'Overwhelming support' for disability benefit complicated by slow implementation, survey finds

As Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland prepares to deliver the federal government’s budget next week, new data suggests overwhelming support for the Canada Disability Benefit, a form of financial support for people living with disabilities signed into law last June.

As Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland prepares to deliver the federal government’s budget next week, new data suggests overwhelming support for the Canada Disability Benefit, a form of financial support for people living with disabilities signed into law last June.

According to a survey from the Angus Reid Institute, 91 per cent of respondents claim to support the proposed Canada Disability Benefit.

Such support spans the political spectrum, the research suggests, with 83 per cent of past Conservative voters and 98 per cent of past Liberal voters in favour of the benefit. Up to 99 per cent of past NDP voters and 98 per cent of Bloc Québécois voters also share support for disability resources being factored into the federal budget, according to the survey.

In an interview with CTV News last September, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Kamal Khera called the benefit a “generational national program.”

“I think it's really important that we find the balance between, of course, the expediency and the care that it needs to make sure we get it right, with engagement with the community. So, that's exactly what I'm committed to in this new role,” Khera told CTV News.

Khera’s comments emerged against a backdrop of criticism from Canadians over the government’s slow pace of disability resource implementation.

According to Angus Reid, only one-in-20 (five per cent) of respondents report feeling “confident the federal government will follow through, while 45 per cent doubt it will and 13 per cent say they are certain the benefit will never be distributed.”