Michael Prince knew almost immediately when the new Canada Disability Benefit was announced in the 2024 federal budget that he would resign from the committee that advises the minister of diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities.
“It wasn’t too hard of a decision to make, quite frankly,” Prince said Monday afternoon. The University of Victoria professor began writing a resignation letter to Minister Kamal Khera hours after the budget was released.
Prince’s decision came after the government announced it was allocating $6.1 billion over six years, beginning in 2025-26, for the new Canada Disability Benefit. The benefit is a new financial benefit for low-income working-age Canadians with disabilities.
According to the 2024 budget, the most a person could receive from the Canada Disability Benefit is $2,400 a year, or $200 a month. Only people who qualify for the Disability Tax Credit are eligible. The budget estimates 600,000 Canadians will receive it.
Twenty-seven per cent of Canadians 15-years-old and older — eight million people — have one or more disabilities, according to the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability. Data from 2021 shows that 16 per cent of Canadians with disabilities — about 1.5 million people — live in poverty.
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The details of the new Canada Disability Benefit left Prince discouraged and despondent, he says.
