Opinion: Alberta should support people with disabilities in overcoming barriers to working

The Alberta government plans to implement a new income-support program for people with disabilities, the Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP). 

The program aims to support the employment of more people with disabilities. People with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty and less likely to be employed than other Canadians. Supporting them to work can reduce disability poverty. However, to give people with disabilities meaningful employment opportunities, the government must address the multiple barriers they face.

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Currently, Albertans with disabilities access income support through the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program. To qualify, an individual must have a permanent disability that prevents them from working. Eligible individuals receive a monthly living allowance of $1,901. There are strict limits on how much additional income a person can earn while receiving AISH. 

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ADAP reflects a shift in approach from AISH. AISH aims to support individuals who are unable to work, whereas ADAP aims to support individuals who have the capacity to work. ADAP will assist individuals with disabilities to find employment by providing career planning, job placement, and training services.

The program will have higher earning exemptions, meaning ADAP recipients will be allowed to earn more income without losing the program’s benefits. The government has not yet set the benefit amount available under ADAP. When ADAP comes into effect in July 2026, applicants will be assessed for both ADAP and AISH and placed into the program that best suits them.

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ADAP’s structure frames disability as an individual problem that can be overcome by investing in individual supports. The reality is that people with disabilities face discrimination in education and job searches and workplaces are rarely designed to allow people with disabilities to participate as employees. Providing individual supports to disabled people who wish to work will have a limited impact without inclusive education, non-discriminatory hiring, and accessible workplaces.

Discrimination starts early. People with disabilities encounter exclusion during their education. For example, during the recent strike by education assistant workers, the Alberta government directed that students with complex needs could be excluded from in-person learning. An Alberta court suspended this direction after four families sued, arguing that the direction impermissibly discriminated against children with disabilities. This manner of exclusion impacts the ability of children with disabilities to learn and undermines their own self-perception, by implying that they are less worthy than other children. 

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People with disabilities face discrimination during job searches. Widespread, negative attitudes prevent employers from perceiving how people with disabilities can positively contribute to a workplace. The Alberta Human Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating against people with disabilities. However, it can be difficult to prove discrimination, the legal process is lengthy, and the remedy available is generally limited to a compensation award — not a job. 

For anyone lucky enough to obtain employment, they face further barriers. Their workplace may not be physically accessible to them, such as when an employee who uses a wheelchair works in an office building with steps. Or they may be dependent on accessible transit, which can be complex and expensive to access, slow, or entirely unavailable.

It is possible to address the barriers that exclude disabled people from the workforce, but the solution is more complicated than teaching work-ready skills. Focusing on skills training suggests the barriers are within the disabled person’s control. It does not address society’s contribution to the systemic exclusion of disabled people. 

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Inclusion must be a focus. Inclusion ensures disabled people can participate in every aspect of life. When job opportunities, education, transportation, and services available to able-bodied individuals are also available to disabled people, the crisis of disability unemployment will lessen. 

We encourage the government to begin by implementing accessibility legislation. Other strategies could include promoting self-employment or remote work or offering employers incentives to hire people with disabilities. Including the disability community is crucial for implementing successful strategies. People with disabilities possess the necessary knowledge to identify and address the barriers they encounter.

We encourage the government to explore ways to meaningfully include the voices of the disability community. As always, Nothing About Us, Without Us is not just a slogan; it is the roadmap to the solution. 

Andrew Green, Anna Lund, Emily Phillipos and Colton Stevenson are members of Justice and Equity Alberta, a non-profit that seeks to protect and advance the human rights of marginalized people in Alberta through the legal system.

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Letters welcome

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