AISH recipient, advocates worry about Alberta’s new disability benefit program

Alberta Disability Assistance Program coming in July 2026.

Assisted Living and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon says ADAP will allow Albertans with disabilities to keep more of what they earn while receiving government benefits. Critics say that won’t be the case for many. David Mercer/CBC

Michelle Bellefontaine, CBC News Edmonton August 21, 2025

A new discussion guide about the upcoming Alberta Disability Assistance Program reveals that many Albertans with severe disabilities will receive lower personal benefits after the program launches next summer.

When Assisted Living and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon announced in broad strokes how the ADAP would work in February, he touted the program as a way for Albertans with disabilities to keep more earnings from paid employment while still receiving health and personal benefits from the province.

But new details in the guide, which accompanies a new online survey, have people who rely on Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped panicking about what lies ahead.

“It sure sounds like they’re going to make it a lot more difficult to be on AISH,” said Kaitlyn Harris, an AISH recipient in Calgary.

“I don’t know how are they going to determine that I’m not well enough to work when my doctor says I’m not well enough to work.”

The guide says everyone on AISH will automatically be transferred to ADAP on July 1, 2026. If they want to stay on AISH, people will have to reapply, which means they will have to pay the cost of a new medical assessment.

A government-appointed AISH medical review panel — whose decisions are “final and not subject to appeal” — will evaluate those applications.

People who are turned down will remain on ADAP but they will receive $200 less each month than what they would have received on AISH after the end of the adjustment period in December 2027.

Harris, 32, learned about the changes after hearing the discussion guide was posted online. She now worries the government plans to implement new medical standards that will give the panel more reasons to refuse new AISH applications.

Harris, who was born and raised in Calgary, said the introduction of ADAP, the changes to AISH, and the clawback of the Canada Disability Benefit make her feel like the provincial government doesn’t want people with disabilities in Alberta.

“It’s been made very clear that I’m a burden on this government, that they view disabled people as burdens, that we don’t have any worth or value unless we’re working,” she said.

“It’s gut-wrenching.” – Kaitlyn Harris

Nixon’s press secretary Amber Edgerton sent a statement to CBC News that largely repeated the government’s past messages on the program.

Edgerton said the province will spend more money on resources like resume help, interview preparation, simulated work sites and job placements with support to help people with disabilities find and keep jobs.

“No employment happens without a willing employer, which is why we will also be investing to help employers to break down barriers to employment for people with disabilities,” she wrote.

“If an ADAP client is unable to find a job after receiving employment services, they will continue to receive financial and health benefits.”

Kaitlyn Harris has been on AISH since she was 18. (Google Meet)

Disability advocates question changes

AISH is changing too. Under the current program, a single person can earn up to $1,072 each month — on top of receiving the $1,901 personal benefit — before any money is clawed back. That amount drops to $350 after July 1.

Under ADAP, the first $350 of earnings is fully exempt. Additional earnings are exempted on a sliding scale until they are fully deducted once a recipient earns an annual income of $45,000.

Gillian Petit, a senior research associate at the University of Calgary’s economics department, suggests the new program isn’t how it was originally sold to the public.

Petit, who has two brothers who receive AISH benefits, compared ADAP to the current AISH program and the version coming on July 1, 2026.

She said people who earn less than $2,114 each month will see lower personal benefits on ADAP than what they would receive from the current version of AISH.

Petit said she believes the government is making the changes to cut program costs.

“All I see is the government saving money and people with disabilities falling further into poverty and material deprivation,” she said.

“So increased food insecurity, core housing need, … which is not really great for the economy as a whole because then you’ve got your fellow citizens suffering.”

Inclusion Alberta CEO Trish Bowman worries many people currently on AISH won’t be able to work the 33 or 34 hours a week on minimum wage required to earn more.

“That’s a lot of work and that’s a lot of jobs,” she said.

“Yes, they may be able to work, but will they be able to work enough to actually be better off? The math doesn’t work.”

Bowman said the disability community has been hit with difficult news this year, including a raise in rent for AISH recipients in community housing as well as learning of the Canada Disability Benefit clawback.

“It really does feel like one hit after another for people in the disability community,” she said. “And I think they’re wondering why — why them?”

Harris said she believes stress from the situation is making her medical conditions worse. She would like to ask Nixon why he’s taking these measures.

“How do you think this is OK?” she asked, “How can you justify doing this to some of the most vulnerable people in society?”

Michelle Bellefontaine, Provincial affairs reporter

Michelle Bellefontaine covers the Alberta legislature for CBC News in Edmonton. She has also worked as a reporter in the Maritimes and in northern Canada.

Source CBC News Edmonton