Disability benefit won’t lift Canadians in need above poverty line: advocates

WATCH: Canada is taking an important step towards launching a long-awaited national disability benefit. The Liberals say the program is meant to help lift Canadians living with disabilities out of poverty. But as Mike Armstrong reports, critics say the funding isn’t even close to what’s needed.Pam Bristol from Regina is the caretaker for her 18-year-old son, David Rheault, who was born with a severe case of cerebral palsy.

The plan to offer 600,000 people with the benefit works out to $200 per month, which is about six dollars per day.“David would at some point, as most adult children, would like to move out from his parents’ home. And when the time comes we will support him in that. But there needs to be good quality options. Those options are pretty scarce right now,” she told Global News.

The PBO’s November report explored the cost of three hypothetical implementations of the benefit, ranging from around two billion dollars to $20.5 billion this year. The lowest cost option was an average annual benefit of $7,600 for 275,000 applicants.Maytree, an organization aimed at looking for solutions to end poverty, releases a report each year showcasing social assistance programs in Canada.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland addressed concerns about the benefit’s limitations in a press conference Friday. She said the government recognizes the challenges that people with disabilities face in Canada everyday.Airbus workers at Quebec plant reject company’s third contract offer“That’s why we were so glad that that’s part of this budget which invests so energetically in Canada and Canadians. We were able to make a historic investment in Canadians living with a disability.

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