The Ontario Court of Appeal granted the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) intervener status in Jacob v. Canada (Attorney General). This legal challenge concerns workers living with severe disabilities and their exclusion from receiving pandemic benefits. To be considered a “worker”, claimants must have earned at least $5,000 from specified income in the 12 months prior to the claim. Income from federal or provincial disability support benefits did not qualify as income. The appellant challenged the $5,000 threshold, arguing that it discriminated against workers living with disabilities.
Many workers with disabilities were disproportionately impacted during the pandemic, and their exclusion from pandemic benefits programs affected their health and ability to make ends meet during the housing crisis, record inflation, and the rippling economic and health impacts of the pandemic.
ISAC sought intervener status because this appeal will have potentially far-reaching implications on workers living with disabilities, with the potential to impact people living with disabilities and income insecurity. ISAC’s focus is assisting the Court on how to approach adverse-impact discrimination and substantive equality in income security regimes that affect the most vulnerable workers.
The date of the hearing is June 17, 2024.
ISAC is grateful to Mannu Chowdhury, Ewa Krajewska, Érik Arsenault for their excellent pro bono representation in this case, supported by ISAC Staff Lawyer Anu Bakshi.
Read the Court of Appeal’s decision here.
Read our submissions here.