Spotlight: Disability benefits
The time tax refers to the many hours that people spend doing paperwork or other tasks just to receive government services and supports. At its worst, the time tax can be regressive, wasteful, and ineffective. Despite this, the time tax often flies under the radar. We think it deserves more attention. This is the sixth article in our series on the time tax, the harms it causes, and how it might be fixed.
Too often, living with a disability means moving through a world that is unaware of your everyday needs and accommodations. This is often true in infrastructure and institutions, and it even remains true within the design of public programs and supports created to address the needs of people with disabilities.
Supports for people with disabilities have some of the highest time tax burdens preventing people from accessing programs. They have high complexity costs, forcing people to navigate a wide array of programs that are spread across different departments and levels of government. They have high compliance costs, requiring forms, receipts, doctors’ approvals, and regular re-qualifications. And they can come with high community costs, stigmatizing people by making them prove their limitations rather than their capabilities.
In Canada, disability supports are not consolidated, meaning they are available through several different programs, each requiring separate applications with different eligibility criteria. Federal disability programs include the Disability Tax Credit, Medical Expense Tax Credit, Registered Disability Savings Plans, Canada Pension Plan disability benefits, and Employment Insurance. The Canada Disability Benefit Act, passed just before parliament went on summer break, will add a new program to the mix. At the provincial and territorial level, programs differ, but each offer some sort of income assistance, such as the Ontario Disability Support Program.
While it would appear on the surface that people with disabilities have access to a range of support, this patchwork system has left almost one-third of working age adults with severe disabilities living in poverty. Many people with disabilities describe the administrative burdens they face when accessing basic supports as dehumanizing and exhausting.
Take the case of Daniel. He is 18 years old and just started university. He has a disability that has required him to use a mobility device since he was a child. In the past few years, Daniel has had to complete a number of applications to transition his supports from those that he was able to receive as a child to the supports he can receive as an adult.
Before Daniel turned 18, he and his family were receiving government supports including the Child Disability Benefit (CBD) and Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities Program (ACSD). However, both of these supports were cut off once Daniel turned 18, even though he was still living at home and none of his circumstances had changed. Now Daniel is planning to apply for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP). Although Daniel qualified for children’s disability services, he is still required to fill out additional application forms and have a healthcare professional verify his disability again when applying to adult services.
Every time Daniel needs to get his disability verified by a healthcare professional when applying to a new program, he is charged a fee since this is not a service covered by OHIP. When a doctor has to fill out a tax form to confirm a disability, the medical fee can be upwards of $100. This verification system not only financially penalizes Daniel, it also puts increased pressure on the healthcare system, eating up the doctor’s time and resources that could be spent on treating patients.
One of the major challenges with disability programs is people often feel like they’re submitting their application into a black box, unaware of how it’s assessed and if they will qualify for the support they need. In Daniel’s case, he is expected to qualify for the supports because of the severity and permanence of his physical disability. However, people with disabilities related to neurodivergence (such as Autism) or have episodic disabilities (like Multiple Sclerosis) may not qualify for supports like the Disability Tax Credit because of strict criteria related to a person’s disability. To qualify, a person’s disability is supposed to be continuous and, in the cases where the disability affects cognitive functions, it should be limiting in multiple ways (such as judgment, goal setting, and problem solving).
Where individuals have their disability fall into a “grey area,” they are more likely to be rejected and then have to go through an appeals process, which will require additional time and resources. For some, the complicated application process, plus the uncertainty of if they will qualify, causes them to choose not to apply at all.
Committees that review applications for disability supports often state that they can choose to contact the medical professional or the applicant to elaborate more on their disability, which can create additional delays in getting approval. Those who aren’t approved have to go through an appeal process, further delaying them from getting financial support.
Now that Daniel is attending university, he will need additional support to set him up to be able to effectively learn and participate in his classes. The government offers financial aid available for students with disabilities, including the Bursary for Students with Disabilities (BSWD) and Canada Student Grant for Services and Equipment for Students with Permanent Disabilities (CSG-PDSE), which help with the costs of disability-related educational services and equipment. For Daniel, the key supports for his needs are note-takers and assistive technology. To qualify, his healthcare provider has to complete another form to verify Daniel’s disability. If Daniel is deemed eligible for funding, he has to submit all receipts for the services or equipment he paid for using the funding by the end of the school year.
This is unlike any other forms of student financial aid. Other forms of financial aid provide students with autonomy and they are not expected to prove to the government that they used their financial assistance on academic-related expenses. Instead, this adds an additional administrative burden on students with disabilities, like Daniel, and limits them to using the funding on the narrow categories of support the government has decided are worth funding. If students fail to submit the receipts on time, they may be required to pay back part or all of the funding they received.
Daniel is also applying for Wheel-Trans for the first time so that he will be able to use public transit to get to his classes on campus. Wheel-Trans is an accessible transit service offered by the TTC to people with disabilities. The Wheel-Trans application requires Daniel to answer very specific questions about his ability to use the TTC and in what circumstances he cannot. In addition to this, his doctor (or another healthcare professional) will have to complete another form (specific to the Wheel-Trans application) that explains Daniel’s disability and if he is a suitable candidate for the program. Recently, everyone who signed up for Wheel-Trans before 2017 have been told to re-register for the service, requiring them to have a health care professional re-verify their disability. Some users are being denied door-to-door services based on tests that don’t match their real lives.
A recent report from March of Dimes and Prosper Canada highlighted how the red tape around disability programs is not only onerous, and counterproductive, it was deeply demoralizing for the people the programs are meant to serve. As one participant with disabilities in their project reported:
“People of different disabilities, we struggle with paperwork for various reasons, whether it’s getting help with it, or being able to read it, being able to see it, being able to comprehend the question. Paperwork is a nightmare for most people with disabilities.”
In that same report, the two organizations outline a range of recommendations on how to administer the long-promised Canada Disability Benefit. First among those recommendations — actually talk to the people that the program is meant to serve to make sure the program is truly user-friendly. With the framework legislation for the new benefit now passed, the design of the CDB is a chance to get things right.
By Stephanie Bertolo
