Media Advisory

For Immediate Release (March 26, 2024)

(Toronto) – Yesterday, more than 60 Members of Parliament from the Liberal caucus signed an open letter addressed to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance urging them to provide ‘immediate funding’ for the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), which was approved by Parliament last year.

“The Disability Without Poverty movement is grateful for the MPs who see this as critical enough now to urge the government to action,” says Rabia Khedr, National Director of Disability Without Poverty (DWP), a Canadian grassroots movement led by people with disabilities who have long advocated for a federal role in ending the cycle of poverty for disabled Canadians.

A recent postcard campaign by DWP saw more than 70,000 postcards from Canadians calling on the Finance Minister to “budget the benefit.”  Now MPs are adding their voices.

“As the Canada Disability Benefit legislation worked its way through parliament last year, we saw genuine regard for the financial hardship of people with disabilities resonate with MPs and appreciated the all-party cooperation and unanimous consent that prevailed at each point in the process, ensuring that it passed into law,” says Khedr.

“The sooner the CDB is budgeted, the sooner people who need it most will receive it,” she adds.

According to a recently released report by DWP, “Disability With Possibility: What We Learned from Disabled People Across Canada on Shaping the Canada Disability Benefit,” 27 per cent of Canadians are disabled, the largest minority group in the country, and a minority that anyone could join at any time.

While provincial and territorial governments provide some financial support, none of their disability assistance payments raises people above the poverty line. 

Forty-one per cent of low-income Canadians are disabled and 16.5 per cent of disabled people in Canada live in poverty – that is more than 1.5 million people.

People with disabilities – especially those with severe disabilities – are less likely to be employed than others and they have lower incomes even when working full time.  For disabled people, poverty is often a bigger barrier to their participation in society than their disability.