Disability benefits

• Disability Living Allowance is paid to children under 16 who have some degree of care and/or mobility needs. In the past, it was available to adults aged 65 or under, but claims for DLA for adults are now being phased out and transferred to PIP.[1]

• Employment and Support Allowance is paid to people who are unable to work because of their disability.
• Personal Independence Payment is paid to people who have some degree of care and/or mobility needs.
• Universal Credit is currently being rolled out, with the intention of replacing Employment Support Allowance, as well as a number of other benefits claimed by both disabled and non-disabled people.[2]
• Working Tax Credit Disability component is paid to people with a disability work 16 hours a week or more, who pass the Work Disadvantage Test and claim another disability benefit.

• Constant Attendance Allowance is paid to people who receive Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and who are classed as 100% disabled.[3]
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit is paid to people who have become disabled as a result of an illness or injury caused by work or while completing vocational training.[4] To be eligible, the claimant is assessed to ascertain the level of disability they have, as a percentage. The claimant needs to be at least 14% disabled to receive the benefit.[5]
• Reduced Earnings Allowance is paid to people who work but have reduced earnings as a result of accident or illness caused by their work. It is only available if the accident or illness started before October 1, 1990.[6]

• Carer's Allowance is paid to people who care for someone who receives the care component of PIP or the higher or middle rate care components of DLA. The carer must spend at least 35 hours a week caring for the person and the carer must not earn more than £120 a week
• Income support is available to people on Carer's Allowance who work less than 16 hours a week and are on a low income.

• Armed Forces Independence Payment is paid to former members of the armed forces who were left disabled after being injured while in the armed services after 6 April 2005.
• War Disablement Pension is paid to people who became disabled as a result of an injury or illness that occurred or was aggrovated as a result of serving for the armed services. The injury must have occurred before 6 April 2005.[7]

To access Canada Pension Plan or the Quebec Pension Plan disability benefits, an individual needs to have a disability that is "severe and prolonged", and which prevents them from working on a regular basis. As of 2018, CPP disability benefits are a minimum of $485.20 a month. Individuals who have contributed more to CPP or QPP during their working career receive higher benefits. The average monthly CPP disability benefit was $971.23 in 2018 and the maximum monthly amount was $1,335.83.[19]

People receiving CPP disability benefits may earn up to $5,500 a year without losing their benefits.[20] Benefits stop when an individual has the ability to work regularly, or is no longer disabled. When an individual reaches the age of 65, CPP Disability Benefits are replaced by a Retirement Pension.

Employment Insurance is a benefit plan that offers temporary financial assistance to those individuals who cannot work due to sickness, injury, or quarantine.[21]

To be eligible to receive EI sickness benefits:

• The individual's earnings have been reduced by at least 60%
• He/She is employed in insurable employment
• A minimum of 600 hours has been accumulated in the qualifying period [22]

People are only eligible for these benefits if they are unable to work due to their sickness, injury, or quarantine, but would be able to work otherwise. To receive EI sickness benefit a medical certificate signed by the doctor is required.[23]

To qualify for EI you must have a required amount of insurable employment hours, which are used to calculate your benefit period, these insurable employment hours must be accumulated throughout the qualifying period.

The qualifying period:

• 52 week period before the EI claim date
• Start date of previous EI benefit period to the start of the new date [24]

It is important to note that each individual's case is different and requirements may vary from case to case. But a general way of calculating EI benefits is 55% of the average insurable weekly earnings. The maximum amount you can be eligible for as of January 1, 2018 is $51,700. Typically EI sickness benefits can only be paid for up to 15 weeks, but can vary depending on how long the individual is unable to work.

Weekly EI sick benefits are calculated based on income before it has been deducted during the individuals “best weeks”. Best weeks are the weeks in which the individual earned the most amount, including any tips and commissions, the best weeks are chosen out of the qualifying period.

In Canada areas with high rates of unemployment will use the best 14 weeks, and in areas with low unemployment rates will use the best 35 weeks.

The weekly amount is calculated:

• Calculating total earnings amount from the accumulated best weeks
• Based on the region the individual is in the number of best weeks to use will be decided
• Divide the total earnings by the number of best weeks
• The result is multiplied by 55% to get the weekly benefit [25]

If you are considered a low income family you may be eligible to receive the EI Family Supplement. An individual can be considered to be a part of this category if the yearly family net income is $67, 921 or less, has children, and if the individual or their spouse receives Canada child tax benefit. If both the individual and their spouse claims EI sickness benefits only one of them can be eligible for the family supplement.[26]

For more information on Benefits and eligibility, please visit the Government of Canada website.