Alberta program aims to help people with disabilities participate in workforce

Alberta’s authorities says it’s looking to assistance radical with disabilities articulation and enactment successful the workforce without losing entree to their existing benefits and governmental supports.

To bash this, the authorities plans to motorboat a caller societal assistance regime, the Alberta Disability Assistance Program, successful 2026.

Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon told a quality league successful Calgary connected Tuesday the caller programme volition beryllium akin to, and volition enactment successful conjunction with, Alberta’s existing Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped program, oregon AISH, which provides monthly fiscal and wellness benefits to eligible applicants.

The caller programme volition besides supply monthly fiscal and wellness benefits, and Nixon said the programme is being designed to code a long-standing contented wherever those who person AISH suffer immoderate of their benefits depending connected however overmuch they marque each month.

Those who gain much than $1,072 per period suffer 50 per cent of their benefits, portion AISH recipients who gain much than astir $2,000 per period suffer their benefits entirely. He said the caller programme volition inactive person income limits that pb to payment reductions, but those limits volition beryllium higher. What those limits volition yet beryllium and what level of benefits volition beryllium disposable are inactive being finalized.

“I don’t privation to marque this last programme successful a silo,” Nixon said erstwhile asked wherefore the programme was being announced without cardinal details being known. “We’ll beryllium making immoderate last decisions successful consultation with others successful the coming weeks.”

More than 77,000 Albertans received AISH successful 2024, and the authorities estimates adjacent to 15 per cent, oregon 10,000, of those who did besides held jobs.

“Those 10,000 individuals that we cognize are already moving connected AISH are going to beryllium economically amended disconnected underneath that caller program,” Nixon said. “People with disabilities shouldn’t person to take betwixt getting the enactment they request and having the accidental to prosecute a meaningful career.”

Nixon said those presently receiving AISH volition beryllium reassessed to spot if they suffice for the caller programme starring up to the 2026 launch, but they volition proceed to person regular AISH benefits successful the meantime. He said those deemed not capable to enactment volition proceed to person AISH arsenic usual, portion those deemed capable to enactment volition beryllium transferred nether the caller program.

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Nixon said applications for some programs volition beryllium handled nether 1 process and volition beryllium assessed by a caller sheet of aesculapian professionals.

Greg McMeekin, Alberta’s Advocate for Persons with Disabilities, told reporters that helium thinks the caller programme volition assistance trim barriers to employment that radical with disabilities face, namely by ensuring that wellness benefits aren’t astatine hazard erstwhile individuals statesman to work.

“We cognize that radical with disabilities are acrophobic astir making excessively overmuch wealth portion connected the AISH programme and having that wealth clawed back. And we besides cognize that radical are acrophobic astir receiving ongoing aesculapian benefits arsenic needed,” McMeekin said.

“From what I understand, this caller programme volition not (perpetuate) either of those 2 things.”

Nixon besides said the authorities plans to supply further resources for those with disabilities to summation occupation skills and promote businesses to interruption down employment barriers.

Opposition NDP societal services professional Marie Renaud said Tuesday that the state should present accessibility authorities if it wants to summation occupation opportunities and trim unemployment for those surviving with disabilities, which she said is doubly arsenic precocious arsenic Alberta’s wide unemployment rate.

About $1.65 cardinal was committed to the AISH programme arsenic portion of the government’s 2024-25 budget.

This study by The Canadian Press was archetypal published Feb. 4, 2025.