Policy primer: Canada Disability Benefit
October 8, 2025
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POLICY PRIMER PDFLast updated: October 2025
Living with a disability shouldn’t mean living with food insecurity. But in Canada, at least 26% of people with disabilities—or 1 in 4—experience food insecurity.1
The problem is poverty – and systemic ableism. People with disabilities are much more likely to live in poverty than people without disabilities. In Canada, over 1.1 million people with a disability live below the poverty line.2 And because disabilities create additional costs, like medication and personal care, it’s even harder for people with disabilities to afford food.
That’s why Right To Food is calling on the federal government to expand the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) to ensure that all people with disabilities can live with dignity and independence.
The CDB must help lift all people with disabilities out of poverty.
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POLICY PRIMER PDFThe CDB rollout started in July 2025
We need to act now.
How should the CDB be improved?
The CDB is a new federal income support program for people with disabilities who are living on low incomes. It’s a vital benefit but it falls far short.
Under the current regulations, only 4% of people expected to receive the benefit will be lifted out of poverty by 2035. This is totally unacceptable.
To live up to its goal, significant improvements to the CDB are needed. The CDB must be:
- Set at an adequate level to lift recipients above the poverty line.
- Accessible to all people with disabilities, with streamlined application processes and proactive outreach.
What changes should be made to improve the CDB?
Right To Food supports calls by Disability Without Poverty and allied partners for the federal government to:
- Detach CDB eligibility from the Disability Tax Credit to improve financial security for all people with disabilities. Many people with disabilities find it difficult to qualify for the Disability Tax Credit to begin with.
- Fix the way disability tax credits are calculated so that people with disabilities living on low incomes don’t inadvertently get less when governments cut income tax rates in legislation like Bill C-4.
- Simplify and expand access to the Disability Tax Credit so that more people with disabilities can access both the Disability Tax Credit and the CDB.
- Increase the CDB to lift recipients above the poverty line. The current amount of $200 per month is too small to create equity and foster dignity among people with disabilities.
- Adopt a disability‑inclusion lens in all federal policies to ensure equity, access, and representation for people with disabilities.
How would an enhanced CDB help?
- An enhanced CDB would restore dignity, provide financial stability, and improve health outcomes for people living in disability poverty.
- It would reduce food insecurity among people with disabilities and expand access to specialty foods required to manage specific conditions.
- A fair and dignified CDB would remove the burden of choosing between buying food and meeting other essential needs, like paying rent and buying medications, medical equipment, and medical supplies.
References
- Gupta, S., Fernandes, D., Aitken, N., & Greenberg, L. (2024, August 21). Household food insecurity among persons with disabilities in Canada: Findings from the 2021 Canadian Income Survey. Statistics Canada.
- Statistics Canada. (2025, May 1). Canadian Income Survey, 2023.
- Statistics Canada. (2023, December 1). The Daily—Canadian Survey on Disability, 2017 to 2022.
