Personal Stories

I hope that the new government understands the impact of poverty on Canadians with disabilities and Canada. Providing adequate basic income and developing effective policies and support systems are essential to create a more inclusive and equitable society.

As a teenager in Vancouver, I discovered my safe space in my high school library. I spent so much time there that the librarian allowed me to volunteer regularly as a Library Assistant. I loved helping my peers navigate the card catalogues, searching for information for their school assignments. Later, I continued to gravitate to books and information sharing as a career, first as a Manager with Chapters, and then as a Librarian in public libraries.

My name is Nicole Provost, and I am a neurodiversity and disability advocate based out of Abbotsford BC. I am a student at the University of the Fraser Valley and I am pursuing a degree in aviation, with the goal of becoming a flight instructor and then an aerial firefighter. When I was 21, I founded my own registered non-profit charity called ‘Mayday Club’. The primary program run by Mayday Club is a 35-voice youth choir made up of children, youth, and young adults who are neurodivergent, disabled, members of the LGBTQIA2+ community, and / or allies.

Born in 1948, a 3lb preemie who fit in his father’s palm, ‘like a hairless Norwegian rat,’ Jim Johnston has led a life of both struggle and triumph.

Hi, my name is Quinn Smith-Windsor. I am a disabled artist, entrepreneur and advocate.

This is the story of what it is like to be a single disabled mother raising children, especially considering that I had no prior understanding of the word "poverty." The term was never part of my vocabulary, even though I was a 60's Scoop child.

The federal government has been promising a federal disability benefit since 2020 – touted as a game changer for the many persons with disabilities living in poverty in this country. It has not lived up to its promise.

Bill C-22, federal legislation to create the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), passed unanimously in Parliament last June, with the expectation that the benefit would flow within a year. But the government has yet to allocate funding for it or fully flesh out how it will operate. Each day that passes threatens to push disabled people further into poverty and a sense of hopelessness.

It seems there’s not much Canadians politically agree on these days. Which is why it was heartening to see that regardless of partisan allegiances or regional differences, most Canadians agree that it’s long past time the federal government funded a disability benefit.

27% of the population of Canada are disabled. 40% of the people who live in poverty are disabled. Nothing accounts for this disparity but our society’s attitudes towards disabled people. We can change this.

December 2023 marked the first December in three years that I have not spent languishing in pain in a hospital bed.

As an Autistic person, finding my own career path has been a challenge.

Hello, I’m Valentina and this is my Service Dog, Wolfgang Moonbeam, ‘Wolfie’! Some background information for you: I have experienced multiple traumas and therefore have a large range of disabilities and medical needs.

A personal tribute to David Onley, former lieutenant governor of Ontario.

The intersections that tend to exist alongside disability are often not considered when examining what a disabled person needs to thrive in the world. In fact, the notion of disabled people thriving seems to be one that is not widely accepted.