This year marks 15 years since Canada ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Yet, the goal of living in a fully inclusive and accessible society remains elusive for Canadians with disabilities.
While there has been some progress — including the introduction of federal and provincial accessibility laws and a new national disability benefit (still to be rolled out) — barriers remain, putting the health and wellbeing of persons with disabilities and their families at risk.
It is time to break down the barriers, particularly at the provincial and territorial level, where fragmented disability policies impede people from accessing necessary programs and services and lead to inequities.
Our new report, Disability Policy in Canada: Provincial and Territorial Report, prepared for Kids Brain Health Network, outlines and compares provincial and territorial disability policies — and sounds the alarm on the significant gaps and inequities that exist across the country.
Currently, provinces and territories develop their own disability policies in silos from each other. This means the type and level of non-federal supports available to Canadians with disabilities is contingent upon where they live.
A striking example of this is that not all jurisdictions provide income support programs specifically designed for persons with disabilities. Even in those that do, the amount of support varies widely from province to province with many failing to keep up with the cost of living. For example, a single adult with a disability in Nova Scotia can receive up to $986 per month through the Income Assistance program and Disability Supplement, whereas a single adult with a disability in Alberta with the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program can receive up to $1,863 per month.
While all jurisdictions provide disability programs through their income tax systems, the type of tax-related programs, eligibility criteria and maximum amounts available differ. For example, adults with a disability in Saskatchewan can claim $10,405 on their income tax return for the disability amount, compared to an adult with a disability in Manitoba who can claim $6,180 (2023).
Gaps in accessibility legislation create further inequities. Some jurisdictions have yet to pass laws mandating targets for identifying, removing and preventing barriers to accessing goods, services, buildings and employment for persons with disabilities.
In provinces with accessibility laws, the results are mixed, with some provinces failing to meet legislated targets and timelines or enforce the law.
Included in the report are results from surveys and interviews of hundreds of parents and caregivers across Canada, who gave firsthand accounts of the barriers they face trying to access provincial and territorial disability programs.
One of the biggest challenges they cited was complex and lengthy application processes. Forms are often many pages long and demand detailed information requiring input from healthcare professionals.
Completing the paperwork is not only time consuming, it can be overwhelming and emotionally draining, as persons with disabilities or their caregivers are repeatedly asked to provide the same information about the disability for each program for which they apply.
Some families struggle to even find out which disability programs exist in their jurisdiction and how to apply for them. In some cases, families only find out about specific programs from talking to other parents.
Once do they find a program, they are confronted with lengthy delays. Across Canada, parents and caregivers raised concerns about long waitlists — in Ontario alone, over 60,000 children are on the waitlist for the province’s autism program.
The situation is so bad that children are sometimes on waiting lists for years and age out of programs before they access them, hindering their development and putting families under emotional and financial strain to find alternatives.
Income cut offs to qualify for disability programs that are too low or that fail to recognize the full costs of disability are another barrier. Families are often left scrambling to find additional dollars to obtain needed supports. In some cases, parents are forced to take second jobs.
In other situations, parents who are denied critical services or supports for their child with disabilities have no choice but to quit their job to care for their child.
Provincial and territorial governments need to urgently address these accessibility gaps, but they must do so in partnership — collaborating with each other to identify best practices and then implementing them across the country to eliminate inequities.
Canadians with disabilities have waited too long for a fully accessible and inclusive society.
Photo courtesy of Dj.092311, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
