete details about eligible organizations and projects, and to access the Call for Proposals (CFP), Application Form, and accompanying documents, please visit our website: https://disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org/program/accessibility-projects/.

In British Columbia, hospitals and other healthcare settings have changed their visitor policies due to the pandemic crisis. This webinar, hosted by DABC staff lawyer Andrew Robb, addresses the rights of people with disabilities to have their essential support person(s) or caregiver(s) with them in hospitals, despite restrictive visitor policies.

A transcript of the webinar is available here: Transcript of Essential Support Persons webinar.

We are pleased to hear that Bill C-20 has received Royal Assent. The Bill, in addition to providing support to Canadian workers and businesses, will facilitate the delivery of a one-time payment of up to $600 for people with disabilities who are either holders of a valid Disability Tax Credit (DTC) certificate, receive Canada Pension Plan-Disability Benefits (CPP-D) or Quebec Pension Plan disability benefits, or are in receipt of Veterans Affairs Canada disability supports.

Eligible people with disabilities who do not yet possess the DTC certificate will be able to apply for one up to 60 days after the Royal Assent on July 27th to be considered for the one-time payment.

If you or someone you know requires assistance with the DTC application, contact our Access RDSP program by email at rdsp@disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org or through the form on our website: https://disabilityalliancebc.therightfitbc.org/direct-service/help-with-the-rdsp-and-dtc/. Further information about the program and our program partners is also available at that link.

We are unsure when the one-time benefit will be paid out but will provide an update when we receive more information.

For more information, see the Government of Canada’s News Release:
https://tinyurl.com/y3von3vt.