Question Period Note: THE CANADA DISABILITY BENEFIT

What will the GoC do to ensure the CDB is adequate to address the level of poverty among working age persons with disabilities? What is the GoC doing to engage provinces and territories to ensure no clawbacks? How has the disability community been engaged in the regulatory development process?

• As the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion, and Persons with Disabilities, I am laser focused on bringing this crucial new benefit to a reality. I know the need is so great.

• As you know, Budget 2024 committed funding of $6.1 billion over six years, beginning in 2024 to 2025, and $1.4 billion per year ongoing, to the Canada Disability Benefit. This was a historic first step to begin addressing the long-standing poverty amongst working age persons with disabilities.

• The Budget also included our commitment to begin providing payments to eligible Canadians starting in July 2025, following successful completion of the regulatory process and consultations with persons with disabilities. As well, the Budget announced funding for community- based navigation services to improve awareness and take-up of federal, provincial and territorial programs available to working-age Canadians with disabilities, and to help cover the costs of the medical forms required to apply for the Disability Tax Credit

• On June 29, 2024, the draft benefit regulations were published for public comment in the Canada Gazette – they will be up until late September. The publication of the draft regulations has moved us one step forward toward making this benefit a reality. To ensure the disability community is engaged, we’ve held a number of information sessions on the draft regulations.

• Since the publication of the draft regulations, we have also been able to substantively engage with provinces and territories and I am pleased to share that the discussions have been positive and productive.

• Officials in my department have actively and repeatedly engaged Modern Treaty and Self-Government partners and National Indigenous Organizations to inform the design of the Benefit, and to better understand the perspectives and considerations of Indigenous persons with disabilities in Canada.

On June 2, 2022, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough, reintroduced in the House of Commons the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) Act, Bill C-22. The Act was framework legislation, establishing the benefit and enshrining the main objective of the benefit which is to reduce poverty and support the financial security of working-age Canadians with disabilities by supplementing existing income support measures, such as provincial and territorial social assistance. The details of the Benefit were to follow in regulations.

The Canada Disability Benefit Act received Royal Assent on June 22, 2023. The benefit is a key component of Canada’s first-ever Disability Inclusion Action Plan. The Action Plan, which was released in 2022, is a blueprint for change to make Canada more inclusive of persons with disabilities based on the principles of equality, anti-discrimination, participation and inclusion in the development of our programs and policies.

Budget 2024 proposed a number of key commitments for the Canada Disability Benefit:
• funding of $6.1 billion over six years, beginning in 2024 to 2025, and $1.4 billion per year ongoing, including costs to deliver the Benefit
• a commitment to begin providing payments for the Canada Disability Benefit to eligible Canadians starting in July 2025, following successful completion of the regulatory process and consultations with persons with disabilities
• funding for ongoing community-based navigation services to improve awareness and take-up of federal, provincial, and territorial programs available to working-age Canadians with disabilities, including the Canada Disability Benefit
• funding to cover the cost of the medical forms required to apply for the Disability Tax Credit, to help ensure access to the Benefit for eligible Canadians and to help address financial barriers associated with benefit take-up

Engagement:

Disability Community

Building on engagement of the disability community to inform the development of the Canada Disability Benefit since 2021, shortly following Royal Assent of the Canada Disability Benefit Act in June 2023, the Government launched a two phase engagement process to inform the development of the benefit regulations. Phase 1, which featured ministerial and technical roundtables and bilateral meetings as well as an online engagement tool, was completed in February 2024; over 5,000 pieces of input were received. Phase 2 of the engagement process began with the publication of the draft regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette on June 29, 2024. The regulations will be open for public comment for 86 days, until September 23, 2024.

Provinces and Territories

Provincial and Territorial (P/T) governments are critical partners in developing the CDB. Bilateral and multilateral engagement at all levels with provinces and territories has been ongoing. Between November 2023 and June 2024, bilateral engagements at the Ministerial level took place with P/T counterparts with five of the meetings taking place before the Budget 2024 announcement which provided funding details on the CDB.
There have been two FPT Deputy Ministers Responsible Social Services since the April 2024 Budget announcement with a third being planned for September 2024. A FPT Minister’s Responsible for Social Services meeting is planned for September 2024, during the consultation period on the proposed regulations.

Departmental officials have also been engaging bilaterally and multilaterally with their P/T counterparts to undertake technical discussions to support P/Ts’ work in determining treatment of the CDB, and to seek to avoid potential negative interactions.

Modern Treaties

In fall 2022, ESDC sent letters to holders of Modern Treaties and Self-Government agreements to request their input into the design and delivery of the CDB.

In fall 2023, following the publication of the CDB regulations online engagement tool, Modern Treaty and Self-Government partners (MT/SGAs) and National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs) were notified about the engagement tool and invited to participate.
In January 2024, MT/SGAs were provided a discussion guide on the proposed Canada Disability Benefit Regulations and were invited to submit input in writing or through bilateral discussions with ESDC officials. In July 2024, MT/SGAs and NIOs were sent information on the publication of the draft CDB regulations in Part I of the Canada Gazette and invited to share input via the online link or through bilateral discussions with ESDC officials. ESDC will continue to actively engage MT/SGAs and NIOs on the Canada Disability Benefit.

Consistent with Article 32 of the Nunavut Agreement, ESDC has communicated with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc (NTI) throughout the development of the Canada Disability Benefit.

Note that the Canada Disability Benefit Act lays out a few requirements and timelines:
• “The Minister must provide persons with disabilities from a range of backgrounds with meaningful and barrier-free opportunities to collaborate in the development and design of the regulations, including regulations that provide for the application process, eligibility criteria, the amount of a benefit and the appeal process.”
• The Act came into force on June 22, 2024.
• Progress reports on the engagement of the disability community and the development of the regulations must be submitted to Parliament by December 22, 2024 and June 22, 2025.
• The requirement to make regulations by June 2025 and in turn, the regulations will then set a date on which they take effect.
• Parliament reviews: first anniversary of the coming into force; third anniversary of the coming into force; then, every five years thereafter.

If Pressed
Disability Community Engagement
• We have heard from the disability community that the benefit amount is too small and that they are concerned about the application process and the need to have qualified for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to receive the benefit. We recognize these issues but I want to reiterate that the amount committed to the Canada Disability Benefit is a first and a significant step in addressing the issue of poverty amongst working age persons with disabilities.

• As well, using structures already in place, such as the DTC, will allow us to get the Benefit out as soon as possible in a nationally-consistent way to people who so desperately need it. We are committed to look at alternative approaches to determining eligibility and enhancing the application process benefit as we move forward.

P/T Engagement
• Departmental officials are working closely with their PT counterparts to support their analysis of potential interactions between the CDB and PT programs and supports, and to work through complex issues.

• The federal government’s goal is to work with our partners in the provinces and territories to minimize any negative interactions between the new benefit and their existing disability supports, so that persons with disabilities get the maximum value from the new benefit.

Indigenous Engagement
• In July 2024, ESDC advised all Modern Treaty and Self-Government partners and National Indigenous Organizations about the launch of official consultations on the proposed Canada Disability Benefit Regulations in the Canada Gazette and invited them to comment online, in writing or in person in bilateral meetings.

• My officials will continue to actively engage Indigenous Partners on the Canada Disability Benefit because of the important perspectives they provide from coast to coast to coast, and because of the impact that the CDB will have on the lives of persons with disabilities in Canada, including Indigenous persons with disabilities.

Key Quotes
Budget 2024 laid out the Government’s commitment to fund the Canada Disability Benefit and begin payment in July 2025.I know the disability community is counting on us to make the Canada Disability Benefit a reality. As the new Minister of Diversity, Inclusion, and Persons with Disabilities, this is my top priority.