Ontario won't claw back federal disability benefit
Amid growing concern from Ontarians with disabilities and their advocates, the province has announced it will not claw back the incoming Canada Disability Benefit (CDB).
The CDB was passed in 2023, and the government committed $6.1 billion to it in the 2024 federal budget. Beginning in July, eligible recipients can receive up to $2,400 per year, or a maximum of $200 per month.
In a news release on Tuesday, the province announced it will be exempting the federal benefit as income. That means recipients won't have money deducted from their provincial social assistance payments or entitlements such as the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).
Since the CDB's passage, advocates have feared the provinces and territories may claw back the benefit. As of this March, at least seven have promised not to do that, but Alberta has announced it will claw back the benefit under certain circumstances.
"It was a huge concern that this was not going to make it to the people who deserve to see this benefit," said Ron Anicich, co-chair of the ODSP Action Coalition.
Advocates relieved, but wary
Rabia Khedr, national director of advocacy group Disability Without Poverty (DWP), said the news from Alberta stoked fear and disappointment within the disability community.
But Khedr said the Ontario government has previously taken "steps in the right direction," including its decision to increase the ODSP exemption from $200 to $1,000, giving her hope that the province would do the right thing.
"I always felt strongly that, because they had committed to an earnings exemption, that there is no way they could justify clawing back a $200 federal benefit," she said. "So I'm glad that they have confirmed that today."
Advocates say they still have other concerns about the benefit program, however.
In order to be eligible for the CDB, recipients must be approved for the disability tax credit, and for that they must receive certification from a medical practitioner.
"What we're seeing now is people scrambling to sign up for the disability tax credit," said Anicich. "Which is fine when people have family doctors, but there are two million people in this province that do not have family doctors who are just unable to access this benefit."
To Khedr, the answer is to "simply cut red tape."
"The folks that are in the provincial system who have already filled out medical forms and have already attested to their disability shouldn't have to complete that kind of scrutinizing process again," she said.
Instead, many disability advocates have been calling for the federal government to make recipients of provincial programs such as ODSP automatically eligible for the CDB.
In an email to CBC on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services said it's also calling on the federal government to change the Income Tax Act to align those eligibility requirements.
"We believe people who already access the Ontario Disability Support Program and meet the other eligibility criteria should automatically qualify for the CDB, rather than be required to pay $200 under the program as it is presented," the spokesperson wrote.
Concerns over amount
Despite the good news on clawbacks, Khedr and Anicich still regard the CDB's maximum monthly payment of $200 as inadequate and are calling for an increase.
"Ontarians with disabilities on ODSP and who qualify for the candidate disability benefits still will be well below the poverty line," Khedr noted. "And living with a disability costs at least 30 per cent above the poverty line."
Khedr said recipients desperately need the financial help and will use it to improve their lives.
"It means that maybe they can buy healthier food or supplements, maybe they can buy over-the-counter painkillers to manage their day so that they can even consider searching for work and improving their quality of life," she said. "It is money that will be spent on necessities of daily living."
Khedr and Anicich are also calling for better collaboration among people with disabilities and their advocates, and demanded a say when decisions affecting their lives are made.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
AHS warns of several measles exposures in Edmonton, Leduc in last week
The Misericordia Community Hospital can be seen in this undated file photo. (File) Alberta Health Services on Saturday alerted the public about several measles exposures in Edmonton and Leduc. A person who has been confirmed to have measles was in the following locations while infectious. Others who were in the same locations may have been exposed and should monitor for symptoms and review their immunization record. Edmonton Remedium Medical Clinic at Meadowlark Health and Shopping Centre 11:26 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 19 Walmart at Meadowlark Health and Shopping Centre 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on June 17, 18 and 19 Misericordia Community Hospital emergency department 5:21 p.m. June 17 to 3:53 a.m. June 18 Edmonton Transit Service Route 4 and 54 buses 2:30 p.m. to 7:20 p.m. June 17 Leduc Leduc Community Hospital emergency department 10:39 p.m. June 17 to 3:10 a.m. June 18 Leduc Community Hospital diagnostic imaging 12:30 a.m. to 2:35 a.m. June 18 Measles is extremely contagious and spreads easily through the air. Symptoms include a fever, cough, runny nose, red eyes, and a rash that starts three to seven days after a fever starts, usually beginning behind the ears or face and spreading down the body. Anybody with symptoms should stay at home and call Alberta's measles hotline at 1-844-944-3434 before visiting any healthcare facility or provider, including a family physician clinic or pharmacy, AHS says. Measles can cause ear infections, pneumonia, brain inflammation, premature delivery and sometimes death.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Strategist calls passing Bill C-5 'a key moment' for PM Carney's first parliament session
Watch Liberal strategist Sharon Kaur discusses PM Carney's goals in Europe, grades his first parliament session, and addresses concerns about Bill C-5.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
After 4 years away, Cathy Wong hopes to return to Montreal city council
Former Montreal city council speaker, Cathy Wong is seeking to replace Coun. Luc Rabouin as borough mayor for Plateau-Mont-Royal in the next election — four years after she exited municipal politics. Wong will run as a candidate with Projet Montréal while Rabouin vies for the city mayor's office in November. Wong, who represented the Peter-McGill district in downtown Montreal from 2017 until 2021, said she did not know she would be coming back when she chose not to seek re-election to prioritize her family. "It's really since I would say December, after the American elections but also after a lot of different crises — climate crisis, social crisis, democratic crisis — that I felt the need to come back to be more involved in building policies that are feminist, that are inclusive, and that are green," she said. "In the last six months, every time I was opening the news, I felt so much anger, felt powerless," she said, adding that it created a feeling of wanting to be involved. If elected, Wong says she'd like to work to improve accessibility in the Plateau-Mont-Royal focusing on traffic-calming and street safety measures, housing and increasing universal accessibility. She moved to the borough in 2021 and lives there with her family. For the last four years she's been working as the vice-president of Telefilm Canada. Wong was first elected as a member of Ensemble Montréal in 2017, becoming the first elected official of Chinese descent at city hall. She was named speaker that same year, making her the first woman to hold the job in Montreal. She quit her party to sit as an independent and later joined Projet Montréal in 2019. She also became the first executive committee member in charge of fighting racism and discrimination. "I believe that the city has advanced in terms of inclusivity and in terms of accessibility but of course there's still work to be done," she said. "Today I'm running for mayor of a borough where I believe that there is still so many opportunities to make our borough more accessible, more inclusive, and this is the work I want to focus on."
