Advocates call on Alberta government to halt shift to new disability benefits program

If bill passes, all AISH recipients will be transferred to new program in July.

Emily Williams, CBC News Edmotnon Nov 26, 2025

Nineteen advocates and advisers for Albertans with disabilities are calling on the province to reverse its plans to create a new disability benefits program in an open letter.

The government tabled the Financial Statutes Amendment Act (No. 2) on Tuesday. If passed, it clears the way for the Alberta Disability Assistance Program to come into force.

Assisted Living and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon says the program is a way for Albertans with disabilities to keep more employment earnings while still getting benefits from the province.

But disability advocates say that for many people, it will actually mean a reduction in income.

Those who want to remain on the existing program — Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) — will only be able to do so if a medical review panel determines they are unable to work.

A discussion guide posted by the provincial government in the summer said all AISH recipients would be automatically transferred into the program on July 1, 2026.

AISH recipients who are moved to ADAP will receive $200 less each month than they would have previously.

“They will have to juggle or give up one thing over another to be able to survive,” Tony Flores, Alberta’s first advocate for persons with disabilities, told CBC News. “Let’s ask ourselves, can we live on $1,700 a month with the increasing cost of living? It’s unrealistic.”

Until now, AISH recipients could earn up to $1,072 each month before their benefits are clawed back. The proposed changes would see that limit drop to $350.

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

Flores said the change feels like a penalty when financial stability is what’s needed.

“Support people with disabilities to be successful by providing a basic income where they can really focus on their abilities, where they can contribute in the community.”

Trish Bowman, CEO of Inclusion Alberta, shared similar concerns on Edmonton AM.

“We believe that this will drive potentially tens of thousands of Albertans with disabilities into deep poverty, really causing significant financial and emotional distress,” she said.

Nixon told reporters on Wednesday that the open letter’s claims that the new program amounts to a cut for thousands of Albertans is misinformation. He also said some disability advocates support the change.

Nixon said the bill isn’t going away.

“We’re confident in the program that we developed,” he said.

Nixon said it will help Albertans who can’t get on permanent disability benefits in the current system, but still require some support.

Bowman said people with disabilities face prejudice when seeking employment — not to mention the already high rates of unemployment in the province, especially for young Albertans.

“The majority of people want to be in the workforce, but that’s not an easy thing to achieve,” Bowman said.

“Really this is just a way for them to cut AISH benefits,” said NDP community and social services critic Marie Renaud. “They don’t like the cost of the program.”

She added that there’s a lot of unknowns about how the medical review panel will work and what criteria it will use to assess people’s ability to work.

“For government to say, ‘No, we’ve got a solution, we’re going to bring in our own experts and assess all this stuff,’ that just leads to a lot of questions. I know people are very fearful,” Renaud said.

Nixon said the current process is outdated and that the changes will present an opportunity to speed things up and modernize the system.

“The reality is, right now, in the system, untrained bureaucrats are being put into a position where they have to make a decision on whether somebody is disabled, whether somebody can work, whether somebody cannot work,” he said.

“These are things that should be made by decisions that should be done by medical professionals that understand what’s going on.”

Emily Williams

Emily is a reporter with CBC Edmonton. She can be reached at emily.williams@cbc.ca

with files from Michelle Bellefontaine

Source CBC News Edmotnon

 

Help shape the Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP). Albertans are invited to share their feedback to help shape the Alberta Disability Assistance Program, launching in July 2026. Engagement will run from August 13 to September 12, 2025. Youtube Aug 13, 2025

Transforming Disability Income Assistance in Alberta Discussion Guide | Assisted Living and Social Services © 2025 Government of Alberta | Published: August 2025

This publication is issued under the Open Government Licence – Alberta. Please note that the terms of this licence do not apply to any third-party materials included in this publication.

This publication is available online at https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-disability-assistance-program-engagement

Also see
Alberta to claw back federal disability benefit from AISH recipients CBC
AISH recipient, advocates worry about Alberta’s new disability benefit program CBC
AISH recipients panicked over looming provincial deadline: health providers CBC