The Canada Disability Benefit is on its way to becoming law. This new Federal legislation started with Bill C-22, officially called “An Act to reduce poverty and to support the financial security of persons with disabilities by establishing the Canada disability benefit and making a consequential amendment to the Income Tax Act”

In Canada, there are a number of procedural steps before a bill becomes a law. Bill C-22 has slowly been making its way through this process, starting with first reading in the House of Commons on June 2, 2022 and third reading in the Sente completed on May 18, 2023. After third reading in the Senate, the House of Commons approved some proposed amendments and the new law received Royal Ascent on June 22, 2023.

What does that all mean? It means Bill C-22 is now law in Canada, but that does doesn’t yet have the ability to provide working age Canadians living with disabilities the income support.

There are a number of steps that must occur before benefit payments will start. Currently, the legislation is very vague, and does not address critical elements such as who will qualify for the benefit, how much the benefit will be, and how it will interact with other benefits, such as provincial Disability Support programs, Canada Pension Plan Disability benefits, and private policies that provide long term disability benefits.

The devil, they say, is in the details. Stay tuned for more information.