March 29, 2023
On March 28, 2023, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance released
Budget 2023, A Made in Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future. March of Dimes Canada applauds the federal government’s investments to support people with disabilities and equity-seeking communities across Canada, including important commitments to advance the Canada Disability Benefit and dental care for people with disabilities.
Financial Security and the Canada Disability Benefit
People with disabilities continue to be over-represented among those living in poverty in Canada, and many are struggling more than ever to make ends meet due to rising costs. The Canada Disability Benefit, first announced in 2020, is an essential new federal income supplement to address the financial inequities experienced by the disability community. Budget 2023 includes good next steps in realizing the promise of the
Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) and current legislation to create the Canada Disability Benefit. These include:
- $21.5 million for Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to continue work on the future delivery of the benefit, including engagement with the disability community and provinces and territories on the regulatory process.
- $10 million over two years to invest in capacity building and community-level work of disability organizations, to help address the unique needs and ongoing barriers faced by persons with disabilities.
We look forward to partnering with the federal government to ensure the Canada Disability Benefit is the most accessible federal program for people with disabilities in Canada. March of Dimes Canada thanks Deputy Prime Minister Freeland and Hon. Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion for their leadership in advancing disability inclusion through these investments.
We also welcome several additional investments to enhance financial security, address affordability, and increase benefit take-up among people with disabilities, including:
- Increasing capacity and accessibility of Service Canada: $17.7 million over four years to increase capacity at 1 800 O-Canada call centres, improve Canada.ca, and ensure that Canadians can access information they need about government benefits and services.
- Piloting automatic tax filing: A new automatic filing service will be piloted to help vulnerable Canadians who currently do not file their taxes receive the benefits to which they are entitled.
- Removing a known barrier to Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) access: The Qualifying Family Member provision will be expanded to include Adult Siblings and extended until December 31, 2026, to maintain access to RDSPs.
- Grocery Rebate: $2.5 billion to introduce a one-time grocery rebate to offset increased costs for low- and modest-income households, which will be delivered via the GST Credit mechanism.
Health and Dental Care
Many of the people served by March of Dimes Canada – including people with physical disabilities, brain injury and stroke survivors, seniors and young adults – are struggling to access healthcare across the country. For that reason, we are pleased to see that Budget 2023 includes further details about the federal government’s plan to provide an additional $195.8 billion over ten years in health transfers to provinces and territories, which will include personal support worker wage support.
Dental care is an important aspect of healthcare which is often inaccessible to people with disabilities due to cost, with many forgoing necessary treatment and procedures. March of Dimes Canada welcomes confirmation of the previously promised expansion of the Canadian Dental Care Plan to cover people with disabilities by the end of 2023, including:
- $13.0 billion over five years and $4.4 billion ongoing to Health Canada to provide dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with annual family income of less than $90,000, with no co-pays for those with family incomes under $70,000.
- $250 million over three years, starting in 2025-26, and $75 million ongoing to establish an Oral Health Access Fund to support targeted measures to address oral health gaps and reduce barriers to accessing care for vulnerable populations, including for people with disabilities.
March of Dimes Canada thanks Deputy Prime Minister Freeland and Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, for recognizing and addressing this significant barrier for people with disabilities. We look forward to learning more details about eligible coverage for our community members later this year.
