By Jennifer Zwicker and Stephanie Dunn Canadians with disabilities, disability tax credit, DTC, eligibility requirements, impairment, low income, RDSP, vulnerable persons
It’s time to look beyond the CRA Breaking Down Barriers is the galvanising theme of a recent report from the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology that outlines urgently-needed recommendations to improve access to underutilised federal disability supports: the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP). Some of our […]
By Al Etmanski Accessibility Act, Accessible Canada Act, disability community, disability tax credit, inclusion, Minister of Sports and Persons with Disabilities, persons with disabilties
The recently proposed Accessible Canada Act and the just released Senate report on essential fixes for Revenue Canada concerning the disability tax credit, Breaking Down Barriers are stellar achievements for advocates with disabilities and the receptive politicians and public servants who listened. If both are implemented, they will remove the physical, social and financial barriers […]
By Jennifer Zwicker and Stephanie Dunn CRA, disability policy, disability supports, disability tax credit, Minister Lebouthillier, Persons with Disabiities, RDSP, registered disability savings plan
The tangled web of disability governance and policy in Canada At a recent Senate committee hearing on the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), the father of a child with autism made a heart-felt plea and a chilling statement: “We are impacted by the inability to secure our son’s future. […]
By Al Etmanski basic income, Canada, Canada Revenue Agency, Canadians, CRA, disabilities, disability, disability tax credit, guaranteed basic income, Health Canada, Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network, poverty, RDSP, registered disability savings plan
Fix the RDSP and close the poverty gap of Canadians with disabilities Canada’s Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is the first poverty-fighting tool for people with disabilities in the world. This remarkable example of federal/provincial/territorial cooperation, which was created in 2008, has already changed the lives of more than 150,000 Canadians with disabilities. Unfortunately, […]
By John Adams Canada Health Act, Canada health system, Canadian Tax Credit, CRA, disability tax credit, genetic disease, government of Canada, PKU, tax credit
This story began when I offered to represent the mother of a three-year-old with PKU, a rare genetic disorder, in a federal tax court. She had never even fought a parking ticket before she went against the federal government. We won. It turns out, evidence matters. But the story doesn’t end there. We went to […]