Opinion: Many Canadians with disabilities shut out of pandemic funding

Dr. Jennifer Zwicker, deputy chief scientific officer for Kids Brain Health Network, Calgary Herald, June 17, 2020
The federal government recently announced a one-time, federal tax-free payment for Disability Tax Credit recipients intended to reduce financial barriers for persons with disabilities during the pandemic. This proposed bill failed to secure unanimous consent in the House of Commons for debate. In part, persons with disabilities are getting caught in the political crossfire. However, known issues with eligibility for the DTC warrant the equity concerns raised by opposition parties. The issue is that many Canadians with disability who should receive this funding are not DTC recipients and consequently won’t receive the support they need. In some provinces, less than 40 per cent of individuals with qualifying disabilities are estimated to have CRA-deemed eligibility to the DTC. Currently, persons with disabilities receiving provincial disability income assistance are deemed ineligible for the $2,000 a month CERB, or have had their funding clawed back at different rates depending on the province. This means most persons with disabilities on income assistance receive significantly less than the amount received by CERB recipients, and this varies by province.