High inflation is hitting people on fixed disability benefits hard

Even before inflation started rising, Murray and Linda Mann said it was hard for their son Kevin to make ends meet.

Kevin, 58, has a range of health problems, including systemic lupus, which has affected his kidneys. He spends a lot of time in and out of hospital, sometimes for months at a time. As a result, he is unable to work and relies on Canada Pension Plan disability benefits from the federal government, and a small pension from his former job to survive on less than $17,000 a year.

Every month is a financial stretch, and inflation is making it harder.

"Money is real tight for Kevin and it has been for 25 years," said his father Murray in a recent interview from their home in Belleville, Ont.

"And Kevin is not the only one," added Linda. "There are so many people below the poverty line and with disabilities."

People with disabilities have a higher poverty rate and a lower rate of employment than the overall population, according to Statistics Canada. Advocates say it is a longstanding, systemic problem that inflation is making worse.

Murray said Kevin's pension from his former job is not indexed to inflation, so it doesn't rise as costs escalate. While the federal benefits are indexed, they lag behind actual inflation, so he said the increases haven't caught up to the 6.7 per cent inflation rate that Statistics Canada reported for March.

The Manns would like to see more support for people with disabilities, like an income supplement that would put them above the poverty line and help offset rising costs for food, shelter and other goods.

Guillaume Parent, director of the wealth management firm Finandicap, specializes in financial services for people with disabilities. For his clients, there are often extra costs to shoulder, like adapted housing and transit, and personal support workers.

Those expenses push the poverty line higher for people with disabilities and governments need to recognize that and adjust to it, said Parent, who has cerebral palsy.

Quebec's disability benefits are indexed to inflation, but Parent said those increases come long after prices have already gone up.

"People are suffering a lot," he said, adding he has clients who are no longer able to cover their basic costs.

In Ontario, people with disabilities can apply for the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), which provides income support for qualifying adults with disabilities.

Pascal Kakule, an organiser with the Ottawa chapter of the advocacy group Acorn, uses a wheelchair and relies on ODSP to make ends meet.