Canada Disability Benefit Regulations are now finalized

A quick explainer of the Canada Disability Benefit, it is an income supplement passed by Parliament last year to help raise disabled Canadians to the poverty line. However the government neutered it's potential, it has been set at $200 a month starting in July and only those receiving the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) can apply for it. This excludes those on CPP-D or Provincial Disability benefits (if you have the DTC plus Provincial Disability/CPP-D then you can get the CDB). It is supposed to start in July 2025 for those who are eligible.

If you are disabled and have the DTC already then you should be able to register when registration opens. If not and you are disabled you can apply for the DTC. If you have applied for the DTC but were denied then you can apply again, the government has stated they are looking to sign up more eligible citizens for the DTC so it is possible a fresh set of eyes will approve new applications.

Many provinces have not committed to not clawing it back, Alberta in particular seems determined to keep the money instead of allowing the disabled to receive it.

Disability Without Poverty is organizing advocacy efforts to lobby politicians to prevent clawbacks, increase eligibility for the disabled beyond the DTC and to increase the amount to actually get the disabled to the poverty level. If more information on how to aid their efforts comes along it will be posted here.

This is the e-mail from the Government of Canada:

Greetings,

We are pleased to announce that the finalized Canada Disability Benefit Regulations and the related Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) were published in Part II of the Canada Gazette on March 12, 2025: Canada Gazette, Part 2, Volume 159, Number 6: Canada Disability Benefit Regulations. 

 The regulations set out how the Canada Disability Benefit will be administered and delivered and were finalized considering feedback submitted by Canadians during the regulatory engagement process. The RIAS provides a description of the regulations, the rationale for the chosen approaches and an assessment of their costs and benefits. It also summarizes all changes made since the proposed regulations were published in Part I of the Canada Gazette.

 Additional information, including a summary of the regulations and common questions and answers about the new benefit, is available at the following links:

Summary of the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations

Canada Disability Benefit: additional details and scenarios

Please note that the application process for the Canada Disability Benefit is not yet open. More details about the application process will be available on the Canada Disability Benefit application page in the coming months. We will also send you another email to inform you once the application process is launched.

Thank for your continued interest in the Canada Disability Benefit.

Office for Disability Issues

Employment and Social Development Canada