INCOME and EMPLOYMENT SECURITY Backgrounder · The recent IRPP report states that 1.2 million working-age Canadians in 2012 reported one or more of the twenty conditions considered

INCOME and EMPLOYMENT SECURITY Backgrounder _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Introduction This backgrounder has been developed to provide information relating to the National Government Relations priority - income and employment security. It is divided into 2 Parts: (1) Recommendations and Context (2) Additional References. Here’s an outline:

Part 1 Recommendations and Context

Page 2 Income and Employment Security Recommendations

• Make Work…Work!

• Making Ends Meet!

Pages 3/4 Context – Income and Employment Security

Part 2 Additional References These references provide further in depth information on the content within the recommendations as well as alignment with current government initiatives and programs.

Pages 5-8 The 7 Income, Disability and Employment Programs

Page 8 Federal Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities

Page 8 Flexible Work Arrangements Consultation (Government of Canada)

Page 9 Caledon Institute of Social Policy - A Basic Income Plan for Canadians with Severe Disabilities

Page 9 About Guaranteed Income Supplement

Pages 9-10 Poverty Reduction Strategy

Pages 10-12 Reference: The Government of Canada has already implemented and announced several initiatives that will help reduce poverty in Canada


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Part 1 Recommendations and Context

Income and Employment Security Recommendations for Change

The MS Society is focused on ensuring Canadians living with MS and their families have the opportunity to participate fully in all aspects of life. Therefore, we are recommending changes to improve income and employment security for Canadians affected by MS.

Employment - Make Work…Work! ✓ Improve the coordination of basic definitions and program parameters across the income, disability,

employment and support system to include those living with episodic disabilities. o This includes all 7 programs offered by different providers (federal, provincial, and private).

▪ Canada Pension Plan – Disability (CPP-D); Employment Insurance (EI) Sickness Benefit; Employment-based long-term disability (LTD) plans; Worker’s Compensation benefit; Veterans’ benefits; Tax measures; Provincial/Territorial social assistance programs

✓ Enhance the EI Sickness Benefit program by: o Extending the duration of EI Sickness benefits from 15 weeks to 26 weeks to match compassionate

care benefits o Reducing/eliminating the clawback o Creating a flexible work-sharing program so that a person can reduce work hours while receiving EI

income. ✓ Create a system for the expert dissemination of information and hands-on support to employers on roles, best

practices and resources when an employee or family member is diagnosed with a chronic or episodic disability, and requires time away from work.

Income - Make Ends Meet! Short Term: ✓ Make disability tax credits fully refundable and increase them to put much needed income directly in the hands

of low-income people with MS and other disabilities; ✓ Change eligibility criteria (e.g. Canada Pension Plan – Disability, Disability Tax Credit) to ensure people with

episodic disabilities have access to public insurance and tax credit systems for those unable to work or who can only work on an intermittent basis;

✓ Harmonize the EI sickness benefits duration of 15 weeks to match the 26 weeks’ duration of compassionate care benefits;

✓ Ensure the national poverty reduction strategy includes all Canadians including those with episodic and progressive disabilities to have adequate income;

✓ Increase existing federal benefits (e.g. EI sickness benefit amount) and credits (e.g. caregiver tax credit, family caregiver tax credit, disability tax credit) for people with disabilities.

Long Term: ✓ We recommend as published in report by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, that the federal government, in

close cooperation with other governments, give serious consideration to a basic income program that would replace provincial/territorial social assistance for most working-age persons with severe disabilities. The Basic Income program would be a close model of the Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) programs for seniors.


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Employment - Make Work…WORK!

Employment is a key factor in maintaining adequate income and reducing poverty. However, a review of literature published between 2002- 2011 estimated that the average unemployment rate for individuals with MS is almost 60 per centi. Data from the US indicates that people with MS experience some of the highest unemployment rates among groups of individuals with severe and chronic disabilities and have disproportionately high unemployment rates given their educational and vocational histories.ii Yet people with MS want to work and struggle to continue to work. The Conference Board of Canada in 2016 published a report, MS in the Workplace and found that: “The unpredictability and episodic nature of MS make it particularly challenging in the workplace. As symptom types and severity vary greatly, individuals with MS can find it difficult to manage their treatments, let alone maintain a daily routine and meet work commitments within the traditional employment space.”iii The Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) report “Leaving Some Behind: What Happens When Workers Get Sick,” cited as the Mowat Centre’s top public policy paper in 2015, asks how Canada is doing in supporting Canadians who experience a major health issue with their employment and income needs. It points to the “need for a comprehensive re-examination of how Canadians are able to balance work and income during periods of receiving or giving care.” The report notes that each year, six per cent of the Canadian workforce adjust its work status for some length of time in order to deal with a health condition.iv Research conducted by the Conference Board of Canada identifies Canadians with disabilities as an under-represented group in the Canadian labour force.v There are, however, substantial numbers of Canadians with disabilities that are willing and able to work. If not full-time, then at least on an intermittent basis. The occurrence of episodic conditions among Canadians is significant. The recent IRPP report states that 1.2 million working-age Canadians in 2012 reported one or more of the twenty conditions considered episodic. This represents slightly more than half of the 2.3 million working-age Canadians living with a disability.vi Often policies and programs targeted at income or employment support focus narrowly on “disability,” assuming a health condition that is either continuous or progresses linearly through time.vii

Income - Making Ends Meet Lack of secure, adequate income intensifies the hardship caused by MS and keeps people affected by the disease from participating fully in their communities. This situation is amplified if you are a woman with a disability. In the MS population, there are more women with MS as MS is three times as likely to occur in women as in men. When looking at the distribution of gender of working age Canadians with severe or very severe disabilities “women outnumber men both in absolute number and incidence (i.e., the percentage of the population with disabilities) among those with severe/very severe disabilities and those with mild/moderate disabilities.” They also have on average lower incomes and earnings thus making them most susceptible to poverty.viii Accessing financial support and managing the high costs of MS is a challenge. This is consistent with research that shows MS seriously affects the economic life of those diagnosed, even within a few years of onset.ix We heard of challenges of paying for medication, services, equipment, treatment and transportation. Many indicate that they need more money and have difficulty navigating the system to find financial support, be it for medications, income replacement, or claiming tax deductions related to disability. Qualifying for these programs is challenging for people with MS due to the episodic nature of the disease. Complicated application processes, requirements for numerous verified medical forms, and strict eligibility criteria pose significant problems. Additionally, many Canadians with MS cannot qualify for disability-related public or private insurance programs

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=7921

http://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/report-2015-09-03.pdf


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because eligibility is obtained through employment or is a workplace benefit, and many people impacted by MS in the prime of their lives are no longer able to maintain employment. A study conducted on behalf of HRDC recommended that “federal and provincial governments should continue to make eligibility rules for income support programs less restrictive and more flexible to reflect the fact that many people experience disability and work capacity as variable, episodic, and intermittent.”x The added costs associated with having a disability are an important factor contributing to poverty for people with disabilities. While the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) is designed to provide equity to compensate at least roughly for the added non-itemizable and non-reimbursable costs of disability as noted above qualifying for the credit is challenging for people with a progressive and episodic disability. And for those that qualify for the DTC in order to benefit from it an individual must have an adequate amount of income. Many Canadians with episodic disabilities, and in particular, women with disabilities, cannot work enough to generate the minimum income required to be able to enjoy any benefit associated with the DTC. A refundable tax credit that even those with the lowest incomes may access would offer a solution to this problem. In a recent paper, “The Disability Tax Credit: Why It Fails and How to Fix It,” researchers Wayne Simpson and Harvey Stevens calculated that 301,458 of the 499,302 adult Canadians who qualify for the credit cannot receive any benefit from it because they don’t have enough income. To turn this around the authors suggest:

People with MS who can’t work have trouble getting by on the limited financial assistance offered under current government programs. As one respondent from our Listening to People Affected by MS survey explained:

“You can’t live off of the CPP-D amount. And you can’t really work because they take the little they are giving you away if they find out you are earning money somewhere else. So you get stuck in a bad cycle that you can’t get out of.” (Respondent, Listening Initiative, 2013)

“turning this non-refundable credit into a refundable credit, would increase the average benefit for Canada’s poorest families with a disabled person from $29 to $511, increasing their total income by a meaningful 4.1 per

cent. Just as importantly, where a meagre 0.2 per cent of these families now get any benefit at all from the credit, a refundable credit would now see a majority, 56.4 per cent, receiving benefits.”


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Part 2 Additional References The 7 Income, Disability and Employment Programs Canada offers a patchwork of seven separate programs with different eligibility criteria designed for adults with chronic health conditions who are completely unable to work or who require financial support when unable to work. And while some of these programs are attempting to accommodate changes associated with an evolving concept of disability, Canadians with disabilities and in particular with episodic disabilities are still left behind.

Program (1) Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D) ✓ Compulsory contributory social insurance program ✓ Eligibility based on minimum contribution requirements ✓ Definition of disability “severe” and prolonged

Episodic Disability Lens

By definition, many people with episodic disabilities are excluded because of the “prolonged” criterion and also because many have precarious employment that fails to meet the minimum contribution requirement.

Notes • Change in definition and eligibility criteria (e.g. place emphasis on functional impairment and impact on employment over the medical determination of disability) This change would help to support individuals who are “impaired” but not yet diagnosed and then struggle through the late applicant process.

• Issue -Only 1 year of retroactive payment when officially “disabled” and going through late applicant process (Example: Women who leave work to raise children, and then unable to go back to work years later, yet were considered “disabled” many years before. DTC Credit allows for 10 years retroactive – the CPP-D could expand to allow this.

• (IRPP Report) Like private disability insurance, both CPP-D and provincial social assistance systems have been noted to use definitions of impairment that are either highly conditional on prolonged or indefinite withdrawal from work, or which reflect a significant restriction of work capacity (Prince 2008). Where insurance payouts are triggered by being unable to resume the previous job, CPP-D requires claimants to be unable to be employed in “any substantially gainful occupation.” While these are not explicit exclusions, it can make formal medical certification a challenge.

• Appeal Process – Tribunal Delays

Program (2) Employment Insurance (EI) Sickness Benefit ✓ Compulsory contributory social insurance program ✓ Eligibility is subject to minimum contribution requirements (600 hours in the past 52 weeks) and

required that the individual is unemployed and, except for sickness/injury/quarantine, would otherwise would be available to work

**January 2017 – the EI waiting period was reduced from 2 weeks to 1 week EI Fund not independent – EI surpluses of $3.5 billion in 2014 and $2.2 billion in 2015 are helping balance federal books in 2016.


By definition, many people with episodic disabilities are excluded because many have precarious employment that fails to meet the minimum requirement.

Notes 1. Reduce and/or eliminate the dollar for dollar reduction in earnings while on sickness benefits. Currently, the EI sickness benefits program makes a gradual return to the job or intermittent work very difficult, since benefits are reduced dollar for dollar by any job earnings. A reduction of the dollar for dollar claw back provides an incentive for claimants to gradually return to employment in a modified work capacity.


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- This return to work incentive is already available to regular employment insurance claimants as a measure to reduce claim duration and increase re-employment rates (i.e. working while on claim project. (accessed 17 March 2016); available from http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/information/wwc.shtml) - Additionally, the elimination of the clawback is already a part of the EI work sharing program. Noted in the application guide – “Earnings received in any week by an employee shall not be deducted from the Work-Sharing benefits.”(accessed 17 March 2016); available from http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/work_sharing//index.shtml 2. Harmonize the duration of EI sickness benefits from 15 weeks to 26 weeks to match compassionate care benefits duration. 3. Introduce flexibility in the calculation of benefits by using days over weeks. This ought to include 150 half days versus 75 full days. This would provide individuals with episodic or chronic illnesses the support needed for a gradual return to work. - Although there is flexibility in terms of not having to take the 15 weeks consecutively, there is no support for a person with an intermittent capacity to work. Working a few hours per week means losing a week of benefits. - This is aligned with recommendations from the Mowat Centre Employment Insurance Task Force which states “Deploying sickness benefits in a more flexible, client-centered manner, could help address Canada’s labour shortages.” (Mowat Centre Task Force, Making It Work, Final Recommendations of the Mowat Centre Employment Insurance Task Force (accessed 17 March 2016); available from http://www.mowateitaskforce.ca/sites/default/files/MakingItWork-online.pdf) **This was reduced to 1 week on January 1, 2017 - 4. Reduce and/or eliminate the 2 week waiting period. The Mowat Centre Task Force in its recommendations on the EI program suggest “Other than cost containment, there is no clear justification for the waiting period for special benefits, and it may cause inconvenience or hardship for individuals.” (Mowat Centre Task Force, Making It Work, Final Recommendations of the Mowat Centre Employment Insurance Task Force (accessed 17 March 2016); available from http://www.mowateitaskforce.ca/sites/default/files/MakingItWork-online.pdf) 5. Increase the EI Sickness Benefit amount. Increasing this amount will help to put much needed income into the hands of those struggling to retain their jobs and manage their illness. 6. Introduce a series of support services into the EI sickness program in order to help facilitate a return to work. The recent ground-breaking report of the Institute for Research on Public Policy’s “Leaving Some Behind: What Happens When Workers Get Sick” highlights these support services elements which include: - work-sharing benefits so that employers are able to help a worker dealing with an illness retain employment; - active labour market supports; and - funding support to help employers with job modification and job retention for workers recovering from an illness.

Program (3) Employment-based Long-term Disability (LTD) Plans

• These plans require medical evidence of a permanent or long-duration impairment that prevents the individual from working.

• These plans cover about 55% of Canadian workers and are typically offered to full-time employees.


By definition, many people with episodic disabilities are excluded as many have precarious employment that excludes them from coverage.

Notes

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/information/wwc.shtml

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/work_sharing/index.shtml

http://www.mowateitaskforce.ca/sites/default/files/MakingItWork-online.pdf


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Program (4) Worker’s Compensation Benefit

• Income security benefit is available to workers who experience wage loss as a result of disease or injury that can be attributed to the work environment.


By definition, only some of the health conditions considered episodic could be attributed to the work environment.

Program (5) Veterans’ Benefits

• These benefits are available only to Canadians who are veterans or members of the Canadian Armed Forces whose disability can be attributed to exposures arising from service.

• Disability must be severe.


By definition, only some of the health conditions considered episodic could be attributed to exposures arising from service.

Program (6) Tax Measures

• Disability Tax Credit (DTC), Working Income Tax Benefit – Disability and the Registered Disability Savings Plan.

• To qualify for these measures, one has to have taxable income and must meet the definition that is used for CPP-D.

“equity” not income security program


Because many people with episodic disabilities do not meet the CPP-D definition of disability, many do not have access to these tax measures.

Notes DTC: Change in definition for eligibility, make it refundable and increase the amount. Make this a refundable tax credit to provide tax equity. The definition of disability used in determining eligibility for the DTC needs to be changed to be inclusive for all people with disabilities including those with episodic disabilities. The DTC requires that a person’s disability be “severe and prolonged” with prolonged being defined as “if it (the impairment) has lasted or is expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months.” For individuals living with episodic disabilities, a condition may be expected to last for more than 12 months, but symptoms may not be severe for a continuous 12 month period. DTC: Geeta’s Story: Geeta, a woman living with MS, is likely to have MS for the rest of her life but her symptoms may only be severe for 6 months in a year or they may become severe and stay that way for several years. Geeta must regularly rely on a network of supports and services to maintain her health and avoid exacerbating her illness. These supports include things such as help cleaning her home, assistance with child care, and taxis to and from appointments and work. When her MS flares up Geeta may be completely unable to leave her home and must rely on additional supports to help get herself dressed, prepare food and use the bathroom. We would argue that even when relatively asymptomatic Geeta still retains a permanent restriction in her activities of daily living due to the unpredictable and episodic nature of MS. She also incurs additional expenses related to her disability and should therefore be entitled to the disability tax credit. In order for the DTC to have a real impact on alleviating the expenses related to living with a disability it must provide some benefit to those with the lowest incomes. A refundable tax credit that even those with the lowest incomes may access would offer a solution to this problem. This principle is based on the value that everyone with a disability should benefit equally from the DTC - not just those with taxable income above a certain amount. Such a tax credit would help to lessen the marginalization of people with episodic disabilities and would facilitate moving people with episodic disabilities out of poverty and into a position of empowerment and readiness for gainful employment.


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Program (7) Provincial/Territorial Social Assistance Programs

• Welfare – function as Canada’s social safety net of last resort

• Provide financial assistance and in-kind goods and services to individuals whose income from employment or other sources is not sufficient to meet their needs and who have exhausted other avenues of support

• For non-senior adults – definition of disability for program eligibility proposes varies by jurisdiction and program.

• The welfare systems in some provinces and territories have a separate stream for persons with disabilities that typically pays somewhat higher benefits than for persons without disabilities. In fact, several provinces have carved out the disability component into an entirely distinct program.

Federal Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities Government of Canada provides $222 million each year through Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities (LMAPDs). The LMAPDs give provinces and territories the flexibility to determine their own priorities and approaches to best address the needs of persons with disabilities in their jurisdictions. Employment programs provided by the provinces with federal funding under current Canadian Labour Market Agreements are designed to create new jobs and promote recruitment for people with disabilities. But they do not provide the services that would really help people with MS and other episodic disabilities keep working, such as early on-the-job support or encouragement to employers to make needed workplace accommodations. Consultation: The MS Society submitted feedback to the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Consultations on Federal Labour Transfer Agreements in August 2016.

• The MS Society believes this is an important program that needs to be more inclusive of persons with episodic disabilities to remain in the workforce. A clear focus on job retention supports for both the employee and employer as a key pillar in the programs that these agreements fund is essential to improve the underrepresentation of persons with disabilities, and in particular Canadians with episodic conditions like MS in the workforce.

Flexible Work Arrangements Consultation (Government of Canada) Flexible Work Arrangements: What We Heard The report from the Federal Government’s flexible work arrangements consultation references episodic as well as multiple sclerosis including a direct quote from our submission. “A diagnosis of MS shouldn’t mean someone has to give up working . . . But the truth is that many people feel they have no choice but to leave a job, even though they are willing and able to stay.” — Multiple Sclerosis International Written Submission, June 29, 2016 (This is from the MS Society’s written submission) “Advocacy groups, as well as several employer and union organizations and academics, stressed that flex work is particularly important for workers with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis and some mental health issues who have symptoms that are considered episodic, i.e. periods of good health interrupted, often unpredictably, by periods of illness or disability that affect their ability to work. For these individuals, flexible work arrangements are important means to manage their symptoms, be more productive at work and maintain their quality of life.” “Building on the theme of “one size does not fit all,” several employer and labour organizations and at least one think tank highlighted that the need for flex work is often unpredictable and that it is important for workplaces to have flexible work arrangements that respond to episodic, short-term and longer-term flexibility requirements. It was also noted that it is important for employees, employers and policy-makers to recognize that flexibility in work arrangements is related to but distinct from flexibility to take leave from work.”

http://www.esdc.gc.ca/en/consultations/labour/flexible_work_arrangements/what_was_heard.page?_ga=1.263910217.411968224.1474641364


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Caledon Institute of Social Policy - A Basic Income Plan for Canadians with Severe Disabilities

http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/906ENG.pdf Caledon has proposed a separate income program that would be run by the federal government and would replace provincial/territorial welfare for working age persons with severe disabilities. The design of the proposed Basic Income would be modelled on the federal Guaranteed Income Supplement for low-income seniors. The new benefit would be more adequate than current welfare programs and would be indexed. As part of this income security redesign, a negotiated accord would require reinvestment of provincial/territorial savings into a coherent system of disability supports for all persons with disabilities – whether working or on some program of income support. The Basic Income Plan will replace welfare for most Canadians with severe disabilities. Through related restructuring of other programs, the Basic Income Plan will also offset the cost of disability to all who need it and establish a reformed system of support and services for persons with disabilities. The foundation of this plan is a new federal Basic Income program that would replace provincial/territorial social assistance for most working age persons with severe disabilities. The second reform is to convert the existing nonrefundable Disability Tax Credit into a refundable Disability Tax Credit that would extend compensation for the extra costs of disability to the lowest-income people with disabilities. These federal income security initiatives would free up provincial and territorial revenues for investment in urgently needed disability supports and services. This federal and provincial/territorial policy partnership could bring Canada into a new age of enlightened programs for those with severe disabilities, with a modest but livable assured minimum income and a system of supports for daily living that could be among the best in the world. All this is achievable at a cost that is realistic in light of other fiscal choices.

About Guaranteed Income Supplement (https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/old-age-security/guaranteed-income-supplement.html)

• The Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) provides a monthly non-taxable benefit to Old Age Security (OAS) pension recipients who have a low income and are living in Canada.

• You qualify for the GIS if you meet all of the following conditions: o you are receiving an Old Age Security pension; and o your annual income (or in the case of a couple, your combined income) is lower than the maximum annual

threshold

• The amount of the GIS you receive depends on your marital status and your previous year's income (or in the case of a couple, your combined income).

Poverty Reduction Strategy • On February 13, 2017 the Government of Canada launched two initiatives to support the development of Canada’s

Poverty Reduction Strategy: a nation-wide consultation process and a call for nominations for a ministerial advisory committee on poverty. Read the full news release here - http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1187479

• Online Consultation - Consulting Canadians on poverty reduction - https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/consultation.html?_ga=1.116280198.108078430.1477943372

• Towards a Poverty Reduction Strategy – Discussion Paper - https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/discussion-paper.html

o Message from the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development - Canada is a prosperous country where significant progress has been made to ensure that all citizens receive the support they need to thrive and feel included. However, despite this progress, over 3 million Canadians still live in poverty. As the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, an important part of my mandate is to ensure that fewer Canadians live in poverty. For this purpose, an important government and personal commitment is to develop a Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy. Poverty goes beyond inadequate

http://www.caledoninst.org/Publications/PDF/906ENG.pdf

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/old-age-security/guaranteed-income-supplement.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp/old-age-security/guaranteed-income-supplement.html

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1187479

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1187479

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/consultation.html?_ga=1.116280198.108078430.1477943372

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/consultation.html?_ga=1.116280198.108078430.1477943372

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/discussion-paper.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/discussion-paper.html


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income. It is also about food insecurity, social exclusion, inadequate housing, and the lack of access to transportation and services, among other hardships. Those who live in poverty are people from all walks of life. They are children and families, seniors, Indigenous people, people with disabilities and immigrants. They may be people we do not suspect live in need. The Government of Canada is committed to strengthening the middle class and helping low-income Canadians exit poverty so that they have sufficient capabilities to be well and do well. To achieve this goal, we will need to form partnerships, modernize the existing landscape of supports and encourage sustainable, inclusive economic growth—growth that creates opportunities for all to participate in, and benefit from, our success. Governments can make a difference, but they cannot do it alone. I am pleased to present this discussion paper as I want to hear your views on how we can reduce poverty in Canada. To help inform the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Government of Canada will also be conducting extensive case studies in six communities as part of its Tackling Poverty Together Project, allowing the Government to hear directly from Canadians living in poverty and learn from organizations that deliver poverty reduction programs. With the development of a Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy underway, we are taking an important step towards reducing poverty in Canada. With your help, we will realize our vision of a diverse, prosperous and truly inclusive country—a country where all can realize their full potential.

MS Society submission to the HUMA committee regarding their study on poverty reduction

• The unpredictability and episodic yet progressive nature of MS makes it particularly challenging in maintaining an adequate quality of life. This along with the challenges of living with a disability which has both visible and invisible symptoms and the barriers in our support programs across all levels of governments creates immense financial challenges for Canadian families who struggle to manage the realities of living with MS.

• There are considerations in discussing poverty and in particular relating to living with a disability that is both episodic and progressive. The MS community is particularly qualified to advise in this regard, as many of the issues encompassing poverty are everyday experiences for people living with MS and their families. While we understand that poverty is influenced by many factors and this is true for people affected by MS we provide commentary below on issues relating to employment, income and support programs.

• Reducing poverty for Canadians is necessary. We look forward to seeing the national poverty reduction strategies include the recommendations contained within this submission to ensure that all Canadians including those with episodic and progressive disabilities have adequate income to participate fully and equally in our Canadian society.

Reference: The Government of Canada has already implemented and announced several initiatives that will help reduce poverty in Canada. (https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/nomination/brief.html) Children and families

• Introduced the Canada Child Benefit. • Working with the provinces, the territories and experts to develop a framework on early learning and child care to

address the need for access to affordable, high-quality child care. • Develop a strategy against gender-based violence.

Seniors • Increased the Old Age Security (OAS) and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). • Cancelled the age of eligibility increase from 65 to 67 for OAS and the GIS. • Reached an agreement-in-principle with provincial governments to expand the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). • Committed to increase the Working Income Tax Benefit to ensure that lower-income workers have larger CPP

benefits in retirement People with disabilities

• Developing accessibility legislation. • Committed to reinstate the Court Challenges Program of Canada.

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/poverty-reduction/nomination/brief.html


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Innovation in poverty reduction • Working with its partners to develop a Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy to support community

organizations working to tackle persistent social challenges in new, innovative ways. Indigenous peoples

• Developing an Indigenous Early Learning and Child care Framework. • Investing for improvements to primary and secondary education on reserve. • Investing for school infrastructure on reserve. • Investing in the First Nations Child and Family Services Program to help improve child welfare services. • Investing in housing and community infrastructure. • Investing to support the renovation and construction of shelters for victims of family violence in First Nations

communities. • Investing to support mental wellness on reserve and in territories. • Investing in labour market programming. • Engaging stakeholders on a renewed and expanded Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy. • Strengthening and renewing the Urban Aboriginal Strategy. • Investing in the Aboriginal Courtwork Program. • Investing to support economic development for the Métis Nation. • Investing to promote, preserve and enhance Indigenous languages through the Aboriginal Languages Initiative.

Housing and homelessness

• Developing a National Housing Strategy. • Investing in Investment in Affordable Housing program. • Investing in the Homelessness Partnering Strategy. • Investing in affordable housing for seniors. • Investing in shelters for victims of family violence. • Providing funding towards the renovation of existing social housing. • Investing towards an Affordable Rental Housing Innovation Fund.

Health and food • Developing and negotiating a health accord with provinces and territories. • Providing additional funding to expand Nutrition North Canada.

Post-secondary education • Increased Canada Student Grants for low- and middle-income students. • Improved the Canada Student Loans Program to better meet the needs of low-income students. • Changed the repayment rules for the Canada Student Loans Program to help reduce student debt. • Improved access to the Canada Learning Bond for children from low-income families.

Support for low-income workers and the unemployed • Reduced Employment Insurance (EI) premiums. • Working to reduce the waiting period to enhance income support through EI. • Eliminated higher eligibility requirements to the EI program for the New-Entrant and Re-Entrant to the Labour

Market categories. • Extended the EI program’s Working While on Claim pilot. • Temporarily extended EI benefits to regions that have experienced significant job losses as a result of the

commodity price decline. • Committed to enhance parental and caregiving benefits delivered through EI. • Invested in the Labour Market Development Agreements and in the Canada Job Fund Agreements to support

training and skills development. • Introduced initiatives to promote good-quality jobs and decent work in the federally regulated private sector. • Invested in the Northern Adult Basic Education Program.


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i Schiavolin, S. et al., 2013 ii Sweetland et al., 2012 iii Conference Board of Canada, 2016 iv Meredith, & Chia, 2015 v Brisbois, 2014 vi Furrie, 2010 vii Furrie, 2010 viii Mendelson et al., 2010 ix Pfleger et al., 2009 x Furrie, 2010

Documents

INCOME and EMPLOYMENT SECURITY Backgrounder · The recent IRPP report states that 1.2 million working-age Canadians in 2012 reported one or more of the twenty conditions considered