Over the last few months, the provincial government has been consulting on issues impacting people with disabilities. CLAS, BCCPD, Inclusion BC, BCANDS, CMHA-BC and SPARC BC have prepared a joint submission and made six recommendations to help make BC a progressive place for people with disabilities.

We recommend that BC:

  1. Provide disability supports using a person-centered approach that focuses on an individual’s personal goals and participation, and ensure the supports are equitably available in urban, rural and First Nation communities.
  2. Provide adequate disability income supports by raising BC’s Persons With Disabilities benefit to $1200 per month and indexing it to inflation so people with disabilities do not slip further into poverty.
  3. Support safe, secure and accessible housing for people with disabilities by increasing the social housing stock and introducing a rental assistance program for those with disabilities.
  4. Support employment and social inclusion in a meaningful way through a broad continuum of voluntary employment supports and a flexible income support system that allows people to try employment but easily return to benefits if their employment isn’t successful.
  5. Should not eliminate current need-based supports in an effort to simply the system. Instead, we should base supports on individualized disability-related needs.
  6. Allow vulnerable families to benefit from child support payments in order to improve their standards of living. The province’s current policy of deducting it from the family’s disability income supports ensures that the families continue to live in poverty.

Implementing these recommendations will reduce barriers and increase accessibility so that people with disabilities can better participate in their communities.