Inclusion Canada

📣 REMINDER: Our program Barrier-Free Benefits helps people with disabilities and their family or supporters navigate the application process to access federal disability supports. Our trained and experienced Navigators will offer free one-on-one person-centered support, to help people with disabilities apply for benefits like the Disability Tax Credit, the new Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), tax filing, Canadian Dental Care Plan, and more. We will be there at every step of the way, from application right through to the appeals process if necessary. 💜 You don’t have to figure this out alone. 👉 For more information, please check out our new web portal here inclusioncanada.ca/page/barrier-f… Contact one of our Navigators today, they are waiting to hear from you. --- 📣 RAPPEL: Notre programme Prestations sans obstacles aide les personnes en situation de handicap, ainsi que leur famille ou leurs proches, à naviguer dans le processus de demande pour accéder aux soutiens fédéraux liés au handicap. Nos accompagnateurs formés et expérimentés offriront un soutien gratuit, personnalisé et individuel, pour aider les personnes en situation de handicap à présenter une demande pour le Crédit d’impôt pour personnes handicapées, le nouveau Régime canadien de prestation d’invalidité (RCPI), le Régime enregistré d’épargne-invalidité (REEI), la production de déclarations de revenus, le Régime canadien de soins dentaires, et plus encore. 💜 Vous n’avez pas à faire ce chemin seul. 👉 Pour plus d’information, consultez notre nouveau portail web ici : inclusioncanada.ca/page/fr/barrie… Communiquez dès aujourd’hui avec un de nos accompagnateurs — ils sont prêts à vous aider !

Do you have a disability? Do you need help applying for federal benefits and programs? Join Indigenous Disability Canada and Inclusion Canada for a free National Accessibility Week webinar. Wednesday, June 3, 2026 6:00pm-7:30pm Eastern Zoom webinar More information and registration here: inclusioncanada.ca/page/accessing… The webinar will be in English. French interpretation, ASL, LSQ, and English and French captioning will be provided.

The Federal Government is now considering expanding Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) regime again when a section of the law already discriminates against persons with disabilities. Instead of being offered assisted death people with disabilities deserve access to economic, social and community-based supports to live a good life - the same as every other citizen Inclusion Canada CEO Krista Carr was interviewed recently by the BBC and included in this story. Canada’s elected officials should repeal Track 2 MAiD and commit to helping improve lives instead of ending them. bbc.com/news/articles/…

Over the past couple of days, our national staff team was in Fredericton, doing some facilitated team development activities to learn how we can better utilize our resources/strengths and work better as a team to advance work in our priority areas. We feel rejuvenated after these sessions and are excited to apply our learning to our work in the future. Thank you to the Chapman Group for facilitating.

Happy Victoria Day! We hope you enjoy the day with your loved ones. Our offices are closed today and will reopen tomorrow, May 19.

Today is the International Day of Families. It highlights the important issues regarding the wellbeing of families like health, education, gender equality, rights for children and adults and community inclusion. Established by the United Nations in 1993, it celebrates the importance of families and recognizes the different family structures. Today is a day to reflect on the role families play in building strong, connected communities. Inclusion Canada itself was founded by families and would not exist today without their leadership, advocacy and determination. This year’s theme is “Families, Inequalities and Child Wellbeing.” Whether chosen or biological, families are central in the lives of persons with intellectual disabilities. Together they continue to face significant inequalities in accessing essential services, adequate income supports, inclusive education, and safe & accessible housing. Listening and learning from families will help governments and communities identify meaningful solutions and respond more efectivbely to the barriers they continue to face. Please join us in continuing this vitally important work.

Do you have a disability? Do you need help applying for federal benefits and programs? Join Indigenous Disability Canada and Inclusion Canada for a free National Accessibility Week webinar. Wednesday, June 3, 2026 6:00pm-7:30pm Eastern Zoom webinar More information and registration here: inclusioncanada.ca/page/accessing… The webinar will be in English. French interpretation, ASL, LSQ, and English and French captioning will be provided.

Join Indigenous Disability Canada and Inclusion Canada for a free National Accessibility Week webinar! Wednesday, June 3, 2026 3:00 pm-4:30 pm Pacific Time Zoom webinar Learn about two national navigation programs and how they can support you.

Happy Mother's Day! We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the mothers across the country who play a central role in the inclusion movement. Thank you for always challenging the status quo to build a more inclusive and equitable country; a place where everyone belongs! Enjoy your day!

Senator, which answers I provided to the AMAD Committee, from the questions that you posed, would you consider lacking quality, are in error, or just made up? I would be happy to revisit, or is this just a case of confirmation bias?

This week Prime Minister Carney, elected officials and Inclusion Canada were asked for their thoughts on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)  and the forthcoming report from the Special Joint Parliamentary Committee studying the issue. Inclusion Canada strongly opposes any expansion of MAiD to individuals for whose sole condition is a mental illness. We also are calling on the federal government to repeal the previous expansion (Track 2) because it discriminates against persons with disabilities. We encourage you to read this story by CTV ctvnews.ca/politics/artic… Put simply: Track 2 MAiD uniquely allows people with disabilities to access assisted death even when they are not at end of life. This current law singles out persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities deserve the same response other Canadians receive when they are suffering: investment in economic and social supports, safe and accessible housing and mental health services, not a faster path to death. Contact your local Member of Parliament and regional Senator and ask them to invest in making lives better, not ending them. #cdnpoli #MAID #assistedsuicide #AidNotMAID

Our Federation from across the country is gathering today in Toronto for our Spring Federation Meeting. We've got a full agenda today discussing the state of inclusive education across the country, federal policy priorities, an update on our inclusive employment program - Ready Willing and Able (RWA), inclusive housing, income security, and provincial and territorial member updates. Looking forward to what is anticipated to be some really great dialogue and insight around all of our priority work. #inclusion #disabilities #policy #evidence

Save the date for our 17th Annual Federal Policy Forum on Inclusion! This year's theme is "From getting by to getting ahead: Eliminating poverty and building financial stability." This year's event will take place on December 5 from 9AM - 4PM EST at Le Palais des congrès de Gatineau, Quebec. More info on registration to come - stay tuned!

Inclusion Canada continues to advocate for more improvements to the federal Disability Tax Credit (DTC) and better access to federal disability support programs. While welcoming new measures announced last week in Ottawa, Krista Carr offers policy changes that would greatly remove barriers for people with disabilities who wish to apply for and access other different federal disability support programs. As it stands now: 84 per cent of eligible people in Canada are not receiving this disability tax credit, which is needed to apply for the Canada Disability Benefit, which Krista reminds warrants a major increase. “They (the changes) are good. They are welcomed. They are helpful but they don’t go far enough. We really need transformational change to the Disability Tax Credit,” Carr said in conversation with the CBC's Vanessa Vander Valk. "We need to decouple the disability tax credit from being the access to those benefits. It was never designed for that. But if we are going to keep it (DTC) as the gateway, then we need to do things like automatically qualify people that are in receipt of disability income supports provincially and territorially. If they qualify for those benefits, they are definitely a person with a disability requiring significant support." Krista breaks down the issue well in this interview. cbc.ca/listen/live-ra…

What we teach matters - not just to children and youth, but also to medical professionals. Doctors and nurses in Canada are not required to take any specific courses to train them in the assessment and provision of #MAID, though professional expectations to only work in their field of expertise remain. The only nationally accredited curriculum to teach medical professionals about MAID has recently come under fire - including from people who helped develop it. My latest for @CDNAffairs: canadianaffairs.news/2026/05/05/mai…

Red Dress Day honours Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people and the families and communities who continue to demand justice. Indigenous women and girls with disabilities often face heightened vulnerability due to systemic discrimination and colonial systems. Today, we remember those who are missing, honour the strength of families and communities, and reflect on the role each of us has in supporting justice and safety. We encourage our community to learn from Indigenous-led organizations and continue listening to the calls for change.

Our CEO Krista Carr was a guest on Global News Radio in Toronto last week for an engaging discussion with host Brad Smith on assisted suicide in Canada. They discussed Krista’s appearance before the interparliamentary committee presently considering expanding medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for people whose sole medical condition is a mental illness. The host shared his own previous battles with mental health issues and conceded that most Canadians don’t realize there are two different entry points for MAiD. Krista shared details of how Track 2 MAiD lacks guardrails and discriminates against people with disabilities. She also shared examples of the inquiries Inclusion Canada receives from people who are being offered assisted death despite wanting the supports they need to live a good life. People don’t want to give up hope and we shouldn’t give up on people. Note: The segment begins at 24:33 open.spotify.com/episode/3aKgEP…

Last week we provided excerpts of @hscoffield 's op-ed in the Toronto Star. It was done in conjunction with the release of the The Canadian Tax Observatory's research paper on the Disability Tax Credit « Broken Links ». The full op-ed is now being released outside of last week’s paywall and is shared in its entirety below. Since the report was released, the government has announced some changes to the DTC. The changes are good, welcomed and helpful but more transformational change is needed. We will have more to come on this.

On April 28, Inclusive Education Canada hosted a webinar with classroom teacher, Stephen Tiffany. The inclusive mindset he shared has us asking questions about how to make classrooms more inclusive for all students. Question 1:

Check out the April 2026 edition of the Inclusion Matters newsletter! This month, we share our review of the Spring Economic Statement, provide dates for our 17th Annual Federal Policy Forum (December 3), and more! Check it out here: conta.cc/4edxyaI Not yet signed up for our newsletter? Please subscribe now! conta.cc/40kTIyR

It is the federal tax credit 84 per cent of eligible candidates are not receiving. While we acknowledge efforts to simplify access for Canada's Disability Tax Credit (DTC), Inclusion Canada emphasizes that the DTC requires further "transformational reform" to truly assist persons with disabilities. As our CEO Krista Carr notes, the DTC should not be the sole "gateway" to other federal benefits, such as the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP). Furthermore, we echo calls for people who already receive provincial or territorial disability benefits to qualify automatically for the federal DTC, eliminating redundant paperwork. Thank you to Canadian Affairs for inviting our perspective. canadianaffairs.news/2026/05/01/adv…