This summer, CUPE is calling on members, locals and allies to support Disability Without Poverty’s Better the Benefit campaign. Together, we must urge governments to increase and expand the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB).
The announcement of the Canada Disability Benefit was a cause for celebration last June. Yet with the April federal budget, we learned that the maximum amount of the benefit is $2,400 per year. This means that a person with disabilities will only be able to receive a maximum of $200.00 monthly – if they are eligible.
Advocates say that $12,000 per year is what is needed to lift people out of poverty.
Following the budget announcement, CUPE urged members, locals and allies to contact Members of Parliament to enhance the Canada Disability Benefit.
Workers who become permanently impaired from work injuries often experience poverty. An Ontario study showed that 46% of workers’ compensation claimants live in or close to the poverty line, with 9% in deep poverty.
41% of low-income Canadians are persons with disabilities, and among them, people who have intersecting identities, such as women, Indigenous, Black, racialized, and 2SLGBTQI+ people, face even greater barriers.
The government has yet to finalize the CDB regulations. You can comment on the regulations until September 23, 2024. It is unclear whether provinces and territories will claw it back from disability support recipients, so now is the time to take action.
Disability Without Poverty (DWP) is hosting events across Canada to meet with local elected leaders. You can also contact your Member of Parliament to urge them to enhance the CDB. Here’s how you can help:
- Send a letter to your Member of Parliament using this form;
- Circulate and use the poster and fact sheet in their digital toolkit here;
- Circulate and use the poster and fact sheet in their digital toolkit here;
- Track what your provincial leaders are doing about the CDB here;
- Meet and strategize with DWP at their in-person events;
- Connect the DWP team with local leaders and allies; and
- Attend in-person events in Vancouver (August 10 to 12), Edmonton (August 13) and Calgary (August 14). Montreal and Toronto event dates are anticipated.
You can get event details on DWP’s social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn). You can learn more about Disability Without Poverty and the Better the Benefit campaign here. You can also contact the DWP team directly at hello@disabilitywithoutpoverty.ca.
CUPE stands in solidarity with DWP, activists and organizations across Canada in the fight for disability justice.