Alberta: Nenshi says clawback of Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped is theft from disabled

LETHBRIDGE, Alta., September 2, 2025 – Alberta opposition leader Naheed Nenshi is accusing the UCP of stealing from disabled Albertans with their recent policy to claw back the federal Canada Disability Benefit (CDB).

Earlier this year, the Government of Canada announced it would be giving an extra $200 to people with disabilities through the CDB. In order to qualify, the recipient would first have to apply for the Canada Tax Credit and then apply for the CDB, both of which involve extensive paperwork that both the client and their primary care provider would have to fill out.

Those receiving Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) are required to apply for the CDB, but it will be counted as non-exempt income and be taken dollar-for-dollar from their AISH cheque.

Nenshi says this is a recipe for disaster, especially with health care providers already being stretched to their limits.

“Family doctors are under unbelievable strain and now they’re adding more work (filling out the forms), with no extra money to those folks that will cause waiting lists to grow even longer.

Zachary Weeks, a disability advocate, says the clawback is dehumanizing to people with disabilities.

“Decisions are being made by people who’ve never lived on AISH, who don’t know what it’s like to choose between paying for food and medication.”

The clawback comes after the UCP caucus voted to increase their own rent provision for accommodations in Edmonton to $2,200 a month. Meanwhile, AISH recipients are forced to meet all of their daily needs, including shelter, food and clothing, with only $1,901 a month.

If AISH recipients don’t apply for the CDB by Sept. 5, they will lose $200 off their monthly AISH income, leaving them with only $1701.

Nenshi says the tight deadline is causing anxiety for people who are raising their concerns at his town halls.

He’s getting phone calls from people worried over how they are going to make ends meet.

“Every single day my caucus members and I get calls from people who have become so desperate that they say ‘should I consider medical assistance in dying.’ That’s what this government has done.”

While AISH payments are one of the highest disability benefits in the country, Nenshi points out recipients are still below the poverty line and Alberta is the only province cutting the federal CDB.

“We have the ability to help every Albertan thrive and every Albertan to live a life of dignity on this land, so we’re calling on the UCP, for once in your careers, to admit you were wrong. 

“You’re the only ones in the country who are cutting this benefit. Everyone else is allowing people with disabilities to get just that little $200 a month, that little bit of dignity.”

Alexandra Noad is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with the Lethbridge Herald in Lethbridge, Alberta. Title image: Legislative Assembly of Alberta (Pixabay).