‘They don’t make it easy’: Canada Disability Benefit poses many barriers

Robin Nobleman, lawyer at the Income Security Advocacy Centre, attends Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) rally hosted by ODSP Action Coalition, Disability Without Poverty, Disability Justice Network of Ontario, and the Income Security Advocacy Centre at Matt Cohen Park in Toronto on July 4, 2024. (Photo courtesy: Trevor Manson, secretary co-chair of ODSP Action Coalition)

Fifty-seven-year-old Toronto woman Leisa Muthra has sickle cell anemia, a blood disorder that prevents her from working.

While the new Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) that’s set to roll out soon will alleviate Muthra’s financial burden, it doesn’t go far enough, she said.

The monthly benefit, which could be up to $200 for eligible Canadians with disabilities, will help but not completely lighten her load: she and her daughter live off $583 after paying rent every month.

On top of that, it can take months for the application to be processed.

Muthra is one of many Canadians with similar complaints, advocates say.

“I try to do everything right. I feel so sad sometimes,” she told CTVNews.ca. “It’s been hard. They don’t make it easy.”

A six-year, $6.1-billion commitment under the federal government’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan, the historic first-ever Canada Disability Benefit was first announced in the 2020 Speech from the Throne and became law in 2023.

Set to roll out this month, advocates say the government did not implement what they recommended during the consultations the government held with advocacy groups during the benefit’s development.

To receive the new benefit, individuals must qualify for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC). However, advocates recommended against using the DTC as the basis for eligibility.

Barriers with Disability Tax Credit

National director of Disability Without Poverty, Rabia Khedr, one of the advocacy groups the government consulted, said qualifying for the DTC is a common barrier for many.

The first barrier is finding a medical practitioner to complete the application, which can be particularly challenging for those without a family doctor familiar with their medical history.

Some medical practitioners also charge a fee for completing the DTC application.

The second barrier is meeting the “stringent” medical criteria, which is not based on a person’s diagnosis, but how severely their condition impacts them.

According to the criteria, individuals must have a severe or prolonged impairment in walking, mental functions, dressing, feeding, speaking, hearing, vision, or eliminating bowel or bladder functions, significant limitations in two or more categories, or require therapy for a vital function.

Khedr said many Canadians with disabilities don’t meet the criteria.

“I know people who are cancer survivors, for example, and maybe have an ostomy bag and have had a stroke, so they have some limited mobility. Now, they cannot work the way they used to work prior to that, but they’re not deemed eligible for the Disability Tax Credit,” she told CTVNews.ca.

Khedr and other advocates proposed streamlining provincial and federal disability support programs instead of qualifying for the DTC as a requirement to qualify for the new federal benefit.

This would automatically enrol individuals already approved for a provincial disability program to receive the DTC, and subsequently, the CDB, reducing the burden of repeated screenings and additional applications.

“A common theme is people having to prove their disability time and time again,” said Trevor Manson, secretary co-chair of the advocacy group ODSP Action Coalition, who was also part of consultations in the development of the benefit.

“People that have mental illnesses have a tougher time qualifying, because disability tends to be viewed in functional limitations. People that have invisible disabilities are the ones that have the hardest time qualifying,” he told CTVNews.ca

Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu’s Press Secretary Jennifer Kozelj confirmed to CTVNews.ca in an email that the government did explore a variety of eligibility options for the CDB but concluded that using the DTC as the basis for eligibility was best.

“The DTC was determined to be the best option to deliver a national, portable benefit on time,” Kozelj wrote.

The federal government will continue to review and reform the process to apply for the DTC, Kozelj confirmed.

Federal benefit is insufficient: advocates

Khedr says the other complaint among advocacy groups is that the benefit’s amount is insufficient.

According to a Disability Without Poverty report, the $200 monthly federal benefit combined with provincial disability programs won’t be enough for everyone.

For the average recipient to reach the poverty line at all, they would need 30 per cent more income per month, according to the report.

The approximate poverty line is estimated to be $2,221 for a single person monthly in 2024 in Ontario, according to Statistics Canada.

In Alberta, individuals who receive provincial disability support will not see an increase in their income from the new federal benefit.

The provincial government plans to keep monthly payments the same but change the source of funds from provincial to federal government, treating the CDB as “non-exempt income.”

Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services Press Secretary Amber Edgerton told CTVNews.ca in an email that this is because Alberta provides the highest provincial disability benefits in Canada.

“We are pleased that the federal government is finally starting to pay their fair share to help support Albertans with disabilities,” Edgerton wrote.

For Muthra, she says she must wait another seven months for her DTC application to be processed — after applying in March — before she can apply for the new benefit.

While Muthra says she’s going to try to be strong through financial hardships and her medical condition, she says she misses her career.

“I come from a profession that is very specialty and that is high end. Now I’m sitting here and living on nothing and not very happy about this,” she said.

“My illness has taken that away from me.”