OPSEU/SEFPO is calling on the federal government to implement long-overdue reforms to the Canada Disability Benefit Act, as the two-year anniversary of the benefit roll-out approaches.
The Canada Disability Benefit Act was passed in June 2023 and rolled out the following year, with the commitment that it would ‘lift’ 25,000 Canadians with disabilities out of poverty by 2028. However, once in effect, disability rights groups quickly noted numerous shortcomings, including an overly complicated application process and insufficient benefit amount, and called for reform.
To date – almost two years later – no action has been taken by the federal government in response to these calls for reform and many disabled people are still facing barriers to receiving the benefit.
“The federal government made a commitment to ending the poverty crisis for people with disabilities across Canada and has been failing them ever since. How can the Canada Disability Benefit be truly effective when it does little to remove barriers to inclusion for disabled people to qualify?” said JP Hornick, OPSEU/SEFPO President. “Enough of empty promises – it’s time for real, meaningful reform.”
To qualify for the Canada Disability Benefit, which provides applicants between ages 18 to 64 with a benefit of up to $200 per month, applicants must have a Disability Tax Credit (DTC) certificate – a document which is difficult to access, requires extensive and costly paperwork, and for which there are limited healthcare providers who can certify eligibility.
Further, the $200 benefit per month, while helpful, has been noted to barely assist with the cost of monthly groceries or housing. In Alberta, the benefit amount is reduced if the person receives other forms of social assistance.
“Disability rights activists have been supportive of the Act’s proposed intent to resolve the poverty crisis from the onset, but we refuse to be pawns for the federal government to pat themselves on the back for a job well done, while disabled people continue to struggle to survive,” said OPSEU/SEFPO Disability Rights Caucus Co-Chair, Janet Heyman. “If the government is serious about meeting its 2028 target, reform to the Act must happen immediately.”