Canada disability benefit bill passes Parliament

The federal government's bill to implement a new Canada Disability Benefit passed Parliament on Tuesday.

The federal government's bill to implement a new Canada Disability Benefit passed Parliament on Tuesday.

Bill C-22, from Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough, proposes to create a federal income supplement for low-income, working-age people with disabilities, modelled after the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

There has been pressure on the federal Liberals to make good on this commitment for years, after a previous version of the bill died in the House with the call of the last federal election.

Qualtrough has billed this proposal as "an important part of Canada’s social safety net" and a "game changer" that would benefit hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities. However, it remains unspecified how much money would be offered.

"This is an historic day! With this final vote in the Senate, Bill C-22 - the Canada Disability Benefit Act - is now on it's way to receiving Royal Assent," Qualtrough tweeted Tuesday evening. "This is the culmination of years of activism from members of the disability community. This is your victory."

It was the first bill debated at the start of the fall sitting, and passed the House in February. In the months since, the Senate has had its hands in the bill, ultimately making a handful of amendments.

Because the Senate had amended the bill, it bounced the legislation back into the House of Commons for re-consideration. Last week, the House voted to approve with some slight adjustments, five of the six Senate changes to Bill C-22, including acknowledgements of the rising cost of living and intersectional and systemic barriers facing the disability community, as well as stronger timelines for implementation.