What Happened?
This week, more than 150 organizations from across Canada signed a joint statement, published by Maytree, asking the federal government to rethink how it decides who counts as disabled. You can read it here: More than 150 organizations call for a new approach to defining disability in Canada. It would be easy to file this under technical policy. It isn't. How a government defines disability decides who gets through the door, and right now the main door is badly built.
Why?
A tax credit was never meant to be a gatekeeper The Disability Tax Credit (DTC) was created almost 40 years ago as modest tax relief. Today it does far more than that. It is the gateway to the Canada Disability Benefit, the Registered Disability Savings Plan, and more than a dozen other federal programs. A growing number of provincial and territorial programs also rely on it. The trouble is that the DTC was designed to answer a tax question, not a human rights question. Its test is narrow and medical. It depends on a doctor or other practitioner filling out a form in the right language. The Canada Revenue Agency runs it, which is not where most people go for support.
People Left Out
The results speak for themselves. According to Statistics Canada figures cited in the statement, fewer than one in six people with disabilities access the DTC. Even among people with very severe disabilities, only about one in three do. That means hundreds of thousands of people who should qualify for federal supports are not receiving them.
Too Many Definitions, Too Many Assessments
The DTC is not the only problem. The DTC, CPP Disability and veterans programs each use their own definition of disability and their own eligibility rules. A person can be assessed again and again, by different programs, for the same impairment.
Provincial Hoops as Well
Then the provinces and territories add their own layers. Every province runs its own disability assistance program, and each one has its own definition of disability, its own medical forms and its own adjudicators. Some focus on whether a person can work. Some ask whether the disability is expected to last a certain length of time. Some have recently changed their definitions, or split one program into two with different tests. A person who moves from one province to another may have to prove their disability all over again.
Here is where it gets circular. Provincial assistance programs usually require people to apply for any other income they may be entitled to, including the Canada Disability Benefit. To get the Canada Disability Benefit, they need DTC approval. So a person whom their province has already assessed as having a severe disability may then have to go through a separate federal tax process to prove the same thing. Many never make it through. What the organizations are asking for
The Ask
The statement proposes two paths, and both matter. A new, rights-based system. The organizations want Ottawa to use the definition in the Accessible Canada Act as the starting point. That definition recognizes that disability can be physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory. It can be permanent, temporary or episodic, and visible or not. Crucially, it focuses on how an impairment interacts with barriers to limit a person's full participation in society. The statement also calls for a central process for recognizing disability status that sits outside the tax system.
One recommendation stands out. The organizations want federal disability certification extended automatically to people already receiving disability benefits through provincial or territorial social assistance. For people across the country already found eligible by their province, that change could remove the biggest barrier to the Canada Disability Benefit. Immediate fixes to the DTC. A new system will take years.
In the meantime, the statement asks for:
a plain-language application formdirect payment to medical practitioners for completing the certificationfewer unnecessary temporary approvals, and simpler renewalsan option for supported decision-makingmore funding for disability benefit navigation- Nothing about us without us The statement insists that any reform be designed together with people with disabilities. That is not a slogan. Every barrier described above was built by people who did not have to live with it. A process designed by the people it is meant to serve will look very different.
What You Can Do
Read the statement and share it.Talk to your MP. The DTC and the Canada Disability Benefit are federal. Ask your MP whether they support automatic certification for people already on provincial or territorial disability assistance.Apply for the DTC if you haven't. Even with all its flaws, it remains the gateway. If you've been refused, a refusal is often not the end.Tell your story. Policymakers respond to real experiences. If the DTC process has kept you or someone you support from benefits, say so.
Across the country, provinces keep redrawing who counts as disabled enough for support. This statement reminds us that the definition of disability is not a fixed medical fact. It is a choice governments make. It can be made better.
This article provides general information about the law in Alberta and is not legal advice. Every situation is different. Reading this article does not create a lawyer-client relationship. For advice about your circumstances, contact Andrew Green Law.