Canada Disability Benefit in Alberta: The facts and how to take action

Information on the Canada Disability Benefit and what it means for Albertans with disabilities.

The Alberta government recently announced that the new Canada Disability Benefit, payment of which is set to begin this summer, will be considered ‘non-exempt’ income for AISH recipients. Individuals and families are increasingly reaching out to Inclusion Alberta expressing disappointment, fear and confusion over this decision and what it means for them. We have created this ‘Canada Disability Benefit in Alberta Fact Sheet’ (download PDF, text follows in drop downs below) as a resource which we hope will aid in clarifying the issues.

Know the facts and what it means for you and your family.

The Canada Disability Benefit will be a monthly payment for working-age persons with disabilities who have low income. The benefit was intended to lift people with disabilities out of poverty, but the maximum benefit of $200 a month is too low to accomplish this goal. There are other problems with CDB’s design. Applications open in June 2025 and payments will begin in July.  

You must: 

  • be currently approved for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC), 
  • be between the ages of 18 and 64, 
  • have filed an income tax return for the last tax year, 
  • be a resident of Canada  

Further details about CDB eligibility from the Government of Canada are here.  

The maximum benefit amount is $2,400 a year, or $200 a month. The amount received is based on both your income and the income of your spouse or common-law partner in the previous tax year.  

The benefit amount will be reduced if your income is above a certain threshold. People who earn more than  a specified income limit are not eligible to receive the CDB. How much income you can earned before CDB is reduced  depends on whether your earnings are employment income or from another source, and whether you are single or have a spouse or common-law partner and whether that partner also receives CDB.   

Find  more information about CDB payments here.

The federal government has exempted CDB as income in calculations of other federal benefits, which means the CDB is a benefit you receive in addition to other benefits. Receiving CDB will not reduce Canada Child Benefit, Employment Insurance, or other benefits you receive from the Government of Canada.  Because the Government of Canada requires recipients to report the CDB as income on your tax return, provinces and territories each can decide on how it interacts with their own programs and benefits, like AISH. Among provinces and territories, only Alberta has decided that receiving CDB will reduce the amount of provincial benefits.  

If you receive AISH or Income Support from the Government of Alberta, every dollar of CDB you receive from the federal government will lead to an equal reduction in the provincial assistance you receive through AISH or Income Support. Even though you technically will receive the CDB, you will in fact have no more income than before you qualified for CDB because your AISH or Income Support has been reduced.  

If you do not receive AISH or Income Support, receiving CDB could still change whether you are eligible for the other provincial benefits and the amounts you receive. Unless Alberta exempts CDB from being counted as income in eligibility and benefit calculations, it could lead to reductions in benefits from the following programs: Alberta Child Health Benefit, Medical benefits from Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD), Alberta Aids to Daily Living (AADL), Residential Access Modification Program (RAMP), Alberta Student Aid, Alberta Child and Family Benefit, and Affordable Housing including Rental Assistance Benefit (RAB), Temporary Rental Assistance Benefit (TRAB), Community Housing, and Special Needs Housing. Eligibility for municipal government low-income transit passes may also be affected because the CBD must be reported, impacting the tax documents that cities use to determine eligibility.

The Government of Alberta has sent a letter to everyone who receives AISH notifying them that they are required to apply for DTC and CDB. Applying provides little benefit to you if you receive AISH—the provincial government seems to be motivated by wanting to reduce the amount it spends on AISH payments for individuals who receive CDB. Applying for the CDB will be very challenging for some because it requires that you first apply successfully for a DTC certificate and ensure you have filed an income tax return. We advise you to try to comply by applying since we do not know yet what the implications would be of ignoring this direction from the Alberta government. For some individuals who receive AISH, applying for DTC has advantages because it allows them to qualify for other federal benefits. 

The DTC application has two parts: 

  • Part A – completed by the person with a disability or their legal representative.  
  • Part B – completed a medical practitioner. 

Doctors and nurse practitioners can fill out all sections of Part B, and other health professionals can help their patients certify specific categories of disabilities. Finding a healthcare provider willing to complete DTC forms can be challenging, especially for the over 650,000 Albertans in need of a family doctor. Cost is also a barrier as healthcare providers charge fees as high as $300 to complete the forms.  

Find more information about applying for the Disability Tax Credit on our website here.

Only one quarter of persons with disabilities likely to be eligible for the DTC have submitted a complete DTC application according to the Government of Canada’s 2024 Disability Advisory Committee report. The report highlights the time-consuming and complex application process as a barrier to qualifying for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC). The report notes that only 24% of online applications that are begun are completed and concludes that “more support and accessibility in the process is needed for applicants to successfully complete the process”.  

Funding from the Government of Alberta to community partners to support individuals with DTC applications ended in 2024, and the Government of Canada has promised but not yet delivered funding for organizations to assist individuals with DTC applications. Many third-party companies offer to help people to apply for the DTC, but there are often considerable fees for their service. There are also non-profits that provide free support. The Disability Planning Helpline’s advisors provide free support with your application by providing sample language, reviewing your paperwork, and helping you prepare a letter for your medical practitioner. If your application is denied, they can help you understand why and guide you through the reapplication process. You can also try the My DTC app, where you can find guides about the DTC for both applicants and medical professionals, a questionnaire that generates materials that will help you apply, and a checklist to help you stay on track through the application process.  

The CDB application will be launched in June. To be eligible for the CDB, you must file your income taxes, regardless of whether you were employed. For free support filing your taxes, check the directory of free tax clinics.  

We are asking you to request a meeting with your MLA, with the Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, and with the Minister of Finances. We urgently need to join in opposing this claw back, otherwise government will assume that people with disabilities are resigned to accepting this unjust policy. Instructions on how you can take action follow below on this page.

Take action to oppose this unjust clawback.

The decision by the Government of Alberta to claw back the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) dollar for dollar will deprive support from tens of thousands of Albertans with disabilities who live in poverty. Alberta is the only provincial government to have announced that it will claw back the CDB from adults with disabilities who receive provincial income support. Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Manitoba and Nunavut have all committed to allowing adults with disabilities to keep the benefit that the federal government will begin paying in July 2025.

The Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) is a new federal benefit of up to $200 per month starting in July 2025 for low-income people aged 18-64 who have a disability. The federal government originally promised that the benefit would lift people with disabilities out of poverty, but sadly $200/month will not do that. While we will continue to advocate for the federal government to increase the benefit amount to a level that will truly impact poverty, the CDB is meant to be a top-up, not a replacement for provincial disability income support.

Inclusion Alberta calls on the Government of Alberta to reverse their decision to claw back the Canada Disability Benefit, allowing the benefit to do what it is intended to do; reduce poverty for people with disabilities. In line with other federal benefits such as the Canada Child Benefit, the CDB should be considered exempt income. The Government of Alberta should never seek to address its budget challenges at the expense of those already disadvantaged and living in poverty.

We are encouraging families to request a meeting with their MLA and with Alberta cabinet ministers to request that the CDB be added to the list of exempt unearned sources of income for provincial income support programs. Cabinet can easily approve this change so that AISH and Income Support benefits will not be clawed back in whole or in part.

We have several resources for you that will help you and your family advocate and engage with government decision-makers to prevent clawbacks related to the new CDB in Alberta.

  1. Sample letter to government (download Word doc file here).  A template to email relevant ministers, politicians and civil servants that is formatted as a call-to-action to prevent clawbacks from occurring. We encourage you to personalize this letter, letting the recipients know how the CDB will impact your family and why it is important that no provincial clawbacks occur.
  2. How to contact government about CDB clawbacks (download PDF here). Guidance on how to request a meeting with relevant ministers, MLAs, and civil servants in Alberta, and their contact information
  3. Suggested talking points (download Word doc file here). A succinct, narrative-based document complete with key talking points. Includes key messages for you to reference, to which you may personalize further using the information in this toolkit and you or your family’s experience.
  4. Meeting Handout (download Word doc file here).  A document that you may hand to the person you are talking to; it contains evidence and the key messages of this advocacy campaign. You can also send it by email in advance of your meeting.
      • Overviews the state of poverty experienced by people with disabilities.
      • Describes the CDB and its intended purpose.
      • Asks that government allow for recipients to get the full value of the CDB they are entitled to – in addition to their regular social assistance amount through programs such as AISH. This change will ensure that the CDB may serve as a top-up, not a replacement of existing social assistance benefits.

You can find official government documents on the CDB here:

Thank you in advance for your advocacy. If you have any questions or need any assistance, please contact us at info@inclusionalberta.org or by calling 1-800-252-7556.