Last year, Disability Without Poverty (DWP) and Campaign 2000’s graded the federal government an “I” for Incomplete on its promises to Canadians with disabilities.
This year, that grade has been downgraded to an unequivocal “F” because the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) falls woefully short of the expectations it raised and the needs it promised to address.
With an inadequate benefit amount, narrow eligibility criteria, and a protracted timeline for implementation, the CDB reflects a stunning failure to deliver on commitments that once inspired hope.
In 2022, then-Minister Carla Qualtrough described the CDB as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty.” The Act’s preamble invoked Canada’s international human rights obligations and its aspiration to be a global leader in poverty eradication. These lofty words sparked optimism in a community long underserved and overlooked.
However, the reality of the CDB has been profoundly disappointing.
A federal budget allocation of $2,400 annually per recipient is insufficient to meet basic needs. Worse still, the government projects that the CDB will eventually lift only 25,000 working-age persons with disabilities out of poverty annually -- a fraction of the hundreds of thousands it claimed to aim to help.
Adding to this betrayal is the timeline for implementation. Delivery of the benefit is slated for July 2025, reflecting a shocking lack of urgency in addressing a crisis that has left so many in dire need. Promises to eradicate poverty lose all meaning when those they are meant to help must wait years for relief.
Recent developments only reinforce why the government has earned its failing grade.
Recently, the government announced a two-month GST holiday and a $250 cheque distribution program -- measures ostensibly designed to ease cost-of-living pressures. Yet these initiatives are poorly targeted and disproportionately benefit higher-income earners. Cheques are set to go to Canadians earning up to $150,000 annually -- a glaring misallocation of resources when those living in poverty, including many people with disabilities, are excluded.
The injustice of this allocation is stark. While $4.7 billion will be spent on these cheques and the GST holiday will cost government coffers $1.6 billion, the combined $6.3 billion outlay over just two months dwarfs the $6.1 billion allocated for the CDB over six years. This disparity exposes the government’s skewed priorities.
If billions can suddenly be found for untargeted giveaways, why has the CDB been relegated to fiscal crumbs? These actions send a troubling message about whose struggles are deemed worthy of attention and resources.
The GST holiday, too, highlights misplaced priorities. It applies to items like beer, wine, and restaurant meals -- luxuries that are unattainable for many Canadians with disabilities, even without taxes.
The decision to exempt prepared foods -- essential for people unable to cook for themselves -- offers a limited benefit, but it does little to address the broader failure to design relief measures that meet the needs of the most vulnerable.
The exclusion of non-working individuals from the $250 cheques further compounds this failure. The government’s defense -- that seniors, students and people with disabilities will qualify if they worked in 2023 -- reveals a harmful assumption: that support is contingent on employment.
For many people with disabilities, systemic barriers and severe impairments make work impossible. Tying eligibility to work perpetuates the dehumanizing notion that only those who “contribute” economically deserve assistance.
This glaring contradiction between rhetoric and reality undermines the government’s credibility. It claims fiscal constraints to justify underfunding the CDB but has no trouble allocating $6.4 billion to short-term measures that fail to address systemic inequality. These actions reflect a government that prioritizes optics over outcomes.
As a federal election looms, eliminating disability poverty must become a non-negotiable priority for all parties.
The report card paints a stark picture of income poverty among Canadians with disabilities and outlines clear recommendations for change. Policymakers must recognize that symbolic gestures and half-measures are no substitute for meaningful action.
The CDB was billed as a transformative program, a chance to affirm that Canadians with disabilities matter. Yet its current design and funding amount to a betrayal of that promise.
Canada has the resources and the responsibility to do better. This is indeed a once-in-a-generation opportunity. It must not become a once-in-a-generation failure.
Michelle Hewitt is chair of the board of Disability Without Poverty and lives in Kelowna, BC.
Luca “Lazy Legs” Patuelli is a board member of Disability Without Poverty and lives in Montreal, QC.
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