Bill C-22 (Canada Disability Benefit) has been moving through Parliament over the last several months. The purpose of the Bill is to create a new federal income benefit for people with disabilities.
The Bill initially made its way through the House of Commons where important amendments were added before it was sent on to the Senate. Some of those amendments include the incorporation of a broad definition of disability, and the commitment to index a future benefit to inflation. These are both amendments which ISAC and other advocates supported. You can read more about the Bill, including its most recent wording, here.
Bill C-22 is now being studied in the Senate, at the SOCI Committee. You can read our Senate submission in English in PDF format here or in Word format here (la version PDF français est ici et la version Word français est ici). It urges the Senate to include much needed protections and assurances in the Bill for people with disabilities. Our submission has been endorsed by over 45 community legal clinics who, through their support of clients across Ontario, have seen first-hand the need for stronger and better income supports for people with disabilities.
Adrian Merdzan, ISAC Staff Lawyer, will be appearing as a witness at the SOCI Committee on Thursday, April 20, 2023, between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. You can watch the livestream at this link.