While Canadians across the country are drastically adjusting their lifestyles to cope with the rising cost of living, many Canadians with disabilities say tight budgets have been their reality for years. and it just keeps getting worse.
Canada’s latest inflation rate, which rose to 8.1 percent in June, marks the biggest annual change since 1983. Statistics Canada shows that, on average in 2017, people with disabilities lived in households. Families spent 30% of their total income on housing, while the rest of the population spent 19.7%.
Affordable housing is the biggest concern for Alyson McCullough’s 24-year-old son. Her son, Dylan, paid more than half of his fixed income for a room, she said.
Dylan McCullough, who has been diagnosed with autism and schizophrenia, receives $1,160 a month in the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). The rent for his current home in Orillia, Ont., where he lives with some roommates, is $825 a month. Alyson said the money her son is now paying may have helped him get his own apartment a few years ago, but says his disability benefits haven’t kept pace with inflation.
She told CTVNews.ca in an August 8 phone interview: “I know we are also experiencing a housing shortage but people in crisis don’t have the ability to mobilize or protect for yourself really needs to be a priority. 28.
Rising food prices have also become a concern for many Canadians with disability, including one Vancouver resident who asked to remain anonymous.
“I have to sit there and think about it. Do I really need this? Can I buy it? That’s what’s happening to me and it’s happening to all people with disabilities,” he said, explaining that he had to shop strategically to fit his pocket and had started. Top collects pop cans and empty beer bottles for a living.
He says he is currently living off of a monthly payment of about $918 from the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) disability and $1,000 from the provincial government’s disability aid. However, after federal deductions were made from his CPP for his provincial aid, he was left with less than $2,000. He says conflicting disability benefits have made it difficult for him to cover his daily needs, which is why he is campaigning for more support for Canadians living on disability income.
“We are like a forgotten part of society,” he said.
Helaine Boyd, executive director of the Disability Alliance in BC, said disability welfare conflicts are a common problem for many Canadians.
Boyd said the deduction of federal benefits from provincial disability aid highlights the different policies and obstacles that people with disabilities go through in order to find financial assistance. In addition, with inflation continuing to rise, she said financial aid has not kept pace with the continued rise in the cost of living.
“Rates haven’t kept up with how much people really need to, and they’re not indexed for inflation,” she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Thursday.
SUPPORT ACROSS CANADA
Across Canada, financial assistance varies from province to province and each program comes with its own policies and criteria for navigating how much money an individual or family can receive.
BC
- Disability assistance for a single resident is up to $1,358 a month, including a temporary shelter rate of $375 to cover housing, a number that has not been increased since 2007.
Alberta
- Through the Alberta Guaranteed Income for Individuals with Severe Disabilities (AISH) program, eligible residents can earn up to $1,685 however those applying for this benefit must also apply for any other benefits. any other income for which they qualify including CPP, EI or WCB or not. have an income higher than the AISH allowable.
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
Quebec
- The Quebec Pension Plan is offered to individuals under the age of 65 who can earn up to $1,463 a month, including a fixed amount of $524.61 for all beneficiaries.
Newfoundland and Labrador
- Although the province does not have a single provincial disability program, there are many different programs that provide financial assistance for medical, child care and housing costs.
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
- Nova Scotia’s Disability Assistance Program includes child support, independent living and housing from $608 up to $1,393 for individuals with or without children boarding, renting or owning a house.
PEI
- Aid from the province’s Accessibility Program varies from person to person, but services included in the assistance program find employment and make necessary home and vehicle modifications for people with disabilities include: less than $10,000 every 10 years for a home and $6,000 every eight years for a vehicle.
NWT, Nunavut, Yukon
- Territories that provide income support to low-income families and people with disabilities. However NWT, Nunavut and Yukon provide separate services for some chronic illness medical expenses, schooling and childcare.
‘KEY OPPORTUNITY’ TO GET FEMALE RIGHTS
In June, the federal government relaunched its intention to create the Canadian Disability Benefit, and while there aren’t many details on who is likely to benefit, Boyd says the timing is right.
“Now is a prime opportunity with the Canada Disability Benefit to understand what people with disabilities need,” she said.
In May, Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Minister Carla Qualtrough said work was “underway” in the interest. In addition, she said the federal government is working to create a benefit that doesn’t negatively affect other programs.
Boyd says there is a need to better understand the essential costs Canadians with disabilities face for health and social services, including special diets, transportation or non-medication. government pays.
“There needs to be a better recognition of people with disabilities to give them some safety and security in the ratio by indexing it to inflation so that those most affected like those with income Low don’t feel like they have to worry every time. there is an increase in inflation,” she said.
