Canada Disability Benefit Regulations (SOR/2025-35)

Definitions

Marginal note:Definitions

1 The following definitions apply in these Regulations.

Act

Act means the Canada Disability Benefit Act. (Loi)

allocation

allocation  means the benefit portion that consists of the payments that are to be made to a beneficiary as calculated in accordance with section 6. (allocation)

applicant

applicant means a person who has applied for a benefit or on whose behalf an application for a benefit has been made. (demandeur)

beneficiary

beneficiary means a person to whom payment of a benefit has been approved or on whose behalf a benefit has become payable. (prestataire)

benefit

benefit means a Canada disability benefit payable under the Act. (prestation)

cohabiting spouse or common-law partner

cohabiting spouse or common-law partner has the same meaning as in section 122.6 of the Income Tax Act. (époux ou conjoint de fait visé)

DTC-eligible individual

DTC-eligible individual  has the same meaning as in subsection 146.4(1) of the Income Tax Act. (particulier admissible au CIPH)

payment period

payment period means the period beginning on July 1 of a calendar year and ending on June 30 of the following calendar year. (période de paiement)

release

release, in relation to a person who has been incarcerated, means release from custody on earned remission, at the expiry of a sentence, or on parole or statutory release that has not been terminated or revoked. (libération)

supplemental amount

supplemental amount  means the benefit portion the amount of which is set out in section 6.1. (somme supplémentaire)

Eligibility

Marginal note:Eligibility criteria for allocation

• 2 (1) A person is eligible to receive an allocation for any month after May 2025 in which they meet the following criteria:

  • (a) they are at least 18 years of age but not more than 65 years of age;

  • (b) they are a DTC-eligible individual;

  • (c) they are resident in Canada for the purposes of the Income Tax Act and are

    • (i) a Canadian citizen,

    • (ii) a permanent resident as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act,

    • (iii) a temporary resident within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act who was resident in Canada for the 18 months preceding that month,

    • (iv) a protected person within the meaning of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or

    • (v) an Indian as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Indian Act;

  • (d) they are not incarcerated as a result of a sentence of imprisonment of two years or more that is to be served in a penitentiary by virtue of any Act of Parliament; and

  • (e) they have filed a return of income under the Income Tax Act for the last taxation year that ended before the beginning of the payment period in which that month falls.

• Marginal note:Exception — 65 years of age

  (2) Despite paragraph (1)(a), a person is eligible to receive an allocation for the month in which they turn 65 years of age.

• Marginal note:Exception — incarceration

  (3) Despite paragraph (1)(d), a person is eligible to receive an allocation for the first month in which they are incarcerated and for the month in which they are released.

• Marginal note:Condition — cohabiting spouse or common-law partner

  (4) Despite subsections (1) to (3), a person is eligible to receive an allocation for any month in a payment period only if their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner has filed a return of income under the Income Tax Act for the last taxation year that ended before the beginning of that payment period.

• Marginal note:Waiver

  (5) The Minister may waive the condition set out in subsection (4) if the Minister is satisfied that the condition is unreasonable or impracticable in the circumstances, including if

  • (a) the cohabiting spouse or common-law partner is not resident in Canada for the purposes of the Income Tax Act;

  • (b) for reasons not attributable to the person or their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner, the person is not living with their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner; or

  • (c) the cohabiting spouse or common-law partner has engaged in family violence as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Divorce Act.

• Marginal note:Exception — suspension of payments

  (6) Despite subsections (1) to (3), a person is ineligible to receive an allocation for any month during which payment of the allocation has been suspended under section 11.

Marginal note:Eligibility criteria for supplemental amount

• 2.1 (1) A person is eligible to receive a supplemental amount for a certificate  referred to in paragraph 118.3(1)(a.2) or (a.3) of the Income Tax Act that they obtain if an allocation is paid to them after they obtain the certificate and, at the time of the payment, their status as a DTC-eligible individual is based on that certificate.

• Marginal note:Clarification

  (2) A payment to which the person is not entitled is not to be considered for the purposes of subsection (1).

Marginal note:Evidence of age and identity

3 The Minister may determine the age and identity of an applicant on the basis of any information made available to the Minister by the Canada Employment Insurance Commission under subsection 28.2(5) of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act.

Application for Benefits

Marginal note:Form of application

• 4 (1) An application for benefits must be made in the form and manner specified by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Application made

  (2) An application is deemed to have been made only when it is received by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Application before 18th birthday

  (3) An application that is received by the Minister within six months before the day on which the applicant turns 18 years of age is deemed to have been received on that day.

• Marginal note:New application

  (4) If, for any given month, a beneficiary becomes ineligible to receive an allocation, the allocation ceases as of that month and they must make a new application for benefits to receive the allocation again.

Marginal note:Approval date

• 5 (1) Subject to subsection (2), an application is deemed to be approved by the Minister on the earliest day on which an applicant becomes eligible for a benefit in accordance with the Act and these Regulations and for which a benefit has not already been paid.

• Marginal note:Time limit

  (2) The earliest day on which an application can be deemed to have been approved is the day that is 24 months before the day on which the application is made.

Amount of Benefit

Marginal note:Basic amount

• 6 (1) The amount (referred to in these Regulations as the “basic amount”) that is payable to a beneficiary for any month for which they are eligible to receive an allocation in a payment period is the amount — rounded to the nearest cent or, if the amount is equidistant from two cents, to the higher of them — determined by the formula

  (($2,400 × A) − B) ÷ 12

  where

  A

  is the indexing factor for the payment period, calculated in accordance with subsection (5); and

  B

  is the reduction based on income, calculated in accordance with whichever of subsections (2) to (4) applies to the beneficiary, taking into account subsection (4.1) if applicable, on the last day of the month that precedes the applicable month.

• Marginal note:Reduction — single beneficiary

  (2) If the beneficiary does not have a cohabiting spouse or common-law partner, the reduction based on income is the greater of zero and the amount determined by the formula

  20% × (C − D − ($23,000 × A))

  where

  C

  is the beneficiary’s adjusted income for the last taxation year that ended before the beginning of the payment period, without taking into account the income of the person who was their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner, if any, at the end of that year;

  D

  is the lesser of

  • (a) the beneficiary’s working income for the last taxation year that ended before the beginning of the payment period, and

  • (b) the product of $10,000 and the indexing factor for the payment period, calculated in accordance with subsection (5); and

  A

  is the indexing factor for the payment period, calculated in accordance with subsection (5).

• Marginal note:Reduction — non-beneficiary spouse or partner

  (3) If the beneficiary has a cohabiting spouse or common-law partner who is not a beneficiary, the reduction based on income is the greater of zero and the amount determined by the formula

  20% × (E − F − ($32,500 × A))

  where

  E

  is the beneficiary’s adjusted income for the last taxation year that ended before the beginning of the payment period or, if their current cohabiting spouse or common-law partner was not their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner at the end of that year, the amount that would have been the beneficiary’s adjusted income if their current cohabiting spouse or common-law partner had been their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner at the end of that year;

  F

  is the lesser of

  • (a) the sum of the beneficiary’s working income for the last taxation year that ended before the beginning of the payment period and that of their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner, and

  • (b) the product of $14,000 and the indexing factor for the payment period, calculated in accordance with subsection (5); and

  A

  is the indexing factor for the payment period, calculated in accordance with subsection (5).

• Marginal note:Reduction — beneficiary spouse or partner

  (4) If the beneficiary has a cohabiting spouse or common-law partner who is also a beneficiary, the reduction based on income is the greater of zero and the amount determined by the formula

  10% × (E − F − ($32,500 × A))

  where

  E

  is the beneficiary’s adjusted income for the last taxation year that ended before the beginning of the payment period or, if their current cohabiting spouse or common-law partner was not their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner at the end of that year, the amount that would have been the beneficiary’s adjusted income if their current cohabiting spouse or common-law partner had been their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner at the end of that year;

  F

  is the lesser of

  • (a) the sum of the beneficiary’s working income for the last taxation year that ended before the beginning of the payment period and that of their cohabiting spouse or common-law partner, and

  • (b) the product of $14,000 and the indexing factor for the payment period, calculated in accordance with subsection (5); and

  A

  is the indexing factor for the payment period, calculated in accordance with subsection (5).

• Marginal note:Reduction — waiver

  (4.1) If the Minister waives the condition set out in subsection 2(4), the reduction based on income is calculated in accordance with subsection (2) as if the beneficiary does not have a cohabiting spouse or common-law partner.

• Marginal note:Indexing factor

  (5) The indexing factor for a payment period is the amount determined by the formula

  CPI_max ÷ CPI₂₀₂₄

  where

  CPI_max

  is the highest Consumer Price Index for any calendar year beginning with 2024 and ending with the last calendar year that ended before the beginning of the payment period; and

  CPI₂₀₂₄

  is the Consumer Price Index for 2024.

• Marginal note:Consumer Price Index

  (6) For the purpose of subsection (5), a reference to the Consumer Price Index for a calendar year is a reference to the all-items Consumer Price Index for Canada, annual average, not seasonally adjusted, for that year, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act.

• Marginal note:Definitions

  (7) The following definitions apply in this section.

  adjusted income

  adjusted income has the same meaning as in section 122.6 of the Income Tax Act. (revenu modifié)

  working income

  working income, of an individual for a given taxation year, means the total of

  • (a) the amounts referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of the definition working income in subsection 122.7(1) of the Income Tax Act, and

  • (b) the total of the following types of business income:

    • (i) net farming income,

    • (ii) net fishing income,

    • (iii) net professional income,

    • (iv) net commission income, and

    • (v) other net business income. (revenu de travail)

Marginal note:Supplemental amount

6.1 The supplemental amount is $150.