With summer here, many Canadians across the country are planning vacations. They are purchasing plane and train tickets and preparing packing lists.
But for some Canadians, there is a quieter, far less comfortable reality unfolding behind closed doors.
For many people with disabilities, summer vacations are not defined by opportunities, but by impossible choices — between paying rent or buying groceries, between keeping the lights on or filling a prescription.
The rising cost of living is a dominant concern nationally, but its impact is not felt equally. Inflation has driven up the price of basic necessities — food, housing, electricity and medication — at a pace that far outstrips income supports for the most vulnerable.
About 27 per cent of people in Canada live with a disability. Many have a hard time earning money, as individuals with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed. As a result, many rely on fixed or limited incomes that have not kept up with rising costs.
On top of this, individuals with disabilities often face extra costs for things like specialized diets, mobility aids and essential medications.
For all these reasons, individuals with disabilities are more than twice as likely to live in poverty compared to those without disabilities.
In this context, the Canada Disability Benefit was introduced with the promise of reducing poverty and improving financial security for individuals. Yet in its current form, the promise remains an illusion.
The benefit is $204.20 a month, or roughly $6.71 a day — a figure that is not only inadequate but, frankly, disconnected from the lived reality of those it is meant to support.
An additional $6.71 a day is not enough to cover an extra meal, let alone contribute meaningfully to rent, utilities or essential medicines.
When budgets don’t stretch far enough, these essential goods get sacrificed. Skipping medication, delaying treatment or rationing doses becomes a coping mechanism — one with serious, long-term consequences.
On top of this, many people with disabilities are unable to even access the $6.71 a day the Canada Disability Benefit offers, because the government has imposed many hurdles to accessing it.
These include having to first apply for the Disability Tax Credit; having to find a family doctor who will fill out the application; and paying the doctor to complete it.
Put simply, the Canada Disability Benefit remains too small, too restrictive and too difficult to access for many who need it most.
As a minimum starting point, the Canada Disability Benefit should be $1,393 a month, or about $45.80 a day.
This amount would be in line with the Guaranteed Income Supplement that low-income seniors receive, but adjusted to reflect the higher costs associated with living with a disability. The benefit should also be slated to increase in line with the rising cost of living.
If Canada is serious about reducing poverty and promoting inclusion, then its approach must be bolder and more responsive to actual needs.
No one should have to choose between rent and medication. No one should face hunger in a country of such abundance. And no one should be left behind by policies that ignore the realities of everyday life.
If the federal government is serious about building a strong Canada, it must include people with disabilities in that vision.
