Upcoming webinar on CPP-D Reconsiderations

Graphic with the DABC and ICBC logos, a graphic of a person on a computer screen with a speech bubble over their head, and text that says "Join our upcoming webinar. Canada-Pension Plan-Disability (CPP-D) reconsiderations. Made possible thanks to generous funding from ICBC. Location: Zoom. Date: February 25, 2025. Time: 2 pm PST. www.dabc.ca"
Join our upcoming webinar, an overview of the Canada Pension Plan-Disability (CPP-D) reconsideration process.

When
: February 25, 2025 at 2 pm PST.
Where: Zoom
Register hereZoom registration

Webinar made possible thanks to generous funding from ICBC.

Article: Plan Institute Developing Resources for the CDB

Photo of Stephanie Debisschop, from the shoulders up. She is wearing a dark sweater over a white blouse, and smiling. Her hair is shoulder length, wavy and reddish-brown. This article was written by Stephanie Debisschop. It originally appeared in the edition of DABC’s Transition magazine, Canada Disability Benefit: What protection does it actually offer? (Fall/Winter 2024).

As this article was written last year, the future resources mentioned within it have since been made available.

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.


Plan Institute is in the process of creating a comprehensive set of supports and services to address the many gaps and barriers that exist around the proposed Canada Disability Benefit (CDB).

We are hiring new advisors for our national Disability Planning Helpline who will provide one-to-one support with applications for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and eventually the CDB. This support will be available to anyone, anywhere in the country, at no cost.

Our Helpline currently supports individuals and families on a variety of topics, including the Registered Disability Savings Plan; wills, trusts and estate planning; and provincial and federal disability supports.

We’ll also be developing resources and hosting educational webinars on the DTC and CDB to help individuals learn about and navigate the process, and will be conducting extensive outreach and collaboration with organizations across the country to increase awareness and support.

We’ll be working with Disability Alliance BC (DABC) and other partners to ensure that every individual in Canada who may be eligible for the DTC receives it–and the CDB–as soon as possible. We’re also committed to educating medical practitioners and other professionals about the need for the DTC to reduce barriers to accessing it.

Canadadisabilitybenefit.ca is our new website that will be a central place for all things CDB. From supports, resources, information, education, links to advocacy opportunities, and more, the website aims to be a hub for accessing clear and accurate information to help as many individuals as possible receive the CDB.

Although there are still many unknowns about how the CDB will work in practice, we’re already getting questions through our national Disability Planning Helpline. Below are some of the main questions and areas of concern we’ve been hearing from the community, some of which are touched on by other authors in this Transition.

Qualifying for the Benefit

It is likely that the Disability Tax Credit will be the main qualification criterion–and perhaps the greatest barrier–for accessing the CDB.

The DTC application process is notoriously complicated, needing input from a medical practitioner and requiring carefully chosen language to succeed. It can take months or even years to be approved.

Not only is the process complex, it can also be costly. While the federal government has announced they will be providing funds to help pay for medical fees related to the DTC, the amount and mechanism for dispersing those funds remains a question mark.

With that in mind, we are making it a priority to ensure as many people as possible are approved for the DTC and are ready to apply for and receive the CDB when it is launched. While exceptional, comprehensive and free support with the DTC application process is available in BC through DABC services, the same is not true across the country. In many other provinces and territories, the only option is to pay for help with applications or try to navigate the process alone.

Clawbacks

We know that many people in the community share our concerns about how the CDB will interact with other provincial/territorial and federal benefits.

Together with our partners and community, we are advocating for every province and territory to guarantee that the CDB will be exempt from clawbacks of other social assistance. While some provinces and territories, including BC, have confirmed they will not clawback provincial disability assistance, there are still many regions who have yet to make the commitment.

Our friends at Maytree have developed an advocacy toolkit for anyone who wants to pressure their local government officials to commit to exempting the CDB from clawbacks.

Applying for the CDB

How applications for the CDB will work in practice is one of the biggest unknowns.

The CDB will be administered through Service Canada which suggests the application process may look similar to other programs under their administration. The community at large has been very vocal about the need to ensure the application process is as low barrier as possible, and we continue to join those from across the country in the push for this.

Benefit Amount

Like so many others in the community, we were disappointed to learn the Benefit amount is slated to be far below what we had hoped for – just $2,400 per year or $200 per month.

We know this is not enough.

This amount will fall well short of ensuring people living with disabilities in Canada are lifted out of poverty.

The CDB is an important step towards financial security. Together with our community, Plan Institute will continue to work to empower people in their rights, and advance towards our collective goal of eliminating disability poverty in Canada.

We’d love to hear from you! If you would like to connect with Plan Institute, please call our free national Disability Planning Helpline at 1-844-311-7526, email us at info@planinstitute.ca or visit us at planinstitute.ca or rdsp.com.

Stephanie joined Plan Institute in 2012 and has served as the Executive Director since 2019. she has spent 15 years working with non-profit organizations on disability issues, as well as internationally on community integration initiatives. Stephanie has a strong belief in the right to full and equal citizenship for everyone and is a staunch advocate for the right to a life free from poverty. She lives in North Vancouver on the unceded territory of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation with her husband and three children.

SRDC Press Release: Personal Income Information for Disabilities Assistance Recipients (Calculator BC)

The following information is from a press release issued by The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) on November 29th, 2024. French text follows the English text. You can also download a PDF version here


“[OTTAWA/VANCOUVER – November 29, 2024] – The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) has published a new report highlighting its key role in the development and implementation of Calculator BC, an innovative tool designed to support British Columbians receiving disability assistance.

Calculator BC was designed as a state-of-the-art website to simplify complex financial information, helping disability assistance recipients make informed decisions with greater confidence by helping them and their case managers:

  • Discover and Apply for Benefits: Users can identify federal and provincial income sources and connect to application sites directly from the tool.
  • Track Earnings: Recipients can monitor their earnings and see the impact on their disability assistance payments.
  • Job Opportunity Estimates: The calculator provides personalized income estimates for job opportunities, month by month, helping users make informed employment decisions.

SRDC’s Key Contributions:
Alongside partners Disability Alliance BC, Turn2us and Back in Motion, SRDC was instrumental in both the research and implementation phases of Calculator BC, ensuring that the project was data-driven and impactful. Key contributions included:

  • Research Design and Randomized Groups: SRDC implemented a randomized control design, selecting WorkBC offices into “program” and “control” groups to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of the tool.
  • Partner Collaboration: SRDC partnered with provincial and international organizations, leveraging their expertise to guide the project’s design and implementation.
  • Recruitment and Training: SRDC successfully recruited and trained 50 WorkBC Employment Service Centres, with 39 actively participating to achieve a target sample size of 400 participants by June 2018.
  • Exploratory Fieldwork: Prior to development, SRDC conducted fieldwork to ensure that the calculator addressed real needs and provided an intuitive user experience.
  • Program Support: Throughout the project, SRDC provided ongoing support via a toll-free line.
  • Data Tracking and Evaluation Analysis: The website tracked user interactions, including benefit entitlements (claimed and unclaimed) and earnings. SRDC’s collected feedback from users on their experience and linked to benefit records to obtain a detailed understanding of user behaviour and outcomes.

Long-Term Impact:
Calculator BC demonstrated its potential to improve recipients’ financial security and employment motivation, offering valuable lessons for service providers and learned valuable lessons for future tools to support other client groups, such as those facing persistent employment barriers.

To learn more about Calculator BC and SRDC’s contributions, visit the project page.

About the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC)
The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC) is a non-profit research organization created specifically to develop, field test, and rigorously evaluate new programs. Our two-part mission is to help policymakers and practitioners identify policies and programs that improve the well-being of all Canadians, with a special concern for the effects on the disadvantaged, and to raise the standards of evidence that are used in assessing these policies.

Since our establishment in December 1991, our SRDC team has conducted over 450 projects and studies for various federal and provincial departments, municipalities, as well as other public and non-profit organizations. We have offices located in Ottawa and Vancouver and satellite offices in Calgary, Hamilton, Montreal, Regina, St. John’s, Toronto, and Winnipeg.

 

© 2024 SRDC-SRSA – All rights reserved / Tous droits réservés
55 Murray Street, Suite 400, Ottawa, ON, K1N 5M3, Canada
https://www.srdc.org/


Renseignements sur le revenu des bénéficiaires d’aide au revenu pour les personnes handicapées

[OTTAWA/VANCOUVER – 29 novembre 2024] – La Société de recherche sociale appliquée (SRSA) a publié un nouveau rapport soulignant son rôle clé dans l’élaboration et la mise en œuvre de Calculator BC, un outil innovant conçu pour aider les Britanno-Colombien(ne)s bénéficiant d’une aide aux personnes handicapées.

Calculator BC a été conçu comme un site Web de pointe destiné à simplifier les informations financières complexes et à aider les bénéficiaires de l’aide aux personnes handicapées à prendre des décisions éclairées en toute confiance, en leur apportant du soutien, ainsi qu’à leurs gestionnaires de cas, dans les situations suivantes :

  • Découverte et demande de prestations : Les utilisateur(trice)s peuvent trouver des sources de revenus fédérales et provinciales et se connecter aux sites de demande de prestations directement à partir de l’outil.
  • Suivi des revenus : Les bénéficiaires peuvent suivre leurs revenus et voir les répercussions
    sur leurs prestations d’aide aux personnes handicapées.
  • Estimations des possibilités d’emploi : Le calculateur fournit des estimations de revenus personnalisées pour les possibilités d’emploi, mois par mois, ce qui aide les utilisateur(trice)s à prendre des décisions éclairées en matière d’emploi.

Principales contributions de la SRSA :
Aux côtés du comité consultatif composé de la Disability Alliance BC, de Turn2us et de Back in Motion, la SRSA a joué un rôle déterminant dans les phases de recherche et de mise en œuvre de l’outil Calculator BC, en veillant à ce que le projet soit fondé sur des données et qu’il génère des retombées. Les principales contributions sont les suivantes :

  • Conception de la recherche et groupes randomisés : La SRSA a mis en œuvre un modèle de contrôle randomisé, en sélectionnant les bureaux de WorkBC dans des groupes « programme » et « témoins » afin d’évaluer rigoureusement l’efficacité de l’outil.
  • Collaboration avec les partenaires : La SRSA s’est associée à des organisations provinciales et internationales et a tiré parti de leur expertise pour orienter la conception et la mise en œuvre du projet.
  • Recrutement et formation : La SRSA a recruté et formé 50 centres de services d’emploi de WorkBC, dont 39 ont participé activement pour atteindre un échantillon cible de 400 participant(e)s avant juin 2018.
  • Travail de terrain exploratoire : Avant d’élaborer le projet, la SRSA a mené des travaux sur le terrain pour s’assurer que l’outil répondait à des besoins réels et offrait une expérience utilisateur intuitive.
  • Soutien du programme : Tout au long du projet, la SRSA a fourni une assistance permanente au moyen d’une ligne téléphonique gratuite.
  • Suivi des données et analyse de l’évaluation : Le site Web a suivi les interactions des utilisateur(trice)s, y compris les droits aux prestations (demandées et non demandées) et les revenus. La SRSA a recueilli les commentaires des utilisateur(trice)s sur leur expérience et les a reliés aux dossiers de prestations afin de comprendre en détail le comportement des utilisateur(trice)s et les résultats.

Effets à long terme :
Le projet Calculator BC a démontré qu’il pouvait améliorer la sécurité financière des bénéficiaires et leur motivation à l’égard de l’emploi, en offrant des enseignements précieux aux prestataires de services et en permettant de tirer des leçons utiles pour de futurs outils destinés à soutenir d’autres groupes de clients, tels que ceux qui sont confrontés à des obstacles persistants à l’emploi.

Pour obtenir de plus amples renseignements sur l’outil Calculator BC et les contributions de la SRSA, consultez la page du projet.

À propos de la SRSA
La Société de recherche sociale appliquée (SRSA) est un organisme de recherche sans but lucratif, créé dans le but précis d’élaborer, de mettre à l’essai sur le terrain et d’évaluer rigoureusement de nouveaux programmes. Sa mission, qui comporte deux volets, consiste à aider les décideurs et les intervenants à déterminer les politiques et les programmes qui améliorent le bien-être de tous les Canadiens, en se penchant particulièrement sur les effets qu’ils auront sur les personnes défavorisées, et à améliorer les normes relatives aux éléments probants utilisées pour évaluer ces politiques.

Depuis sa création en décembre 1991, l’équipe de la SRSA a réalisé plus de 450 projets et études pour divers ministères fédéraux et provinciaux, des municipalités, ainsi que d’autres organismes publics et à but non lucratif. La SRSA a des bureaux à Ottawa et à Vancouver, ainsi que des bureaux satellites à Calgary, à Hamilton, à Montréal, à Regina, à St. John’s, à Toronto et à Winnipeg.

 

© 2024 SRDC-SRSA – All rights reserved / Tous droits réservés 55 Murray Street, Suite 400, Ottawa,
ON, K1N 5M3, Canada
https://www.srdc.org/