Plan Institute advocates for important issues that affect people in Canada living with disabilities. Below are just some of our current advocacy campaigns and conversations. If you would like to suggest other issues that you think we should prioritize, please contact us at info@planinstitute.ca.
Current Public Policy Campaigns
- The Canada Disability Benefit Initiative
As one of the many who are part of the Disability Without Poverty movement, we are focused on ensuring that the government follows through on its commitment for a Canada Disability Benefit. Furthermore, that this new benefit gets into the hands of Canadians with disabilities as soon as possible, and without clawbacks to existing supports and benefits. As a grassroots and pan-disability lead movement, we will make this happen by consulting with Canadians with disabilities to understand what they need the most, then designing a benefit to significantly reduce disability poverty.
- The Disability Tax Credit (DTC)
– Reform the eligibility for the DTC to include people with severe intermittent mental health issues and people with mild developmental disabilities.
– In general, simplify the DTC application and process.
- Disability Assistance
– Exempt employment income entirely from Disability Assistance eligibility.
– Exempt legal aid and long-term care from calculating Disability Assistance eligibility.
– Families can contribute funds or goods to their relatives with disabilities without clawbacks from BC Disability Benefits.
- Encourage the federal government to provide additional retirement help for families who had to give up a career to care for their disabled children.
- Permit TFSAs and RRSPs to be held by trusts.
- Replicate a supported-decision making model like the BC Representation Agreement across all provinces and territories.
Specific to the Registered Disability Savings Plan, we are advocating for:
- Harmonizing the treatment of trusts and structured settlements with that of RDSPs across the full range of provincial programs used by people with disabilities.
- Allowing the rollover of an RDSP from one beneficiary to another.
- Increasing the RDSP age limit by 2 years to match the increase in retirement age.
- Adding physical disabilities to the list of who can be eligible for the retirement rollover to RDSPs.
- Allowing Retirement Rollovers into RDSPs at any age (not just under 60).
- Making RDSPs creditor Proof.
- Harmonizing the treatment of trusts and RDSPs within the Federal Guaranteed Income Supplement Program.
- Allowing RDSP beneficiaries always keep their plan open. Only new contributions would be disallowed on failure to re-qualify for the DTC. Families ask why it is necessary to repay grants and bonds retroactively when they were rightfully earned during a period of disability./
- Creating an RDSP-asset housing fund.
- Calling on the Attorney General of Ontario to remove the legal barriers around Guardianship and the RDSP that are detrimental to so many people living with a developmental disability in Ontario. The RDSP Action Coalition of Ontario is leading this initiative. You can read more about it here.
Click here to learn more about the RDSP
If you would like to recommend an issue that you think we should focus our advocacy efforts on, please contact us at info@planinstitute.ca.
Image credit: Disabled and Here