Published March 2023
The Federal legislation for a Canada Disability Benefit is exceptionally important news. This is a targeted benefit focused on improving income support for those with disabilities. Benefits delivered through the tax system are efficient and can be directed where they are needed most. We have seen the difference for families that receive the Canada Child Benefit which Ala Abdulkarem describes in the article, Helping New Canadians Access Income Supports. Ala leads our Money Matters project providing support to over 3000 individuals last year.
Article by Mike Morrice
In the years before being elected, hearing the stories from neighbours living with disabilities were the hardest. Stories of extreme poverty and a broken system.
It’s what compelled me to try to do something about it once elected. Today, Canadians with disabilities disproportionately live in poverty across our country. So much so, that we could cut poverty by over 40% if we lifted every person with a disability above the poverty line!
In fact, it’s a form of legislated poverty: the provincial Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) currently provides a meagre $1,228 a month for a single person to live on. It’s a national embarrassment.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
The Canada Disability Benefit, first proposed by the Federal Liberals in 2020, would provide a tax-free monthly payment to low-income Canadians with disabilities. The idea is for this benefit to top up insufficient programs like ODSP to raise people with disabilities out of poverty.
Disability advocates across the country have been calling for this kind of program for years. Once elected, I began work with a leading organization – Disability Without Poverty – to amplify their efforts. We started with a petition, which earned almost 18,000 signatures from coast to coast to coast. I then coordinated an open letter co-signed by 79 MPs from all parties – including all four of my colleagues from right here in Waterloo Region – pushing the governing party to follow through on their promise.
And it worked! Last June the Liberals introduced Bill C-22, legislation that would create the Canada Disability Benefit.
When it came time to suggest improvements, I brought forward 14 suggestions from the disability community – including many recommended by local disability-serving organizations like Extend-a-Family Waterloo Region. Of these, five of them passed, out of a total of nine amendments that strengthened the bill.
This includes a change that will require the benefit to be indexed to inflation. Another requires the benefit to be barrier-free, meaning recipients shouldn’t have to complete a cumbersome application to be eligible and could include a potential recipient being automatically enrolled when completing their taxes. The other three are:
Adding a definition for ‘disability’ in the bill, ensuring consistent and equitable access and eligibility for the benefit
A requirement for the federal government to make agreements they sign with the provinces and territories public for transparency
For people with disabilities to have meaningful and barrier-free opportunities to give input into regulations as will be developed to set out important decisions like who will be eligible for the benefit
While I’m proud of these improvements, I’ll admit I’m disappointed about those that didn’t pass. One example is a push for the benefit to be extended past the age of 65: a disability doesn’t disappear when a person turns 65, and neither should the Canada Disability Benefit! Unfortunately, we’ll have to continue to advocate for the 10% of Canadian seniors with severe disabilities living in poverty.
As I write this though, we still have lots of work to do to get the rest of the disability community this critical boost.
The bill now has to be approved by the Senate, agreements have to be struck with all provinces and territories, and the Federal government must fund the benefit – all while regulations are developed. I’m hoping this can all happen within the next year!
Our advocacy has moved the bill ahead more quickly and improved the legislation, but nothing changes for those who need it until we finish this work. So, I’ll continue advocating – our current push is for federal government to include funds for the Canada Disability Benefit in the 2023 budget!
Thanks to everyone in our community that signed our petition, that wrote about your experiences to Parliament, and that put pressure on MPs across the country to support this effort. We’re making progress because of you, and disability advocates across the country.
Mike Morrice is the Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre. First elected in 2021, he’s been fighting for housing affordability, the Canada Disability Benefit, and meaningful action on the climate crisis. [email protected] or 519-741-2001.
