e-4988 (Social affairs and equality)

Budget 2024 committed funding of $6.1 billion over six years, beginning in 2024–2025, and $1.4 billion per year ongoing, for the Canada Disability Benefit. This would include costs to deliver the Benefit to eligible Canadians starting in July 2025, following successful completion of the regulatory process and consultations with persons with disabilities. The proposed design is based on a maximum benefit amount of $2,400 per year for low-income persons with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 64. The benefit will be paid directly to recipients, and not through provinces or territories.

This investment in the Canada Disability Benefit establishes an historic new support for persons with disabilities and fills a gap in the social safety net between the Canada Child Benefit and Old Age Security. The Benefit is designed to supplement, not replace, existing disability support programs. The Government aims to see the combined amount of federal and provincial or territorial income supports for persons with disabilities grow to the level of Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), to fundamentally address the rates of poverty experienced by persons with disabilities. As provincial and territorial governments are critical partners in the Canada Disability Benefit, the Government of Canada has engaged them at all levels, both bilaterally and multilaterally, since the July 2021 meeting of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Social Services and this engagement is ongoing.

The Benefit builds on the many other investments the Government of Canada has made in disability issues overall, including the Accessible Canada Act, the Canadian Dental Care Plan, and the federal Disability Inclusion Action Plan, which aims to improve the quality of life for Canadians with disabilities and includes: 

• About $1.7 billion per year to support persons with severe and prolonged mental and physical impairments through the Disability Tax Credit; 
• Up to $1,590 for an individual worker and up to $2,739 for a family through the Basic Canada Workers Benefit, and up to an additional $821 through the CWB Disability Supplement for a worker eligible for the Disability Tax Credit; 
• Ongoing support for the Registered Disability Savings Plan, which has helped 260,000 persons with disabilities save a total of $8.8 billion since 2008, to provide greater income security; 
• Over $800 million per year through Canada Disability Savings Grants and Bonds; 
• $722 million through the Workforce Development Agreements in 2024-25, approximately 30 per cent of which supports persons with disabilities with training, skills development, and work experience; 
• Over $650 million annually through more generous Canada Student Grants and Loans. Students with disabilities also have access to more generous repayment assistance, as well as loan forgiveness for those with severe permanent disabilities. 
• $105 million in 2024-25 to support the implementation of an employment strategy for persons with disabilities through the Opportunities Fund; and, 
• About $500 million per year through the Child Disability Benefit provided as a supplement to the Canada Child Benefit for parents of children with severe and prolonged disabilities, providing an average of approximately $3,000 in annual support.

To support three broad areas of social programs (i.e., post-secondary education, social assistance and social services, and early childhood development and early learning and childcare), the Government of Canada provides block funding to the provinces and territories through the Canada Social Transfer (CST).  

The CST is on a largely unconditional basis with the exception of minimum residency requirements in the provision of social assistance. The block funding structure gives provinces and territories greater flexibility in designing and administering programs. This recognizes that governments are accountable directly to their residents for their spending in their areas of responsibility.