"ADAP vs AISH: A smarter, more efficient path"

After five months of dialogue and review, the Disability Action Hall finds the proposed ADAP design principles risk causing more harm, higher costs, and added red tape. We recommend first passing the Alberta Accessibility Act and strengthening AISH.

We thank the Alberta government for the opportunity to participate in this consultation and look forward to the "What We Heard" report. Please find our submission titled "ADAP vs AISH: A smarter, more efficient path" Plain text version below.

ADAP vs AISH: a smarter more efficient path brief by Disability Action Hall  

ADAP means more bureaucracy, more costs, and more instability.

Fixing AISH is the common-sense, fiscally responsible solution.

ADAP vs. AISH: 
A Smarter, More Efficient Path

1. Strengthen AISH, 
Don’t Replace It with ADAP

• ADAP risks creating harm and instability.
• AISH is already established. 
• — fix what doesn’t work instead of reinventing the wheel.
• Income exemptions reward work and reduce dependence, rather than punishing people for earning more. (On average, it costs $3294* a month to maintain a modest standard of living, where 29% of AISH recipients reside in Calgary. (May 2024)

2. Cut Red Tape, Simplify Access

• Endless costly reapplications waste government resources, medical professionals’ time, and frustrate Albertans.
• Creating another program creates more red tape and delays essential support.
• Maintaining AISH’s stable social assistance rates costs taxpayers less, as evidence shows food bank use strongly predicts future homelessness.**
• Improving AISH means less paperwork, fewer delays, better accountability and tax dollar savings and less strain on an overwhelmed system.

3. Invest Upfront to Save 
on Health & Emergency Costs

• When people fall into poverty, taxpayers foot the bill for ER visits, homelessness programs, and crisis services.
• A stable, livable income prevents higher downstream costs. 
• Strengthening AISH is the fiscally responsible way to protect both vulnerable Albertans and taxpayers, as AISH falls $576 short**** of Calgary’s poverty market basket measure for 2024.

4. Smarter Job Supports,
Not One-Size-Fits-All Programs

• Job programs should connect people to work they can succeed in — not push them into dead-end or unsafe positions.
• Providing job coaches and flexible arrangements helps people become taxpayers, not long-term dependents.
• Alberta economist*** states, “Working with businesses expands access; controlling individuals takes it away.”

In summary...
ADAP creates more harm, increased costs, and red tape.
Fix the system first; pass the Alberta Accessibility Act and strengthen AISH.

www.actionhall.ca 

References for Policy Brief feedback for the ADAP Consultation, September 12^th, 2025

** Losing the Canada Disability Benefit means losing hope for many Albertans, (Survey results and policy recommendations brief), July 2025.

** Food Bank Use and Homelessness, School of Social Public Policy, June 2025.

*** The new Alberta assistance program will it fulfill its promises? G. Petite, August 15, 2025 

**** Statistics Canada, Market Basket Measure for Calgary, May 2025.