BURST
OTTAWA — Alberta Social Services Minister Jason Nixon is calling on Ottawa to scrap the standalone application form for the new Canada Disability Benefit .
Nixon said in a letter to federal counterpart Patty Hajdu that those receiving Alberta’s Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) and other provincial disability benefits should automatically receive the CDB.
“As social services are within provincial responsibility, I am … requesting that the federal government defer to Alberta’s provincial eligibility requirements to streamline access to federal disability supports,” wrote Nixon.
Nixon wrote in the letter that the federal application requirements, which could include paying out of pocket for a medical examination, present a “significant barrier” to access in Alberta and beyond.
“(W)e’ve heard concerns from Albertans with disabilities who are encountering barriers in applying for the CDB,” wrote Nixon.
Applications for the maximum $200 per month federal benefit opened in late June.
Medical examinations to determine one’s eligibility for the benefit can run between $200 and $400 in Alberta, according to the Office of the Advocate for Disabled Persons.
The Liberal government committed in the April 2024 federal budget to reimburse medical examination costs , but has yet to put forward details about how reimbursement will work.
As it stands, Canadians with disabilities may claim these costs as medical expenses on their tax returns.
In the meantime, the province has committed to reimbursing medical examination costs for AISH recipients applying for the federal benefit.
Hajdu’s office confirmed Thursday that the letter had been received.
“ We will review it and respond in due course,” wrote Hajdu’s spoksperson Aissa Diop in an email.
Alberta’s Advocate for Persons with Disabilities Greg McMeekin said in an email that he agreed that Ottawa should reduce barriers to enrollment.
“ (M)any Albertans with disabilities are well beyond the point of frustrated getting access to (the CDB) … The federal government should make access to the benefit easier, such as automatic enrollment for people on existing disability benefits,” wrote McMeekin.
Yusuf Ariyo, a support worker with the Edmonton-based Voice of Albertans with Disabilities, said the organization has seen an uptick in requests for help with benefit applications since the CDB rollout started.
“It’s our job to help them navigate the benefits system, but there’s limits to what we can do,” said Ariyo.
Lee Stevens, an independent social policy consultant based in Calgary, said that the application process is one of multiple mistakes the federal government made in its implementation of the benefit.
“(They) could have easily automatically enrolled everyone who already qualified for the disability tax credit, therefor avoiding extra costs like medical assessments,” said Stevens.
Stevens said it was also a mistake not to design the benefit as a refundable credit, which created a risk of provinces like Alberta treating it as non-exempt income .
She added that she suspects the point of the application form was save the federal government money by driving down the uptake of the benefit.
National Post
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