The Canada Disability Benefit Is Failing the People Who Need It Most

We've been waiting for 2 years to see a poverty reduction program come to life for Canadians struggling with disabilities. The Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) was intended to be the historic step that would help to reduce and eventually end disability poverty from coast to coast. It's taken years of consultations, advocacy, and legislative debate; when the benefit finally passed into law in 2023, and was included in the 2024 federal budget, we thought we had finally seen a victory on the horizon.

As it turns out, this wasn't the victory Canadians needed; it was a half-measure at best, the financial equivalent of a shut-up ring when you've been in a toxic relationship for too long. The CDB as it currently stands is deeply flawed, and will be leaving behind thousands of Canadians who are desperate for relief, and for the people who somehow do qualify, the CDB may even make their financial situation even worse.

What was supposed to be a beacon of aide is instead a pathway of roadblocks. The program is a mountain of red tape and bureaucracy, and evidence that the people who are supposed to care for the lived experience of their population are completely ignorant and disconnected from what it is to live with a disability. Without incredible changes being made, the Canada Disability Benefit will be failing the very population is was designed to support.

A Benefit Built For Those Who Can Get Through the Maze

If the Federal government wanted to make Canadians feel like they didn't want to "waste" money on those with disabilities, they've been very successful. They've made the CDB the bureaucratic equivalent of climbing an 75 degree slope with your hands tied and ankles shackled. Before you can even be considered for the CDB process, you first have to be approved for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC), which is known to be notoriously difficult to qualify for. It's complicated, it seems to go on forever, and even after all of that, only about 25% of disabled individuals successfully make it through the process. According to Inclusion Canada, fewer that 40% of the disabled population is currently approved for the DTC, meaning more than half of the disabled population is excluded from the CDB by default.

Want to be approved for the DTC? Good luck! Before you even begin the process, you need very detailed medical documentation... which you will likely have to pay for out of pocket, and you'll probably have to harass numerous medical professionals to get done properly. Then you get to the forms you need to fill out, filled with confusing and vague verbiage that makes it feel like you'll never be able to get approved. The paperwork barrier is what keeps over half of the Canadian disabled community from getting the help that they desperately need.

This becomes even worse for the marginalized communities in our country, particularly if you're Indigenous, unhoused, or both. Housing instability, limited access to healthcare providers who are willing to do the work with you to help, and a lack of digital access make the Disability Tax Credit next to impossible; that 75 degree slope the average disabled person faces becomes more treacherous for those who lack the critical supports needed just to get through the paperwork.

An Application Process That is Built to Fail

Let's just say that you've managed to get through the Disability Tax Credit process, and you've succeeded in being approved. Great! You've still got an obstacle course of hoops to jump through, but congrats nonetheless!

To access the Canada Disability Benefit, the applying person (who is now confirmed as disabled and/or dealing with a chronic illness, which should be kept in mind as we read through this next section) must have done all of the following:

• Attained a job that could be worked around their disability
• Maintained said job while living with said disability/chronic illness in order to obtain a T4
• Must have filed their taxes for the previous year
• Must have a verified with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
• Complete another form through Service Canada

Now, if you're able-bodied and not living in poverty, this sounds like it could be irritating, maybe even a little complicated. However, most people who are genuinely in need of the DTC and the CDB aren't equipped with the high level of bureaucratic literacy needed to be able to get through that paperwork, and if they're both unhoused and disabled, they're not exactly rolling in the job opportunities that make the first half of that list accessible. Combine this with a lack of digital access and organizational stability, and suddenly, the resources needed are completely out of reach.

The federal government had to know what they were doing. There's no streamlined system. There's no automatic enrollment for those who are approved for DTC. There is only an uphill battle designed to punish the very people the benefit was created to support. This isn't the way you build an inclusive, accessible social program. This is a benefit that was meant to look good on paper, and nothing else.

$200/Month Doesn't End Poverty

In Phase 1 of the Canada Disability Benefit, the federal government has confirmed that the maximum benefit available is $200 per month, or about $6.66 per day. Where I live in Alberta, over half of that amount is wiped out by a monthly transit pass. If you're in a rural area and can drive, that $200 might cover your gas for a few weeks. It certainly doesn't make a dent in the skyrocketing rent rates, utilities, grocery prices, mobility aids, or medications needed by those who are struggling with chronic illness and disability.

If we consider that the poverty line in Canada for a single adult is someone makes approximately $2100/month, this "poverty-busting benefit" doesn't cover even 10% of that in order to help disabled individuals meet just the basic living standard. When we listen to disability advocates, they've said it directly to the government repeatedly: $200 a month (or $2400 a year) isn't a benefit, it's an insult. This isn't going to help pull disabled and chronically ill Canadians out of poverty.

CDB Clawbacks: Encouraging Disability Poverty

Just in case you were worried that the federal government would stop their failure of disabled Canadians at exclusion or underfunding, don't worry; they'll find a way to reclaim their money somewhere. Many recipients of the CDB may find that other disability supports they receive from their province or territory are reduced or outright eliminated if they manage to get through the red tape to receive the Canada Disability Benefit.

In other words, if you get this $200 from the federal government, local supports can say "Oh, you have this extra $200 now? Guess that's money I don't have to give you anymore!" Qualifying for the CDB means that most recipients are no further ahead, or in some cases, worse off. While some provinces have said that they'll exempt the CDB from their income calculations (such as British Columbia, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, and Yukon), not all provinces have made such commitments. Alberta, for example, has said that they will treat the CBD as income, meaning a dollar-for-dollar reduction to benefits that leave those with disabilities no better off. The remainder of the provinces and territories have left themselves in a grey area, where they may or may not choose to treat the CDB as income.

Without legislated exemptions, this leaves thousands of disabled and chronically ill Canadians at the whim of their governments. Especially after the strain of going through the process, knowing that you may end up exactly where you were or worse creates distrust, confusion, and financial devastation. What's the purpose of a benefit that negatively impacts your population?

This Simply Isn't Good Enough

What was once pitched as a lifeline for those with disabilities and chronic illness is nothing more than a shining symbol of systemic failure. The words of advocates have been ignored, and access is horribly restricted. There is no dignity in economically excluding vulnerable demographics in our country. If we want to end disability poverty in our country, it is time for our government to listen to our advocates.

This has nothing to do with parties and political affiliations. This is about needing to stop building barriers to the access our people desperately need. The time for half-measures and placebo actions is over. People are struggling and suffering now.