Are there barriers for those on disability?

[Alies Maybee]

I have a wonderful Irish colleague, Robert Joyce, who is working on writing an article about the change in social welfare rules in Ireland for people on Invalidity Pension. It would help the article if they can give examples of other countries, which block PPI activities for those on a similar social support.

What is the situation in Canada? Where can we get more information?

Let me know and I will pass the information to Robert.

[Heather Dyck]

@Alies-Maybee
Hi Alise,
The only issue I might have encountered relates to Canada Plan Disability Payments . If ,as A patient partner I receive honoraria, I must be very careful how much honoraria I can accept. If it goes over a certain, quite low amount, I may have issues such as being deemed able to work for volunteer work which is accomplished from my automatic recliner, my office chair which fits me perfectly, or from my bed using my iPad mini. I personally have been careful not to do too much volunteering because of this. This is a hardship for some people,as many are living below the poverty line on their disability income..
I hope this was helpful,
Heather

[Alies Maybee]

@Heather-Dyck thanks so much, yes. I will pass your comments on to Robert with many thanks.

[Veronika Kiryanova]

@Alies-Maybee said in Are there barriers for those on disability?:

I have a wonderful Irish colleague, Robert Joyce, who is working on writing an article about the change in social welfare rules in Ireland for people on Invalidity Pension. It would help the article if they can give examples of other countries, which block PPI activities for those on a similar social support.
What is the situation in Canada? Where can we get more information?
Let me know and I will pass the information to Robert.

similarly , Im on CPPD and it DOES affect my involvement !
CPP-D does not explicitly prohibit work or patient/public involvement (PPI), but paid activity is constrained by earnings rules. In 2025, people receiving CPP-D do not need to report earnings below approximately $7,100 per year. In practice, this means that small, one-off project payments (e.g., under $500) do not require reporting, and I actively monitor and limit my participation to remain well below the reporting threshold.
I am selective about which projects I take on and sometimes prioritize non-cash or low-risk forms of compensation. For example:
Conference travel reimbursements (e.g., flights, hotels, registration) do not count as earnings for CPP-D purposes.
I often prefer grocery gift cards rather than direct cash payments, as this helps avoid unintended impacts on benefit eligibility.
While CPP-D does not ban PPI outright, these rules create a practical barrier to sustained or fairly paid involvement, as exceeding thresholds can trigger a review of disability eligibility.
Official sources:
CPP Disability overview:
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp-disability-benefit.html
CPP Disability eligibility criteria:
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/publicpensions/cpp-disability-benefit/eligibility.html
CPP Disability Toolkit (work & earnings rules):
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/pension-plan-disability-benefits/reports/toolkit.html

[Amy Ma]

Hi Alies,
Each province and territory governs their disability benefits in their own way. The earnings cut-off is ridiculously low. In Quebec it may be as low as $200/month before clawbacks of disability benefits kick in. Other provinces make this earnings cut-off as an annual income figure, so there is slightly more flexibility.

Another tenacious rumour that I hear from some folks on disability benefits is that they are even discouraged from volunteering their time FOR FREE, at risk of losing their benefits. Haven't yet been able to get to the bottom of that one to see if there is any grain of truth to it, but I do hear it often.