TORONTO, October 2nd, 2019 – JDRF welcomes the Conservative announcement yesterday committing to legislation making it easier for Canadians with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and others to qualify for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC).
The Fairness for Persons With Disabilities Act would reduce the number of hours needed to qualify for the DTC from 14 to 10. This would allow more people to qualify as the so-called 14-hour-rule has proven in the past to be a significant barrier.
According to the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) annual report published last spring: “The combined time requirement, in terms of both minimum number of hours and weekly sessions, excludes many applicants who receive life-sustaining therapy. Access to the DTC has been severely limited particularly for people living with type 1 diabetes. Any individual who needs life-sustaining therapy, by definition, will spend considerable time every week engaged in that therapy.” The DAC suggested that “Instead of having to submit an account of the number of times and hours per week involved in these therapies, the person needing life-sustaining therapy should automatically meet the criteria”.
The purpose of the DTC is to provide a small measure of tax relief for the extraordinary expenses faced by Canadians with disabilities and chronic diseases. Type 1 diabetes is an extremely costly disease. Depending on income level, province and private insurance coverage, Canadians with T1D may face up to $15,000 annually in out-of-pocket costs.
JDRF greatly appreciates this effort to expand access to the DTC. We are calling for legislation to expand access to the DTC to be introduced and passed as soon as possible in the next Parliament.
JDRF is encouraging all candidates in this year’s election to show their support for Canadians touched by type 1 diabetes by posting their photo on social media holding a sign saying “I ❤Canadians touched by type 1 diabetes” and using the hashtag #VoteTypeNone. See www.jdrf.ca/votetypenone for more on this campaign.
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About JDRF Canada
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research. Our goal is to raise funds to support the most advanced international type 1 diabetes research and progressively remove the impact of this disease from people’s lives – until we achieve a world without type 1 diabetes. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure type 1 diabetes. JDRF is the largest charitable funder of and advocate for
research to cure, prevent and treat T1D in the world. For more information, please visit jdrf.ca.
For more information:
Soledad Vega
Marketing and Communications Manager
JDRF Canada
647-459-7881
svega@jdrf.ca
