The Canada Disability Benefit should help disabled people access resources, not stigmatize them

Submission to the Office for Disability Issues Employment and Social Development Canada on Administrative Processes for the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB)

In December 2023, LEAF participated in a roundtable discussion with Employment and Social Development Canada regarding administrative processes for the Canada Disability Benefit.

LEAF has been involved in efforts to advocate for both a Canada Disability Benefit and a basic income to address longstanding issues of gender and racial socioeconomic inequality in Canada. In September 2021, LEAF released a report titled Basic Income, Gender & Disability authored by Dr. Sally A. Kimpson, RN, PhD. 

The CDB should reduce poverty, not exacerbate it

Disabled people are among the poorest living in Canada. Disabled women are significantly poorer than disabled men and their non-disabled counterparts.

The persistent fear of losing provincial and territorial benefits shapes the lives of disabled women and gender-diverse people. This anxiety produces vigilance. Everyday, disabled people have to strategize the most effective ways to ensure continuation of their benefits. It’s imperative that the CDB does not replicate this toxic dynamic; mechanisms to verify benefit compliance and recover overpayments must be as harm reductive as possible.

Through these submissions, LEAF adds its voice in solidarity with disability communities to emphasize that the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) must do no harm: Below is a PDF version of the full submission with 31 recommendations.