Canada Disability Benefit regulations need your improvements by September 23rd!

Here is quick guide to help you improve the Canada Disability Benefit! 

Post directly to the Canada Gazette website by September 23rd, 2024, as your comments will also become public. The Gazette website is the most common way to share your thoughts however, you may also send an email, video or by mail: 

• By email: edsc.pcph-cdb.esdc@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
• By video: use the email above to send us a link to a recorded video of your comments
• By mail:
• Canada Gazette, Part I, Canada Disability Benefit Regulations c/o Office for Disability Issues, Employment and Social Development Canada, 105 rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, 1st floor Gatineau, QC J8X 4H7

Instagram Best Canada Disability Benefit draft regulations July 2024 (Instagram Post) by Disability Action Hall

Feedback on the draft rules for the Canada Disability Benefit due September 23, 2024

The draft rules to help Canadians with disabilities pay for the higher living costs are out for public feedback.  

We made a 2-page infographic guide to help readers read through "the summary" of the rules, which are also in plain text below the image.  

We also created this short video if you like to see each regulation on a single slide.

Once you have read the guide, post directly to the Canada Gazette website by September 23rd, 2024, your comments will also become public. 

The Gazette website is the most common way to share your thoughts however, you may also send an email, video or by mail: 

• By email: edsc.pcph-cdb.esdc@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
• By video: use the email above to send us a link to a recorded video of your comments
• By mail:
• Canada Gazette, Part I, Canada Disability Benefit Regulations c/o Office for Disability Issues, Employment and Social Development Canada, 105 rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, 1st floor Gatineau, QC J8X 4H7
• 
  

 Click here to zoom into the guide for the Canada Disability Benefit draft regulations July 2024 

(By the Disability Action Hall)

Link to the draft regulations to post comments.
Link to a summary of the draft regulations (Plain text copied below) 

Introduction
Definitions
Proposed eligibility requirements

• be a resident of Canada (for the purposes of the Income Tax Act)

• have a valid Disability Tax Credit certificate

• be between the ages of 18 and 64

• have filed an income tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency for the previous tax year. For example, to receive benefits for the July 2025 to June 2026 payment period, the person must have filed a return for the 2024 tax year

• a Canadian citizen

• a permanent resident

• a protected person

• a temporary resident who has lived in Canada for the past 18 months

• someone who is registered or entitled to be registered under the Indian Act

Incarcerated persons
Applying for the Canada Disability Benefit

• Online: An application that could be completed and submitted online

• Hard copy: A paper application that could be printed out and completed by hand. The completed application could then be mailed to Service Canada or dropped off at a Service Canada Centre

• In person: An applicant could visit their nearest Service Canada Centre. A staff member would help them fill out and submit the application

• By phone: An applicant could call Service Canada and a staff member would help them complete the application. The application could then be mailed or dropped off at a Service Canada Centre

Proposed benefit amount
Income thresholds

• $23,000 if the beneficiary is single

• $32,500 if the beneficiary is married or has a common-law partner

• the benefit would be reduced by 10 cents for each person for every dollar of the couple's income that is above $32,500

Working income exemption

• If the beneficiary is single: The exempt amount would be $10,000

• If the beneficiary is married or has a common-law partner: The exempt amount for the couple's combined employment income would be $14,000

Adjusting for inflation
Changes in marital status

• getting married

• entering a common-law relationship

• getting divorced or separated

• being widowed (their spouse or partner died)

Start of benefit payments
Death of a beneficiary
Representative

• complete the benefit application

• receive the benefit for the beneficiary

• request that a decision be reconsidered

• appeal a decision

Requesting a reconsideration
Appealing a reconsideration decision

• Department of Employment and Social Development Act

• Tax Court of Canada Act

• Federal Courts Act

Compliance and enforcement
Financial penalties

• knowingly make false or misleading representations on an application

• apply for and receive a benefit while knowing they are not eligible to receive it

• first violation: 15% of the yearly maximum

• subsequent violations: 50% of the yearly maximum

• $360 for a first violation, and

• $1,200 for any subsequent violation

Summary offences

• knowingly use false identity information, or another person's identity information, to obtain a benefit for themselves

• counsel a person to apply for a benefit for the purpose of stealing all or a substantial part of the benefit

• knowingly make false or misleading representations on an application

Overpayments
Coming into force
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2024-06-28

The Canada Disability Benefit Act received Royal Assent (became law) on June 22, 2023. This Act serves as a framework for the new Canada Disability Benefit.

This benefit is being created to reduce poverty and support the financial security of working-age people with disabilities. The Canada Disability Benefit Regulations will make it possible for the benefit to be paid. Payments are expected to begin in July 2025.

The following is a summary of the proposed regulations. This summary is not a legal document and is not intended for use in interpreting the regulations.

An applicant is a person who applies for the benefit. This includes a person who has an application made on their behalf.

A beneficiary is a person who has been approved to receive the benefit.

The payment period for the benefit is from July 1 to June 30 of the following year.

To receive the benefit, a person must:

Also, the person must be one of the following:

Anyone serving a sentence of imprisonment of two years or more in a federal penitentiary will not be eligible to receive the benefit while they are incarcerated (except for the first month they are incarcerated and the month they are released).

The proposed regulations allow Service Canada to design the application process. Once the regulations are finalized, there will be several ways to apply. These methods will be tested first to ensure they are accessible for people with disabilities.

A person could be authorized to complete an application for someone else using any of the above methods. However, they would need to provide documents to Service Canada to show they have the legal authority to act on behalf of the applicant. They would also need to confirm their identity.

The maximum amount of the benefit for the July 2025 to June 2026 payment period would be $2,400 ($200 per month). The actual amount a person would receive would depend on their income and the income of their spouse or common-law partner, if any.

The benefit would be reduced by 20 cents for every dollar of income that is above:

If both members of a couple are beneficiaries:

A certain amount of work income would be exempt from (not counted in) the calculation of a person's income.

The maximum benefit amount and the income thresholds and working income exemption amounts would be adjusted each payment period to account for inflation, as determined by changes in the Consumer Price Index.

If a beneficiary's marital status changes during a payment period, the amount they receive would be recalculated. Changes include:

The benefit would be payable to a person starting the month after the month that their application was approved.

Eligible individuals would be able to get up to 24 months of retroactive payments when they apply. These are payments for past months where an individual was eligible but did not apply for the benefit. There will be no payments for months prior to July 2025.

If a beneficiary dies, their heirs or estate would be eligible to receive a benefit payment for the month in which the beneficiary died (unless the beneficiary already received the payment for that month).

This is someone who acts on behalf of an applicant or beneficiary who is unable to manage their own affairs. A representative can:

A representative is a legal representative such as a guardian or trustee. If a beneficiary who is unable to manage their own affairs does not have a legal representative, Service Canada could agree to pay the benefit to someone else for the beneficiary.

If someone disagrees with a decision about their eligibility for the benefit or the amount of their benefit, they can ask for the decision to be reconsidered. In general, individuals will have 180 days from the day they find out about the decision to ask for a reconsideration. In some cases, they may be given more time.

If a person disagrees with a reconsideration decision, they will be able to appeal the decision to the Social Security Tribunal. If part of the appeal has to do with income, the Social Security Tribunal will refer that part to the Tax Court of Canada.

Note: The appeal-related sections of the regulations will work together with changes made in the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1. These changes affect the following:

The proposed Canada Disability Benefit regulations include ways to help ensure the benefit goes only to those who are eligible. For example, the government could ask applicants and beneficiaries (or their representatives) to provide additional documents or other information.

These are also known as administrative monetary penalties. An individual can receive a financial penalty if they do the following:

These acts are called violations. The size of the penalty is based on the yearly maximum amount of the benefit, as follows:

For example, based on a yearly maximum amount of $2,400, the amounts would be:

No one would receive a penalty if they just made a mistake because they thought they were eligible for the benefit.

Under the proposed regulations, it is an offence to do any of the following:

Under the Criminal Code, individuals convicted of a summary offence can receive a fine of up to $5,000 and/or a term of imprisonment of up to 2 years.

The proposed regulations state that a person cannot be charged with an offence if they already received a financial penalty under the Canada Disability Benefit Act for the same action.

The proposed regulations allow the government to recover overpayments. This is when someone is given more of the benefit than they were eligible to receive.

After they are finalized, the regulations will come into force once they are signed by the Governor General and are registered (added to the government's list of regulations).

Link to post your comments on the Canada Disability Benefit regulations (Canada Gazette)

Calgary's 30 year Plan Phase 3

The City of Calgary is asking for feedback on phase 3 by July 24th for the 30-year municipal development plan. This plan helps us consider how our city will look when we reach about 2.1 million people in 2051. 

To have your say, visit this link. 

To view our vision, visit our PDF, which includes quotes about what kind of place we would like to live in by 2051. 

Here is what we said: 

Members of the Disability Action Hall looked at Calgary’s 30-year plan's three goals (People, environment, and economy) but found the plan document too long and overwhelming. We found that the top nine priorities (found on page 27) overlapped with our vision of the future.

Below are statements of what kind of city we would like to live in when we are 2 million people in 2051, with the relevant priorities identified.

 

Overall, the plan’s priorities left us concerned, given that many of us will be seniors at that time, about the accessibility of our city and connecting with people and places we care about. While a single-family home may be a design of the past, we are concerned about the social isolation we may all feel from being in the current design of high towers and townhomes far away from good sources of food, medical care, support, friends, nature and transit. We want to be able to visit our friends who may live across the city, and having an excellent public transit system is a part of that solution, as it will be challenging for us to operate a car safely in a high-density city.

 

In summary, we all agreed on the following statement:

 

“More safe, accessible, affordable housing near transit and services (complete communities building around transit).” Kathleen (Priority 1, 3, 4 and 7)

 

 

We want to live in places full of nature, not necessarily concrete towers with poor air quality and disconnected from clean water sources. When we set out to build high-quality density, higher-density housing will also require a two-to-three-bedroom home to offset the costs of ownership and a place for our caregivers and family members to share accommodation. It is not realistic for many of us to own a home, and rental properties need to consider multi-generational members living together to help us live safely and as independently as we can.

 

“Housing needs to feel like a home, not transitional housing; it has gardens and community rooms, accessible homes with nursing staff nearby, and you are in your own home.”  – Bruce (Priority 7 and 8)

 

One of our Hall members who has been on holiday in an intentional community known as Spring Creek said that is where they see themselves living as seniors…

 

“Communities with housing community built around centers. I really like staying at the condo in Canmore’s Spring Creek. There is a place for community. It is nice, with many enjoyable pathways and walkways. It is like a vacation, yet many basic needs stores are nearby. I want to live there. In present-day Calgary, the Co-Op and Safeway are not walkable in Crescent Heights. It is important to have access to Calgary Transit. Having hours that reflect my desire to enjoy arts and culture is critical. For instance, Calgary Transit Access will not take me to the Arts Commons after 8 pm. I also want to be able to buy my low-income transit pass at the store of my choice versus outing myself as a person on a fixed income at the leisure center. Dignity is important.” – Mary (Priority 4, 7, 8 and 9)

 

Sometimes, it is an excellent money-saving idea to limit where public transit drops off people, but it also reduces safety for people who rely on Calgary Transit Access. Welcoming street furniture helps create safety. We need to increase the transportation drop-off points at community hubs, especially making it easy to get to medical services and pharmacies. We also need to have a place to wait that is clean, dry, and safe.

 

“We need access to medical services in our communities.  I want Calgary Transit Access to drop me off and other clients at the door of their choice. Places should have benches for people to wait for their transit and weather-protected accessible shelters. They took away the benches at Marlborough Mall at the Pharmacy. It doesn’t make sense to get my prescription and walk very far. We need to expand the door choices for Calgary Transit Access; for now, Calgary Transit only drops off at Marlborough Walmart. I like to wait at the stores that are closer to get to, not just one drop off point that is congested and known as the busiest Walmart in Canada.” - Kavin (Priority 1,3, 4, and 5)

 

“Our City is so darn big that other than having more Max bus Routes, not just going downtown but to many parts (I can get to Edmonton faster than to a meeting), Calgary Transit should be going everywhere in the City and also have stronger inter-city provincial transit partnerships to live, work, and play in surrounding communities.” – Reggie (Priority 1,4 and 5)

 

“We need better transit to outlying areas and more Max Routes (rapid transit).”- Brad (Priority 1, 4 and 5)

 

One of our members talked about visiting a local pub. People with disabilities would like nightlife and to be greeted warmly by restaurant workers and owners. One person described how they felt more in the way than a customer. To improve our economy, we must provide greater education and financial support for businesses to become more accessible and aligned with the incoming ‘Alberta Accessibility Act.’

“We should have more accessible restaurants and bathrooms, welcoming businesses that treat people with dignity, not like you are in the way.”  - Alison (Priority 3, 8 and 9)

 

Calgary is a winter City. In present-day Calgary, just a few inches of heavy rain and snow may stop a person's ability to get outside altogether. We need a substantial investment in snow clearing and better construction detour plans that ensure people do not have to use the road. Wide bike paths would accommodate pedestrians, cyclists, scooters and people who use high-powered wheelchairs to get around. Some sidewalks are far too narrow to allow for multi-modal use; we are as important as a car and need a city designed for pedestrians with wayfinding features to get to the store and park all year. Our mixed industrial and residential areas are overlooked, yet they are close to the LRT; improving these areas for pedestrians will help the economy as people want to work in pedestrian-friendly industrial parks with plenty of green space and bike paths.

 

“We need for our city to be accessible all year, with snow clearing, great sidewalks/bike lanes, and curb cuts, even in industrial areas near transit. If a bus goes by, there better be a bike lane or accessible sidewalk, and the snow shovelled from sidewalks and wind rows.” – Colleen (Priority 3, 4 and 5)