Bill C-22 proposes financial security for people with disabilities
The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities is accepting public input on the bill
The HUMA committee is accepting public feedback on a bill that could improve financial security for people with disabilities. (Flickr/Ansel Adams)
On Dec. 7, the federal government adopted Bill C-22, the Canada Disability Benefit Act, which seeks to reduce poverty and support financial security of people with disabilities. The bill was adopted by the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA).
The committee report was presented on Dec. 14 in the House of Commons and is accepting written submissions from the public for a study undertaken for Bill C-22. If passed, the bill will also make an amendment to the Income Tax Act.
“I think the disability community faces the challenges of all Canadians, which are rising prices, inflation, the cost of housing, the cost of food. But at the same time, they deal with the additional aspects of discrimination in an inaccessible world,” says Bonita Zarrillo, HUMA member, MP for Port Moody-Coquitlam, and NDP critic for disability inclusion.
“If the bill lives up to the financial responsibilities that the government has, both nationally and internationally to eliminate poverty, it will lift every Canadian living with a disability out of poverty,” she says.
The objective of the disability benefit is to provide adequate income for working age people with disabilities, offer financial support to individuals with disabilities with low-to moderate-income, and offer employment for those able to work.
People between the ages of 18 to 64, people currently eligible for federal programs such as the Disability Tax Credit, Canada and Quebec Pension Plan Disability, support provided through Veterans Affairs Canada, benefits through Indigenous Services Canada and Social Programs administered by First Nations are eligible to receive the Canada disability benefit.
“The disability community has had to do far too much work to have their human rights realized. I think the government has a lot of work to do in relation to ensuring that persons with disabilities do not live in poverty and [know] their human rights,” Zarrillo says.
The benefit will be an income-tested, non-taxable, indexed, monthly cash payment. According to the Inclusion Canada outline for the disability benefit, the assured income is $2,200 per month to cover the “additional costs of everyday living” and provide an “adequate level of assistance.”
“I have heard from so many people that are struggling with the cost-of-living. Persons with disabilities that have not had increases on their financial supports, and are certainly in need of them,” Zarrillo says.
The benefit is an opportunity to improve and build upon the existing benefits and enhance national equity for people with disabilities.
The bill was initially introduced as Bill C-35 by the federal government in June 2021, but was stalled as a result of the dissolution of the Parliament for summer.
According to the Canadian Survey on Disability Report of 2017, approximately 6.2 million individuals reported having one or more disabilities, and about 28 per cent of the population with severe disabilities between the ages of 25 to 64 were more likely to be living in poverty than people without disabilities.
“I think that anything that’s happening in regards to inflation and the cost of living is amplified for persons with disabilities because their access is limited by the fact that we do not have an accessible Canada,” Zarrillo says.
