Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon says sweeping changes to government disability benefits opens the door to careers for those currently on assistance, while critics say the changes will leave most with less money each month than before and stuck in a program they don't belong in.--FILE PHOTO
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On Wednesday, the Alberta government tabled Bill 12, an omnibus financial statutes amendments bill that contains legislation overhauling the province’s disability benefit system.
The province announced in February its plan to alter the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped program and establish the parallel Alberta Disability Assistance Program.
“With these amendments, we’re opening the door for people with disabilities to build the careers they want without having to sacrifice the supports they rely on, and we’re cleaning up outdated processes so families can get the help they need, when they need it,” Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon said Tuesday in a statement.
The UCP government describes ADAP as enabling Albertans with disabilities to receive the highest level of employment income in the country while continuing to receive financial benefits.
Critics however, say the changes actually lower the income exemption for the majority of people receiving either benefit, and that many disabled Albertans will be left receiving less money than before.
Starting in July 2026, all Albertans on AISH will be automatically transferred to the new Alberta Disability Assistance Program. ADAP will see recipients receive $1,701 compared to $1,901 on AISH. All current AISH recipients will have to be reassessed and reapply to AISH following the transfer.
“People with disabilities have been loud and clear that they don’t want these changes,” said Philip Ney, director of public engagement and community affairs at Inclusion Alberta.
Ney says Inclusion Alberta was not consulted regarding the new legislation.
Gordon VanderLeek is the founder and managing lawyer at VanderLeek Law, a wills and estates law firm with a disability advocacy division. He has also heard from stakeholders that they have not been consulted in the formulation of this policy.
“Purportedly, they’re doing this on behalf of the disability community, but they haven’t talked to the disability community, and no one I’ve talked to have said this is a benefit to them. Part of the difficulty here is they’re leading with legislation, and there’s still a lot of details unknown. So I think they’ve created a lot of fear and anxiety about the future,” he said.
The province conducted a round of public engagement in September, which included in-person and telephone town halls as well as an online survey. According to the government’s webpage, the still unreleased results of that engagement remain under review.
The new legislation effectively creates two tiers of disability benefits in the province, distinguished by whether their disability significantly impedes the ability to work or precludes it entirely. But Ney says whether an individual can work isn’t something that can be determined on the basis of diagnosis alone.
“It’s a function of what kind of support they’re getting and what kind of barriers they’re facing in society. So to categorize a whole group of people as permanently unemployable. This is not going to be moving forward employment.”
Zachary Weeks, an Edmonton-based disability advocate, says workplace accommodations are often extremely individualized. For himself, he uses voice recognition software to help him type and send emails. While he says it’s not expensive technology, it’s still a cost that he or his employer would have to bear.
“What I’m seeing over the past year of 2025 consultations, the town halls, the glossy brochures, none of it indicates what the actual plan is,” said Weeks.
The province made an additional investment of nearly $90 million in career and employment services, a move it says will support Albertans with disabilities locate work after transitioning to ADAP. But Weeks thinks the likelihood of disabled Albertans being able to find suitable work, even if they are deemed able, is low.
“Even in an ideal world, OK, let’s take the disability and the multiple medical barriers out of the equation. Riddle me this: where are the jobs? I’m hearing from able-bodied folks that it’s brutal right now to find a job, whether you’re disabled or not.”
Ney says the program’s design is flawed.
The maximum amount recipients can earn on ADAP before losing their benefit will be $400 higher than on AISH, but the threshold recipients can earn before being hit with clawbacks is being lowered.
On AISH, recipients can earn up to $1,072 before being subject to any reductions. That threshold is being reduced to $350 on ADAP.
The province has not outlined what the incremental scale of the clawbacks will be for recipients earning more than $350. But according to calculations by Gillian Petit, a senior research associate at the University of Calgary’s economics department, most people on AISH or ADAP will receive lower personal benefits than before the changes were implemented.
Bill 12 passed its first reading on Wednesday, and went up for second reading Thursday night. Ney and VanderLeek call on the government to stop the bill, or else remove the section dealing with AISH changes so it can be subject to further debate.
“At the press conference with Prime Minister Carney, Premier Smith said that this is a moment of opportunity for Alberta, and the prime minister said this is a great day for Alberta. But on the same day, we have MLAs voting on these changes to AISH, and they haven’t taken time to understand the impact of these changes, and so we’re calling on them to stop. They need to amend Bill 12, remove any changes to AISH, and then they need to come and talk to the community,” said Ney.
Weeks has a more tempered goal.
“More than anything, we need to stick together. We need to continue pushing back. We need to help keep people informed along the way.”
