Federal Pre-Budget Submission 2025-26

Summary of Recommendations


March of Dimes Canada’s 2025-26 Pre-Budget Submission proposes the following recommendations for federal government consideration and inclusion in the 2025-26 federal budget:
  • Recommendation 1: That the federal government increase funding for the Canada Disability Benefit and fund a fully accessible, individual-based Canada Disability Benefit application and administrative system.
  • Recommendation 2: That the federal government invest in equitable, accessible employment opportunities for people with disabilities by increasing federal funding for employment services.
  • Recommendation 3: That the federal government develop a program which provides people with disabilities and seniors the means to modify their homes and/or vehicles to facilitate independence and community-dwelling.

Abstract

This submission details recommendations for provincial investment in solutions that enhance the financial security of people with disabilities in Canada, enable equitable, accessible employment opportunities for people with disabilities, and support seniors and people with disabilities to retain independence and aging in the right place.

Introduction

March of Dimes Canada is pleased to present its Pre-Budget Submission to the Minister of Finance for Canada’s fiscal year 2025-26. As a transfer payment agency and key stakeholder delivering an array of services for people with disabilities and their families, caregivers and communities across the country, March of Dimes Canada welcomes the opportunity to deliver insights into how we can build a more equitable and inclusive Canada. In developing this submission, March of Dimes Canada has listened to the priorities of our community of service users and stakeholders.

Recommendation 1: Canada Disability Benefit – Quantum and Administrative Processes

In Fall 2020, March of Dimes Canada conducted a survey of more than 1,000 members of our community impacted by disability. The survey results reinforced that financial security remains a key issue for people with disabilities in Canada. Indeed, of all systemic barriers they face, financial concerns were found to be the most common, with 66 per cent of respondents identifying finances as a barrier.i Provincial social assistance programs simply don’t cover monthly expenses such as food and rent. 

People with disabilities are more likely than those without disabilities to live in poverty, with those with severe disabilities twice as likely to live in poverty compared to those without disabilities.ii The 2022 Statistics Canada Canadian Survey on Disability clarified the economic challenges and sacrifices people living with disabilities must contend with in their day-to-day lives. The costs of living with disability, which vary widely based on a person’s unique needs, may range from hundreds to thousands of dollars annually. As a result, some forgo needed aids and devices, medications and other supports; in fact, as many as 56 per cent – or over 3.2 million – of people with disabilities in Canada report having an unmet need in these areas due to cost.iii This is an increase from 26 per cent in 2017. 

The current trade war with the United States will increase the cost of living for everyone in Canada, and people with disabilities who are living in poverty will be doubtless be disproportionally impacted. With the goal of ending disability poverty in Canada once and for all, March of Dimes Canada encourages federal investment in financial supports that enable people with disabilities to not just survive but thrive. 

March of Dimes Canada thanks the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Disability Inclusion for their commitment to the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) and acknowledges the inclusion of the CDB in the 2024-25 Budget and beyond. However, the budgeted amount will not make a substantial contribution to lifting millions of people with disabilities out of a cycle of poverty and toward true independence. 

"I hear so many stories from people with disabilities living at the poverty line, it's heartbreaking ….The CDB as it stands will make only a small impact on the quality of our lives, for example it will ease the burden a fraction when buying the everyday essentials needed to remain healthy...how can I convey to our federal government a sense of empathy and an urgency to be better, to do better than $200 a month?"
MODC Service User

The CDB, as previously budgeted, will not be implemented according to principles of inclusion, equity and accessibility, nor will it provide people with disabilities a basic income to access the benefits of living in Canadian society. The Office of Disability Issues, in a response to a HUMA inquiryiv, reports that at currently funding levels, the CDB will only lift 25,000 people with disabilities in Canada out of poverty – out of over 1.2 million people. This is not to be celebrated. 

Time is of the essence, as millions of people with disabilities continue to struggle to afford the necessities, especially as inflation creates additional financial pressures. With current federal, provincial, and territorial disability income supports languishing well below the poverty line, the CDB is an essential benefit. In our 2024-25 Pre-Budget Submissionv, March of Dimes Canada requested that the CDB be funded in accordance with the following formula, widely accepted in the disability community:

Current Incomevi + CDB = Canada’s Official Poverty Linevii + 30 per cent Cost of disability

When determining income level, the government, in draft regulations, is acting within existing ableist structures in basing CDB eligibility on household income instead of individual income – despite broad calls from stakeholders and people with disabilities to choose the latter, and Canada’s commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to ensure the dignity and autonomy of any person with a disability. Choosing a spousal income-base elevates dependency and removes choices because the CDB will begin to phase out if a spouse has a relatively higher (yet still low) income of over $32,500. With already immorally-low CPP-D and provincial/territorial disability income support maximums that keep people with disabilities living in entrenched poverty, removing access to the CDB at any spousal income level is unacceptable, perpetuating a charity model of disability and runs contrary to Canada’s international commitments and obligations.  

Further, March of Dimes Canada encourages the Minister and Cabinet to ensure provincial and territorial programs are successfully harmonized with the CDB, and that employment is not disincentivized for people who rely on income support programs as they transition back to work. In addition, the CDB must be categorized as non-taxable income (like the Canada Child Benefit), mitigating impacts on recipients’ eligibility for existing programs and other downstream impacts. March of Dimes Canada welcomed the announcement made in the 2024 fall economic statement that the federal government did plan to exclude the CDB as income under the Income Tax Act. However, with the proroguing of parliament earlier this year, this has not yet been legislated. We strongly recommend that the Minister and Cabinet make the same commitment when parliament resumes. 

Optimized Infrastructure and Interface Processes for Federal Disability Benefits

Accompanying the design of this new federal benefit, it is crucial that investments are made to ensure that there are no barriers to access for eligible recipients. During the course of decades of work with people with disabilities, and in results from our Fall 2020 survey and our Benefit Without Barriers report, March of Dimes Canada has learned that recipients continue to face barriers in accessing the federal disability benefits for which they are eligible. 

The barriers to federal disability benefits are well documented, as detailed by the Canada Revenue Agency’s Disability Advisory Committee regarding the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP).viii For example, it is estimated that only 40 per cent of eligible recipients utilize the DTC.ix 

March of Dimes Canada applauds the federal government’s commitment to providing a highest standard of service delivery and access for all government programs, services and benefits, through “undertaking a comprehensive review of access to federal disability programs.”x March of Dimes Canada encourages the Minister of Employment & Workforce Development, the Minister of National Revenue, and the Minister of Citizen Services to consult broadly with stakeholders to determine a path forward.

We recommend the Ministers endeavour to ensure the administration, user access point, and interface for the new CDB is rooted in a simplified, one window approach with a world-class standard of accessibility. This approach would meaningfully and positively impact how people with disabilities interact with the system that provides their income, eliminating what is currently a significant stress for a community that needs their government to act as a compassionate and helpful facilitator. 

At minimum, if the DTC remains the gateway for people to apply for and access the CDB, we recommend that the Ministers ensure that health care providers who complete the necessary documentation to support DTC applications are compensated directly by the government (rather than passing costs on to applicants). We applaud the government for allocating funds for this purpose in the 2024-25 Budget; however, the proroguing of parliament has hampered the implementation of the associated program. We recommend that this item is prioritized when parliament resumes to ensure broad take-up of the DTC and, in turn, the Canada Disability Benefit and other important financial security programs for people with disabilities.

Recommendation 2: Employment services for people with disabilities

An important piece of the financial security puzzle for many people with disabilities is access to inclusive, accessible and meaningful employment. But for far too many people with disabilities, there are still too many barriers to work. In our 2020 survey, more than half (57 per cent) of respondents indicated that they experienced employment barriers such as difficulty finding a job and/or work environment that properly accommodates them.xi People with disabilities who can work need to know there will be a job for them which meets their needs and gives them the opportunity to fully participate in the workforce. 

To that end, March of Dimes Canada recommends that the federal government, with leadership from the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, and support from the Minister of Labour, build upon recent investments in federally funded employment services for people with disabilities to ensure equitable, inclusive access to employment. Investments in employment programs for people with disabilities should be diversified, offering multiple types of support for jobseekers to find employment based on their unique, individualized needs. For example, we increasingly see the need for specialized employment supports for jobseekers with disabilities to access employment in a tech-enabled economy. This requires a specialized approach that diverges from traditional job readiness programs. Access to devices, internet, and transportation can all pose barriers for jobseekers with disabilities and must be addressed via employment programs.

Recommendation 3: Accessible home and vehicle modifications


People with disabilities of all ages need to know they will always be able to choose to remain in their homes and get where they need to go. In fact, a 2021 survey commissioned by March of Dimes Canada found that while over three-quarters (78 per cent) of Canadians want to age in their current homes, just 26 per cent predict they’ll be able to do so.xii 

For this reason, March of Dimes Canada encourages investments that will enable people with disabilities to remain safe and independent in their homes and communities. While the doubling of the Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit and the Home Accessibility Tax Credit in Budget 2022 represented good first steps, many seniors and people with disabilities are simply unable to pay up front and wait up to a year before getting tax credits for renovations required to remain in their own homes. 

March of Dimes Canada recommends that the federal government, with leadership from the Minister of Seniors and supported by the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion and the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, invest in a program to provides people with disabilities with grants to modify their homes and/or vehicles. 

A federal home and vehicle modifications program would make an immediate and escalating impact in ensuring seniors can successfully age-in-place at home, and people with disabilities of all ages can be independent and participate meaningfully in their communities. March of Dimes Canada has more than twenty years’ experience partnering with the government of Ontario on the successful Home and Vehicle Modification Program and recently, the government of Manitoba on the Safe and Healthy Home for Seniors program. We propose that piloting a similar program in lesser-served jurisdictions outside Ontario would support the Minister of Seniors’ mandate to work with community-based organizations to help provide practical support to low-income and otherwise vulnerable seniors to promote their independence and support them to ‘age in the (right) place’.xiii


i March of Dimes Canada. March of Dimes Canada Strategic Planning Stakeholder Consultation Project, 2020. Unpublished report provided by Strategic Navigator.
ii Statistics Canada. Accessibility in Canada: Results from the 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability.
iii Morris, S., Fawcett, G. et al. “A demographic, employment and income profile of Canadians with disabilities aged 15 years and over, 2017”. Canadian Survey on Disability Reports, released November 28, 2018. 
vi Current income must be defined as line 15000 income, excluding non-taxable federal, provincial or territorial income such as the Climate Action Incentive Payment, the Canada Child Benefit, Canada Workers Benefit, etc.
vii For a single person, as defined by Opportunity for All – Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy
viii CRA Disability Advisory Committee, Second Annual Report of the Disability Advisory Committee, 2020. 
ix Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, Breaking Down Barriers: A critical analysis of the Disability Tax Credit and the Registered Disability Savings Plan, 2017. 
xi March of Dimes Canada, 2020.
xiii Trudeau, Rt. Hon. J. P. J. Minister of Seniors Mandate Letter. December 16, 2021.