Question Period Note: CANADA DISABILITY BENEFIT

What is the current status of the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB)? What is the Government doing to engage provinces and territories to ensure no clawbacks? What is the Government doing to address the cost of Disability Tax Credit (DTC) medical fees? Is the Government still planning to exempt the CDB from being treated as income?

• In June 2025, the Government of Canada successfully launched the Canada Disability Benefit to support the financial security of working-age Canadians with disabilities. First payments began in July 2025.

• The Canada Disability Benefit provides a maximum of $2,400 per year to eligible low-income persons with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 64. So far, hundreds of thousands of Canadians have received payments.

• To lower barriers to accessing the Canada Disability Benefit, Budget 2025 announced that the government will offset the costs of applying for the Disability Tax Credit by providing a supplemental Canada Disability Benefit payment of $150 for each Disability Tax Credit certification or re-certification resulting in entitlement to the benefit. Work is underway to amend the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations to enable the supplemental payment to be made before the end of 2026-27.

IF PRESSED (DTC Costs and the Canada Disability Benefit)

Budget 2025:
• Budget 2025 proposes funding of $115.7 million over four years, beginning in 2026-27, and $10.1 million per year ongoing, for the supplemental payment of $150. These payments will be made to current and past recipients of the Canada Disability Benefit. Work is underway to amend the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations to enable the supplemental payment to be made as soon as possible.
• On November 18, 2025, the government introduced Bill C-15, Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, which includes an amendment to the Income Tax Act to exempt the Canada Disability Benefit from being treated as income. Once Bill C-15 is passed, Canada Disability Benefit payments will not have to be reported on a recipient’s income tax return starting in the 2025 tax year. This will help Canadians keep the full value of their benefits, including other federal income-tested benefits and programs such as the Canada Child Benefit.

Engagement with provinces and territories:
• Provinces and territories play a critical role in providing supports to Canadians with disabilities. While recognizing that provincial and territorial authorities are ultimately responsible for determining how their programs will treat the Canada Disability Benefit, the federal government has called on them to exempt Canada Disability Benefit payments from counting as income in relation to provincial or territorial supports. We continue to engage with them on the Canada Disability Benefit, with the goal of maximizing the benefit’s impact.

Alberta:
• We are disappointed that the Government of Alberta has decided to claw back the Canada Disability Benefit from their social assistance benefits, including under its Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program. We will continue to engage with Alberta and we urge them to reconsider their position, or to reinvest the funds into programs that will directly benefit persons with disabilities.
• We are very pleased that several provinces and territories have indicated publicly that they will allow the Canada Disability Benefit to supplement their social assistance benefits.

Indigenous Engagement:
• My officials actively engaged 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 Canada Disability Benefit will have on the lives of persons with disabilities in Canada, including Indigenous persons with disabilities.

Legislation and regulations

The Canada Disability Benefit Act came into force on June 22, 2024. As the framework legislation for the Canada Disability Benefit (CBD), the Act enshrines the main objective of the benefit, which is to reduce poverty and support the financial security of working-age Canadians with disabilities. The Canada Disability Benefit Regulations, which set out key details of the benefit including eligibility and amount, came into force on May 15, 2025. The disability community was extensively engaged at all phases of the regulatory process, which began in 2023.

To help offset the costs of applying for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC), the government announced in Budget 2025 that it will offset the costs of applying for the DTC by providing a supplemental payment of $150 for each DTC certification or re-certification resulting in CDB entitlement. These payments will be made to current and past CDB recipients and are expected to be paid before the end of 2026-27, following the successful completion of a regulatory process to amend the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations.

On November 18, 2025, the government introduced Bill C-15, Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1 which includes an amendment to the Income Tax Act to exempt the CDB from being treated as income. This will help ensure CDB recipients keep the full value of their benefits, including other federal income-tested benefits and programs such as the Canada Child Benefit. On December 10, 2025, Bill C-15 passed the second reading stage and was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance.

Supportive Measures

Fourteen community-based organizations across Canada are currently funded by the government to provide accessible, individualized navigation services to help navigate federal, provincial and territorial disability benefits, including the Disability Tax Credit and the CDB. These organizations reduce and mitigate barriers by providing one-on-one services, free of charge, to support individuals with disabilities and their families as they navigate all stages of an application for benefits, including support through any appeals.

Provinces and Territories

Provincial and territorial (PT) governments are critical partners in the implementation of the CDB. Bilateral and multilateral engagement at all levels with provinces and territories has been ongoing.

Engagement with PTs began in summer 2021 with a meeting of Federal, Provincial and Territorial (FPT) Ministers Responsible for Social Services (MRSS) where the former Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion (EWDDI) communicated the purpose of the CDB and the expectation that it would supplement, not replace, existing PT disability benefits

In September 2024, a Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Social Services Forum meeting took place. After this meeting, Ministers released a joint communiqué in which they welcomed the opportunity to discuss the benefit and agreed that the social and financial inclusion of persons with disabilities are top priorities. Ministers highlighted the importance of respecting PT programs and ensuring equitable and simple access for those most in need.

Since then, several provinces and territories shared additional feedback on the design of the Benefit with the federal Minister. While the responses of PTs to the Benefit have generally been constructive and positive and several PTs have publicly confirmed they will not claw back the CDB, the Government of Alberta has chosen to claw back the CDB from its social assistance programs, in particular Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH).

Modern Treaties and National Indigenous Organizations

ESDC engaged Indigenous partners including Modern Treaty and Self-Government agreement partners and National Indigenous Organizations throughout the development of the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations. Consistent with Article 32 of the Nunavut Agreement, ESDC communicated with Nunavut Tunngavik Inc (NTI) throughout the development of the CDB. All Indigenous partners were notified of the publication of the final regulations in March 2025. The notification included an invitation to meet bilaterally with ESDC officials.

Progress reports

The Canada Disability Benefit Act requires that two progress reports on engagement with the disability community and the development of the regulations be tabled in Parliament. The first was tabled on December 12, 2024. The second was tabled on June 16, 2025 in the House of Commons and June 17, 2025 in the Senate.

• Working-age persons with disabilities are less likely to be able to earn income through employment compared to other working-age Canadians and are almost twice as likely to be living in poverty.