The post-pandemic era has been marked by high inflation, a renewed housing crisis, and uncertainty about the future of Canada and its safety net. While the Liberal government, pressured by the NDP, has enacted or promised policies that could help Canadians in need (including the Canadian Dental Care Plan and the Canada Disability Benefit), since 2020, poverty levels have started increasing for the first time in more than a decade. Amongst the most sensitive to the economic context are persons with disabilities.
In Canada, persons with disabilities have the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most economically vulnerable groups. Their poverty levels are still several times higher than average; their employment rates are also lower than average (likely because of a combination of ableism and lack of support programs), and a lot of Canadians with disabilities have to survive on the limited income provided by provincial and territorial social assistance.
In light of this rather dire portrait, there have been growing calls for different orders of government to boost income supports and other programming to help Canadians with disabilities to live with greater comfort and dignity. Although most of the focus has rightly been on the provinces and territories, there is a role for the federal government—even if one is inclined to a narrower conception of Ottawa’s role in matters of social protection.
The federal government’s role in poverty alleviation
In Canada, poverty alleviation is primarily seen as a provincial or territorial matter, as are many other social protection questions (notable exceptions include old-age pensions and Employment Insurance).
Yet this does not mean the federal government has no role in poverty reduction. In fact, Ottawa has signed critical international agreements, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), that impose certain obligations on all orders of government such as access to food and housing.
Accordingly, the federal government adopted its first Poverty Reduction Strategy in 2018, setting ambitious targets and defining the Market Basket Measure as Canada’s official poverty line. This strategy called for a 50 percent reduction of poverty by 2030 and made clear that “the Government of Canada knows that, to be successful, it cannot act alone,” and therefore recognizes the “work accomplished by all the provinces and territories.” This committed the federal government to work with the provinces and territories to better coordinate programs and benefits.
It is difficult to measure the impact of federal anti-poverty actions because poverty levels started decreasing in 2012, prior to the adoption of the strategy, and have started increasing since 2020. While there is no data after 2022, it is exceedingly clear, based on what we hear from local organizations, that poverty has further increased—including among Canadians with disabilities.
The stalled progress—represented in part by a rise in food insecurity—has advocates and others focused on the role of public policy to better address poverty in general and among disabled Canadians in particular. It is our contention that the federal government should have a role to play in these efforts.
The federal government could be a leader
There are numerous ways the federal government could be a leader in poverty alleviation, especially in relation to Canadians with disabilities. While the Poverty Reduction Strategy had, and still has, ambitious targets, Ottawa could do more to ensure these targets will be met.
A key example is the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB). Parliament unanimously passed the Canada Disability Benefit Act in 2023. This act sought to create a CDB to “reduce poverty and support the financial security of persons with disabilities.”
In determining the benefit amount, the law prescribes that the federal government must consider the Market Basket Measure and the additional costs of disability. Many, therefore, hoped that the CDB would be a real opportunity to lift Canadians with disabilities out of poverty.
Unfortunately, it became clear in the 2024 budget and when the first regulation drafts were published that this effort would fall short of lifting any Canadian with disabilities out of poverty. This is because the maximum benefit amount for the CDB would be limited to $200 per month or $2400 per year. This generated much backlash from disability organizations and disability advocates. Even if the CDB is meant to be a supplement to provincial and territorial programs, in its current proposed form, it is still not high enough to help Canadians with disabilities escape poverty.
Nick D’Ambrosio, who is visually impaired, unloads boxes at his place of work in Montreal, May 16, 2020. Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press.
If the federal government really wants to be a leader in poverty alleviation for persons with disabilities, a logical step would be substantially increasing the CDB over time.
What role for the provinces and territories?
Yet as important as the federal role can be in poverty alleviation, the provinces and territories should not be off the hook. They have long held Canadians with disabilities in “disability servitude” through inadequate social assistance programs that place individuals in front of a “welfare wall.” This is because none of the provincial or territorial social assistance programs actually reach the level of the Market Basket Measure of poverty, and because they largely discourage employment for recipients by clawing back employment income in many cases.
While some provinces, like Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia, have made improvements to their social assistance programs in recent years, this is still not enough to guarantee dignity to persons with disabilities in these provinces.
In this context, there is an urgent need for provincial and territorial governments to boost their own disability benefits and other support programs as well as address the programmatic designs that lead to clawbacks and powerful work disincentives. At a minimum, these governments should follow those that have already signalled they will support the CDB and will not claw it back.
Poverty as a policy choice
In the context of the adoption of the Canada Disability Benefit Act, disability organizations and advocates have pointed to the fact that poverty is a policy choice, what some of them called “legislated poverty.” Considering this, one could claim that every province and territory has implicitly chosen poverty for those Canadians with disabilities who rely on social assistance programs.
To address the limitations of our safety net for persons with disabilities, there is much that we can do collectively. First and foremost, for Canada to achieve its poverty reduction targets, it must treat these questions seriously, not just as administrative or constitutional competency matters, even if these should be addressed by policymakers.
Second, while the federal government and the provinces/territories need to fund more social protection programs, they also might want to take a hard look at the root causes of poverty, including ableism and social and economic exclusion of persons with disabilities.
Overall, Canada should aim for ambitious poverty reduction targets that really seek to promote inclusion and employment opportunities for all, including persons with disabilities. While doing so, elected officials should keep in mind that they have a say in the matter, as at the end of the day, poverty is a policy choice. Their choice.
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