E-7135: Petition to the Government of Canada — Canadian Petition Tracker
Canonical URL: https://petitiontracker.ca/petition/e-7135
Track petition E-7135 — "Petition to the Government of Canada" sponsored by Leah Gazan. 1,935 signatures and counting. See signature growth trends and provincial breakdown on PetitionTracker.ca.
Petition Text
Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:
• Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the world, with more than 90,000 Canadians living with this unpredictable, episodic yet progressive disease;
• Canadians with disabilities, including those with MS, face disproportionate financial challenges due to reduced employment opportunities and the high costs of medications, rehabilitation, mobility aids, and other essential supports;
• The Disability Tax Credit (DTC) is a cornerstone of federal disability support, and is the gateway to the Registered Disability Savings Plan and the new Canada Disability Benefit;
• The Canada Revenue Agency applies an administrative interpretation to the DTC criteria, requiring individuals to experience impairment “all or substantially all of the time” – a definition not consistent with other legislation, including the Accessible Canada Act;
• The interpretation does not recognize the fluctuating nature of episodic disabilities like MS, where a multitude of severe and prolonged symptoms significantly impact daily life; and
• As a result, many Canadians living with MS are denied the DTC and therefore excluded from the RDSP and the CDB, despite the Accessible Canada Act and the Canada Disability Benefit Act both explicitly recognizing episodic disabilities.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to modernize the Disability Tax Credit by revising its eligibility criteria and administrative interpretation to recognize the fluctuating, episodic nature of disabilities like multiple sclerosis, and to align the DTC with the disability definition used in the Accessible Canada Act and the Canada Disability Benefit Act.