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.

The federal government announced on November 21st its plans to alleviate higher costs-of-living by providing a $250 rebate to all working Canadians with net incomes below $150,000, to be delivered Spring 2025.  This rebate is called the Working Canadians rebate.  Assuming the legislation needed to create this benefit is passed as-is, it will target individuals who are working,  and this proposed rebate will leave many people with disabilities behind.

The Working Canadians Rebate was one of several new measures announced to relieve higher costs of living that many have endured. The other is a holiday tax break (Bill C-78) that will make some goods and services GST/HST free from December 14, 2024 – February 15, 2025. The federal government announced that these measures will “give Canadians more money in their pockets” and help people “buy the things they need and save for the things they want”. Disappointingly, the rebate excludes many people with disabilities and seniors most affected by inflation, high prices, and other economic pressures, who currently struggle to afford basic needs.

Disability Alliance BC (DABC) disagrees with the restrictive parameters of the proposed rebate.

Specifically, we note that:

• Limiting the rebate to working-age adults inherently discriminates against people with disabilities, particularly those who are not working (e.g., Canada Pension Plan – Disability and Disability Assistance recipients who are not working) and seniors. Given the myriad barriers that prevent many people with disabilities from participating in mainstream work structures, this rebate only perpetuates ableist systems.
• This rebate does not actively support those living in poverty in our country, who would benefit the most from a $250 rebate. A majority (69%) of people accessing social assistance in BC are those who receive Disability Assistance (colloquially known as PWD).[1] In BC, assistance rates are not indexed for inflation which means that many people face rising costs for basic necessities, and not enough money to afford them.

• This rebate only serves to deepen the income gap in our society

• This rebate continues a long list of measures that do not adequately support the exorbitant costs that people with disabilities face. Many tax benefits, including the medical expense tax credit, are non-refundable, which means that they only benefit those with taxable income. Where people eligible for the Working Canadians Benefit could also benefit from available non-refundable tax benefits, those who are not working continue to get left behind. While we recognize that the federal government will be rolling out the monthly Canada Disability Benefit in July 2025, which will offer financial support for working age adults with low income, this benefit is just too little, and still excludes those outside of working ages.

This rebate is a stark reminder that our government still values working adults above all else, which sends a callous message to those who cannot work.

DABC calls on the federal government to broaden this benefit, to provide an equitable Canadian cost-of-living benefit that not only supports working Canadians, but also those who are unable to work, unable to save, and who often have higher costs associated with their health. These people need “more money in their pockets” the most.

[1] https://maytree.com/changing-systems/data-measuring/social-assistance-summaries/british-columbia/

Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD)—and this year’s theme is “amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future.”

DABC has been advocating for the abolition of the Annual earning exemption limit for PWD recipients. “Scrapping the cap” is one action that could help advance the goal set out by this year’s IDPD theme.

Read our op-ed, published in July 2024 by The Tyee: https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2024/07/04/Disability-Earnings-Cap-Holding-People-Back/.

As DABC’s Executive Director Helaine Boyd states in the op-ed, “If I want to lift my staff’s wages to keep pace with the living wage, then I may have to cut their hours so they don’t reach the earnings limit set by the ministry.

It is a form of discrimination and ableism that people receiving disability assistance won’t be able to access the benefits of a living wage or be promoted into higher positions.”

Learn more about IDPD here: https://www.un.org/en/observances/day-of-persons-with-disabilities.

Want to support our advocacy? Today is also #GivingTuesday – the biggest global day for generosity. Contributions of any size are greatly appreciated: https://give-can.keela.co/dabc.