In Canada, people with disabilities are twice as likely to live in poverty than those without disabilities. Disabled women are more likely to experience poverty than disabled men while Indigenous, Black and racialized women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people with disabilities face disproportionate harms.
Canada has ratified and signed on to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2010) which means that there is a moral and a legal obligation on Canada to work toward disability justice.
In June 2024, the federal government released the Canada Disability Benefit in response to the tireless advocacy of the disability community that has long called for a benefit to lift people with disabilities out of poverty. However, the annual federal budget revealed that eligible benefit recipients would only receive a maximum of $200.00 monthly, which is not even one tenth of the amount recommended by experts to lift people out of poverty. “So, few people with disabilities are being given so little. This benefit had given them hope, but that hope has been taken away” said Rabia Khedr, National Director of Disability Without Poverty.
Disability justice advocates have particularly warned against the increasing use of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) legislation in the face of rising costs of living, lack of access to affordable housing, care support and facilities.
In solidarity with the disability community, LEAF, Amnesty International and other human rights and gender justice organizations are urgently calling for a more equitable Canada Disability Benefit in an open letter addressed to the federal government. Dated October 16, the letter calls on the federal government to increase the Canada Disability Benefit to $1800–$2000/month, ensure automatic eligibility for those already receiving disability supports, and prevent any social assistance clawbacks.
The full text of the letter, including the list of signatories, is below:
October 16, 2024
The Honourable Chrystia Freeland
Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister
chrystia.freeland@parl.gc.ca
The Honourable Kamal Khera
Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities
kamal.khera@parl.gc.ca
The Honourable Marci Ien
Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
marci.ien@parl.gc.ca
Ministers Freeland, Khera, and Ien:
Re: Feminist Solidarity with the Disability Community on the Canada Disability Benefit
We, the undersigned, a coalition of feminist and gender equality organizations, come to you in solidarity with the disability community and advocates who have been working tirelessly to end disability poverty in Canada.
We join them in expressing our profound disappointment with the proposed Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), which was introduced with the aim of reducing poverty among low-income disabled people. Yet, after four years of extensive consultation with the disability community, the government has ignored the recommendations of disabled people and proposed a benefit that excludes those most in need.
Canada has manufactured a crisis of disability poverty, and disabled women and gender-diverse people bear the brunt of it. As high as one in three women with disabilities lives in poverty. Disabled women are three times more likely to rely on government transfers than their non-disabled and male counterparts. The cost of disability poverty can indeed be deadly—in recent years, we’ve heard stories of disabled people considering or choosing MAiD because they could not access the financial and social supports necessary to live in dignity.
The Canada Disability Benefit has the potential to transform the lives of women and gender-diverse people with disabilities, but the proposed Benefit reveals it will be just as painfully inadequate as many other disability supports available in Canada.
We echo the concerns from the disability community that the proposed Canada Disability Benefit provides too little for too few:
- The $200 monthly benefit amount (maximum $2,400 per year) is barely one tenth of the amount recommended by numerous experts to lift people out of poverty, and that’s without accounting for the extraordinary costs of living with disability.
- Against the recommendations of advocates, the Disability Tax Credit—notorious for its stringent eligibility criteria and complicated application process—will be a gateway to the Benefit.
- Throughout consultations, disabled people stressed the utmost importance of ensuring no social assistance clawbacks with the introduction of the CDB. However, most provinces and territories still have not formally committed to maintaining the same level of social assistance to recipients once they start receiving the Benefit.
It’s time for Canada to step up and take urgent action to address the crisis. Disabled people simply cannot wait any longer. We implore the Government of Canada to:
- Increase the benefit amount to $1800 – $2000 per month by the 2024 Fall Economic Statement.
- Ensure automatic benefit eligibility for current recipients of federal, provincial, and territorial disability supports.
- Negotiate with all provinces and territories to guarantee that the Canada Disability Benefit will be exempt from clawbacks of social assistance.
Thank you for your attention to this critical matter. As feminist advocates, we know that disability justice is inextricably tied to gender equality. The disability community has been loud and clear in their recommendations for a Canada Disability Benefit that could effectively lift disabled people out of poverty. Now, it’s time for Canada’s federal government—a proudly feminist government—to follow their lead and make it happen.
Sincerely,
Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
Action Femmes et handicap
Amnesty International Canada, English Speaking Section
Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic
CFUW (Canadian Federation of University Women)
Canadian Center for Woman Empowerment (CCFWE)
Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW)
Canadian Women’s Foundation
DisAbled Women’s Network Canada (DAWN Canada)
Disability Justice Network of Ontario
National Association of Women and the Law
OCASI-Ontario Counciil of Agencies Serving Immigrants
Oxfam Canada
South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies
West Coast LEAF
Women’s Centre for Social Justice, o/a WomenatthecentrE
Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund (LEAF)
Women’s Shelters Canada / Hebergement femmes Canada
