Ford Government At Long Last Announced It Will Not Claw Back the Canada Disability Benefit

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update

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Ford Government At Long Last Announced It Will Not Claw Back the Canada Disability Benefit

May 27, 2025

Today, the Ford Government announced that it will not claw back the Canada Disability Benefit. Its announcement includes:

TORONTO – The Ontario government intends to exempt the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) as income so that social assistance recipients would receive the benefit without seeing a reduction in their provincial social assistance payments or entitlements. The changes would help recipients of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), Ontario Works and the Assistance for Children with Severe Disabilities (ACSD) program receive their maximum entitlements.

“In a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty brought on by U.S. tariffs and trade barriers, our government is taking action to keep costs down and protect Ontario families,” said Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. “This starts with safeguarding our most vulnerable, which is why we are exempting the Canada Disability Benefit as income so people who rely on social assistance receive the benefit without seeing any reductions in their social assistance payments.”

The CDB offers up to $200 each month ($2,400 each year) for eligible low-income, working-age Canadians with disabilities. By exempting the CDB, social assistance recipients will be able to fully benefit from the new program. Today’s announcement furthers Ontario’s commitment to protect families by building a more effective and efficient social assistance system that supports those who need it most.

We commend the Ontario Government for this announcement. Alberta reportedly is the only province that plans to claw back this new federal benefit. We don’t know how the Federal Government plans to deal with the Alberta situation. If it pays the Canada Disabilities Benefit to Albertans who qualify for it, the money will end up in the province’s coffers.

When Bill C-22 was in Parliament, we proposed an amendment to ensure that the Federal Government could start paying out the Benefit in provinces that agreed not to claw it back but withhold paying it in provinces when there is no such agreement. Our amendment went nowhere. The Federal Government never said at that time how it would deal with such a situation.

We also do not know what the Federal Government has done, if anything, to protect recipients of the Canada Disabilities Benefit from having it clawed back by private insurance companies. We and others convinced the Senate to amend Bill C-22 in 2023 to prevent such clawbacks. The Trudeau Liberals vetoed that amendment when Bill C-22 came back to the House of Commons.

To learn all about our part in the battle to strengthen the Canada Disabilities Benefit and Bill C-22, visit the AODA Alliance’s Bill C-22 page.