This opinion piece by Neil Hetherington, CEO, Daily Bread Food Bank, was published in The Hill Times on January 29, 2025.
Our health-care system is in crisis. More than six million Canadians lack a family doctor, and front-line workers are declaring widespread burnout. There are multiple, complex ripple effects of this collapse, but one outcome is certain: people with disabilities are being forced to pay a high price.
Advocates have long called for the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) to be an avenue for addressing the poverty experienced by 16.5 per cent of Canadians with disabilities—more than 1.5 million people. Yet, the current structure of the CDB forces individuals with disabilities to navigate an already-strained health-care system just for a chance to receive up to $6.66 per day.
This is not just a health-care crisis; it’s also an indictment of a government that has failed to live up to the promise of its own legislation, leaving vulnerable Canadians to fend for themselves.
Consider this: applicants for the CDB must obtain a Disability Tax Credit (DTC) certificate, a burdensome process requiring certification from a medical practitioner. The Ontario Medical Association estimates it takes three hours to fill out a single DTC application. If all Canadians with disabilities living in poverty applied to see if they qualify for the CDB, up to 4.5 million hours of doctors’ time would be spent on applications, rather than treating patients.
It is bureaucratic absurdity to demand proof of disability from those who have already done so for provincial programs. To support this redundant act, the government has set aside $243-million to cover the costs of these unnecessary reassessments. At a time when administrative burdens are exacerbating our health-care crisis, this requirement is not only inefficient, but also deeply unjust.
In return for navigating these hurdles, the CDB offers a current maximum of just $200 per month. This amount won’t come close to covering rising rent, skyrocketing grocery bills, or even a single meal in most Canadian cities. In Toronto alone, people with disabilities accounted for one-quarter of the 3.49 million client visits to food banks last year.
The inadequacy of the CDB as currently designed is part of a broader pattern of falling short on the goal to meaningfully alleviate poverty for those with disabilities. Provincial supports like the Ontario Disability Support Program provide a maximum of $1,368 per month for a single-person household—more than $1,000 below Toronto’s poverty line, and less than half of the disability-adjusted poverty line of $3,177.
Daily Bread Food Bank, alongside a coalition of more than 40 food banks, disability, and social service organizations, has been urging the government to address these flaws before the CDB takes effect in June 2025. However, with the prorogation of Parliament, the future for individuals with disabilities remains as unclear and volatile as ever.
Amid the intensifying Liberal Party leadership race, and an imminent federal election, addressing the root causes of affordability and poverty must be central to all legislative priorities and platforms. Candidates across parties must ensure that their solutions do not exacerbate the challenges already crippling our healthcare system. Tackling these issues is not only a moral imperative, but also a practical necessity—especially when we consider Canada’s domestic and international human rights obligations to ensure basic dignity, particularly for those facing systemic barriers.
The CDB is a measure that is fundamentally about human rights. By broadening its restrictive eligibility criteria and offering a clear roadmap for increases to CDB funding in order to bring people with disabilities above the poverty line, the next government can demonstrate a genuine commitment to ensuring dignity and agency for our most vulnerable. Anything less perpetuates systemic inequities, and undermines the dignity of millions of Canadians.
People with disabilities deserve more than empty promises and bureaucratic obstacles. Health-care workers deserve relief from unnecessary administrative burdens. Canadians deserve a future in which affordability is not aspirational, but guaranteed.
The CDB has the potential to pave the way toward that future, and federal candidates have the unique opportunity to make this a cornerstone of their platforms. It’s time for our leaders to step up, focus on what truly matters, and put the well-being of every citizen at the forefront—where it belongs.
Join our call for a stronger Canada Disability Benefit by visiting fundthebenefit.ca.
