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1.5 Million Disabled Canadians Live in Poverty: A National Disability Insurance Plan Can Fix That

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Disabled people across Canada continue to feel the weight of the cost-of-living crisis, often struggling to pay rent, find stable housing, and put food on the table. A report released December 2024 by Campaign 2000 and Disability Without Poverty found that 1 in 6 disabled Canadians live in poverty: approximately 1.5 million disabled people (as of 2022). In addition to the daily expenses the average able-bodied person has, people with disabilities often have more expenses related to medication, mobility aids, and other assistive devices. Because of this, Campaign 2000 and Disability Without Poverty found that disabled people are twice as likely to live in poverty compared to their able-bodied counterparts.  In response to concerns around disability poverty, the federal government has not done nothing, but it also has not done much. As one part of their Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP), the federal government introduced the Canada Disability Benefit in July 2025. It is ...
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The Canada Disability Benefit: Eligibility Issues and Provincial Clawbacks

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In July of 2025, the Canada Disability Benefit began rolling out for eligible disabled Canadians. The federal government describes the CDB as “a new monthly benefit for low-income working-age persons with disabilities… The Canada Disability Benefit is a key commitment and cornerstone of Canada's Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP), which is a blueprint for change to make Canada more inclusive for persons with disabilities.” According to the Government of Canada’s website, to receive the CDB you must be 18 to 64 years old, approved for the Disability Tax Credit, filed your 2024 tax return, and be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. In short, the Canada Disability Benefit is an extra $200 per month in the pocket of low-income disabled individuals across Canada…well, in theory.  The largest hurdle applicants have faced in applying for the CDB is receiving approval for the Disability Tax Credit. To receive the DTC, you must have a medical practitioner certify that you are, i...
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Founders of Disability Activism in Canada

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Our online disability advocacy takes many of its ideas from a bold history of protesting and the human rights movement. Just before this recent Remembrance Day (2025), I came across an article written by a historian-in-residence at Western University, Eric Story, that taught me more of our lost history. These stories are integral to the growth and advocacy for wounded veterans, injured workers, people with disabilities and those who identify as neurodivergent brought together in unity under one banner.  Soldiers McDougall and Hincks are two disability rights activists and heroes forgotten by time but now remembered in great detail by Story. He ties period able-bodied policies into a story of truth, resilience and nation-wide disability community building, something that is now happening again with this digital age, as we collect online and demand respect and access.  Image credit: Calgary Daily Herald Both of these soldiers lost one of their legs in separate battles from 1915 ...
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Letters from the Editors - Mitchell's Statement

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With what’s left of my strength, I gathered myself and got off the bus and into Kipling Station, in Toronto. My experience with multiple disabilities, mental illnesses and a life of poverty, homelessness and survival rattle around my anxious head as I travel towards Queen's Park, home of the Ontario legislature. This day held a protest against the very things that have kept people with disabilities down for decades: explosively high rent, surging food and supply prices, and the Ontario Disability Support Program / Ontario Works payments being well below liveable.  I think of these types of events when explaining my intent and reasons for doing my advocacy work. For years, my life was stuck in fight or flight survival mode, feeling like a pest and a target, facing repeated homelessness and terrifying shelters. Now, with stability after 23 years on and off the streets, I dedicate much of my time to push the issues that almost took my life. Someone advocated for me while I was at my ...
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Letters from the Editors - Emily's Statement

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As a kid growing up with two disabled sisters, disability was never something foreign to me. Hospital visits, odd questions from friends, and overpacking on camping trips were just another part of life. But, as someone who grew up middle class, my knowledge of disability issues was quite limited to only what my sisters experienced. The disability issues I was seeing included inclusion in education, physical barriers in public and private spaces, and home-care nursing shortages. Our lives haven’t been simple (far from it!), but the world of disability I grew up in was a world largely inhabited by other middle-class families with disabled kids.   Emily and her siblings in 2010. As I became more interested in politics and advocacy in my late teens and early 20s, I learned more about the issue of disability poverty. In the third year of my film degree at Humber College, I started developing a documentary idea about the poverty people face on the Ontario Disability Support Program. Afte...
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How To Kick Off Into Advocacy: A Workbook

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 Use this workbook to brainstorm your digital advocacy journey. A printable download is available here .
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The Disability Bulletin: Inaugural Issue, Winter 2026

Thank you for checking out our newspaper! Our articles are available as sharable links on this blog. Our priority is to make this paper as accessible as possible. If you have any feedback about format or content please reach out to thedisabilitybulletin@gmail.com . Paper copies of our newspaper are available by donation (we recommend $3 to pay for printing costs.) But we will also mail you a copy for free, no questions asked! Request a copy via our Instagram  or email. A digital copy of our Winter 2026 issue is available to view and download here . Your Canadian community newspaper about disability. - Editors of The Disability Bulletin
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