A provincial mobility disability organization is pleased that New Brunswick will not claw back a new federal benefit.
The Canada Disability Benefit will provide up to $2,400 annually to low-income earners between the ages of 18 and 64.
On Friday, the province said that income will be excluded when it calculates eligibility and monthly amounts for provincial benefits.
That includes all services under social assistance, the Family Supports for Children with Disabilities program, the Disability Support Program and the Long Term Care Program.
“I want to make it clear to New Brunswickers who receive disability benefits that receiving the Canadian Disability Benefit will not reduce their payments from the department,” Social Development Minister Cindy Miles said in a news release.
That was one of the big concerns raised by disability advocates when the benefit was first announced more than a year ago.
RELATED: Canada Disability Benefit will not be clawed back in N.B.
Haley Flaro, the executive director of Ability New Brunswick, said while they were “quite positive” New Brunswick would not claw back the benefit, seeing it formally announced is “a victory for people with a disability.”
“It’s so important that the Canada Disability Benefit be applied as it was intended, and it was intended to be a movement towards lifting people with a disability out of poverty,” Flaro told our newsroom.
“People with a disability in New Brunswick and single mothers are our two most impoverished populations in this province, so this is a very strategic move.”
More than 35 per cent of New Brunswickers have a disability, which is the second-highest rate across the country, second only to Nova Scotia.
Flaro said while the $200 monthly benefit is lower than what many were hoping to see — she was hoping for an amount closer to $1,200 — there is nowhere to go but up.
“We’ll continue to advocate for increases to this benefit because we really believe it’s going to have a significant impact in helping people with a disability in New Brunswick lift themselves out of poverty,” she added.
Applications for the new federal benefit opened on June 20, with first payments beginning in July.
