What Federal Election Candidates Need to Know About: Poverty and Canadians with Disabilities

A Message from Marie White, CCD Chairperson

The poverty of Canadians with disabilities is a national disgrace: Canadians with disabilities and their families are twice as likely to live in poverty as other Canadians and the incidence of poverty among First Nations and Aboriginal People with disabilities is even higher.

How will your party resolve the poverty of people with disabilities?

First Steps:

• Making the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) refundable.
• Making those eligible for Canada Pension Plan Disability benefits automatically eligible for the DTC.
• Expanding Employment Insurance Sick Benefits to 52 weeks.
• Ensuring new federal benefits such as the Registered Disability Savings Plan are not clawed back by provinces and territories from those on social assistance.

Long-term reforms:

• An expanded federal role in income support for Canadians with disabilities thus freeing up resources at provincial and territorial levels for re-investment in supports and services.