digital toolkit
#ShowMeTheMoney
#BudgetTheBenefit
For years, people with disabilities across Canada have been consistently underfunded by every province and territory, when it comes to disability assistance programs. Since the pandemic, the situation has become even worse for the 1.4 million disabled Canadians already living in poverty.
Three years ago, the federal government promised to create a monthly Canada Disability Benefit for people with disabilities between the ages of 18 and 64.
People with disabilities can’t afford to wait any longer. It’s time for action, and we need your help to make sure politicians get the message loud and clear!
This toolkit provides information about the crisis, our demands, our upcoming postcard campaign and how you can help, whether you get involved online or in your community. The toolkit will be updated on an ongoing basis, and is available to download for free. We encourage you to share it with all your friends and community members.
Why the Canada Disability Benefit Matters:
- People with disabilities in Canada are twice as likely to live in poverty than those without a disability.
- Persons with a disability make up 41 per cent of the low‑income population in Canada.
- People with disabilities are three times more likely to experience food insecurity
Our Demands
- Bill C-22 for a Canada Disability Benefit needs to be passed into law this Spring 2023.
- People with disabilities must be engaged in designing the benefit and implementing it in their province.
- The Canada Disability Benefit must be Budgeted in 2023 and be adequate enough to lift people with disabilities out of poverty.
Email a digital postcard to your Member of Parliament:
Send a postcard to the Finance Minister:
Tell the Finance Minister to include funding for the Canada Disability Benefit before the end of 2023!
Postcards are available in English and French.
Download and print the postcards as is.
Customize the postcards with your logo by contacting us at [email protected] and including your logo. We’ll send you a print-ready pdf of your custom-designed postcard.
Order postcards directly from us by emailing [email protected] with the name of your organization, quantity in English/French, and your mailing address.
Disability Without Poverty can provide a small quantity of postcards to groups and individuals who don’t have the ability to pay for printing costs.
For large orders, Disability Without Poverty may suggest a donation to help us cover the cost of shipping, but we are committed to ensuring that cost is not a barrier to the postcards.
Get the word out in your community!
- Start a conversation with friends and family and fill out the postcards together
- Organize a postcard signing event to explain the benefit and to sign the postcards
- Tack on a postcard signing to an existing event – eg signing them at a community meal/event
- Set up a table somewhere with lots of walk-by traffic and ask people to sign the postcards
- Collect the cards and take them to your local MP to personally deliver them to the Finance Minister. National Access Ability Week (May 28-June3) would be an excellent occasion to do this!
- Or mail them to the Finance Minister one at a time or as a big batch (whatever you think will have a bigger impact).
There is no postage needed to send a postcard to your MP or any member of Parliament.
IN PERSON ACTIONS – This section will be regularly updated with actions.
April 12 – Quebec City Community Roundtable
April 20 – DWP appears before SOCI Senate Committee
April 24 – Ottawa lunch & learn
April 25 – Toronto ODSP Action Coalition Rally at Queen’s Park
Stay tuned for Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg Roundtable details.
Press Conference and Rally
National AccessAbility Week
May 28 – June 3
All are welcome – Wear a mask and keep physically distanced
Burnaby, BC – Jagmeet Singh’s office
Ottawa, ON – Pierre Poilièvre’s office
Toronto, ON – Chrystia Freeland’s office
Montreal, QC – Justin Trudeau’s office
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