Weeks ahead of the planned rollout of a new federal benefit for people with disabilities, Canadians still have no instructions on how to apply for it, and recipients in Ontario are unclear whether their payments will be clawed back by the province.
The Trudeau government announced in its last federal budget, in 2024, that the newly created Canada Disability Benefit, or CDB, would provide up to $2,400 a year – or $200 a month – to eligible low-income beneficiaries, starting in July of this year. The payments are meant to supplement existing financial supports for Canadians with disabilities, many of whom live in poverty.
But as of the end of May, the administrative rollout of the CDB, now overseen by the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney, remains mired in uncertainty. Ottawa has yet to publish an application form for the benefit, a delay advocates say could cause some people to miss out on at least the first monthly payment.
Another issue is whether the benefit will trigger reductions of social assistance payments. So far, all provinces and territories except Alberta and Ontario have committed to avoiding clawbacks.
Alberta has said it will dial back payments for those also receiving the CDB.
Ontario, on the other hand, hasn’t clearly stated what it will do.
Barriers to access: New Canada Disability Benefit will leave many people with disabilities behind
The government of Premier Doug Ford has said it is waiting on Ottawa to pass legislation that will exempt the benefit from being treated as income for tax purposes, a move that would make it administratively easier for provincial governments to avoid automatic reductions of social assistance payments.
But Ottawa has yet to introduce such a change. In the meantime, whether Canada’s most populous province will allow clawbacks remains an “unknown factor,” said Rabia Khedr, national director of Disability Without Poverty, a grassroots advocacy group.
The lack of information on key details is the latest source of frustration among many Canadians with disabilities and advocates, who have been critical of how Ottawa designed the program.
Topping out at $200 a month, the benefit is far smaller than what experts say is needed to significantly reduce poverty rates among those living with disabilities.
Another problem is that, to receive the CDB, Canadians must have been deemed eligible for the Disability Tax Credit, or DTC, a non-refundable tax credit that is notoriously difficult or impossible to access for many people with disabilities.
Across the country, non-profit organizations have staged outreach efforts to help more people apply for the DTC so that they can receive the new benefit. But those efforts have been hindered by a dearth of details about the application process for the CDB itself.
For example, the Plan Institute, a national non-profit based in Burnaby, B.C., has created a website devoted to the new benefit. It is offering one-on-one phone support to those applying for the DTC and is developing a webinar on both the benefit and the tax credit.
But “without the release of the application form, we are unable to take the final step in ensuring people will begin receiving the CDB come July,” Stephanie Debisschop, executive director at the Plan Institute, said in an e-mail.
Employment and Social Development Canada, the federal department that will oversee the administration of the CDB, said the benefit application process is expected to open by the end of June but couldn’t provide an exact date.
On the issue of clawbacks in Ontario, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services did not directly respond to a question about whether the province would be reducing social assistance for those receiving CDB payments issued before Ottawa changes the benefit’s tax treatment.
“Our focus is on ensuring the Canada Disability Benefit builds on existing programs like Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) including amending the treatment of the benefit in the Federal Income Tax Act,” ministry spokesperson Kristen Tedesco said in an e-mail.
In Ottawa, The Department of Finance said the Carney government remains committed to introducing a proposal to exempt the CDB from being treated as income under the Income Tax Act. However, it did not say when it would do so.
Legislation would be introduced “in due course,” spokesperson Caroline Thériault said in an e-mail.