Government Disability Benefits

There are three types of CPP Disability Benefits:

• Regular CPP Disability Benefits
• CPP Disability Post-Retirement Benefit
• CPP Disability Children’s Benefit

Each of these is given as a monthly payment to the recipient. However, these each have their own eligibility criteria that must be met. The major dividing factor between these three categories is age.

To be eligible for regular CPP Disability Benefits, you must be under 65 years of age.

CPP Children’s Benefit is for children 18 years old or younger (unless they are enrolled in school, in which case they can remain eligible until the age of 25).

The Post-Retirement Disability Benefit is only available for adults between the ages of 60 to 65. You must already be collecting the CPP Retirement Pension, and also meet the other regular CPP eligibility requirements. In order to access this program, you must apply to convert your CPP Retirement Pension into the CPP Post-Retirement Disability Benefit.

In addition to these, there are two types of CPP benefits for children with parents that have disabilities:

• Surviving Child’s Benefit – Monthly payments for the child of a deceased CPP contributor. To be eligible, the deceased must have made sufficient contributions to CPP before passing.
• Disabled Contributor’s Child’s Benefit – Monthly payments for the child of a person who is receiving CPP.

Rather than a monthly payment, the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) is a credit that can be applied to your income tax when you file at the beginning of each year.

The eligibility criteria for this benefit are somewhat different from the others. Your disability must have lasted or be expected to last continuously for at least 12 months, and must be present at least 90 percent of the time.

Additionally, if you meet these requirements, you must also:

• Be blind or have severe vision loss
• Require life-sustaining therapies
• Have a major restriction to at least one activity that’s considered essential and basic for daily living (i.e., eating, dressing, mobility, ambulation, continence management, etc.)

Unlike other forms of disability benefits, the Child Disability Benefit is typically applied to people who have a young dependent with a disability.

This could be for children under the age of 18, or students still enrolled in school between the ages of 18 and 25.

For a child to be eligible for the program, they must meet the criteria of both the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), as well as the Disability Tax Credit.

To be considered eligible for the DTC, a medical practitioner must certify and submit a Disability Tax Credit Certificate, which explains the severity and long-term nature of the child’s disability.

Due to the financial challenges that often face people with disabilities, saving money can be quite difficult. Thankfully, the Government of Canada is providing resources to help people with disabilities save money.

The Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is a savings plan designed to assist people with disabilities save for their futures.

The Canada Savings Grant is a matching grant, which means that the Government of Canada will contribute matching amounts to your RDSP. These grants are available up to 300 percent, which can assist substantially with saving.

The Canada Disability Savings Bond is only available for low or modest earning Canadians with disabilities. It could add a grant for as much as $1,000 to your RDSP.