Systemic Factors that Drive Disability Poverty
Disability poverty is often framed as an individual challenge, but systemic factors and inequalities are the predominant drivers of higher poverty rates among people with disabilities. Factors like a lack of accessible and affordable housing, inaccessible workplaces and barriers to inclusive employment, and income assistance programs that do not allow recipients to meet their basic needs further shape disability poverty.
Housing
Calgary’s housing affordability crisis affects everyone, but people with disabilities face the additional challenge of finding housing that is both affordable and accessible. Accessible housing refers to a home that is either designed or retrofitted to remove barriers and enable safe, independent living.[13]
Accessible, non-market units (affordable units that are owned and operated by government or non-profit housing providers), remain in short supply across Calgary, with organizations like Accessible Housing Calgary highlighting that in Calgary and Edmonton, only an estimated 2-3% of affordable housing units are fully accessible.[14] Additionally, AISH recipients have historically benefited from some exemptions in their total income used to calculate subsidized rent in community housing. In 2025, the Government of Alberta changed the regulation which removed exemptions on portions of AISH income, resulting in an approximate $220 per month rent increase for recipients living in community housing.[15] The National Housing Council has recently undertaken a rights-based review on the lack of accessible housing in Canada overall, highlighting the national scale of this problem.
In a recent
Calgary study examining women’s housing and homelessness, 64% of survey respondents (women in Calgary who had, or were currently, experienced housing precarity or homelessness) reported also living with at least one disability.[16] According to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, people with disabilities are four times more likely to experience homelessness than people without disabilities.[17]
Barriers to Employment
While many Albertans with disabilities want to work and contribute their skills, barriers such as inaccessible workplaces, transportation limitations, and employer misconceptions continue to reduce opportunities. A recent University of Calgary analysis of the new ADAP program highlights key structural issues with Alberta’s employment landscape which serve to disadvantage people with disabilities. For instance, Alberta is currently the only province in Canada without comprehensive accessibility legislation, which means that accessibility standards are likely not consistent across sectors and employers, and leaves employees vulnerable to discrimination based on disability. Results of the latest Canadian Survey on Disabilities show that among Canadians with disabilities not in the labour force, health conditions were commonly cited as limiting factors, as well as discrimination, inadequate training, and repeated unsuccessful job attempts.[18]
The analysis suggests that in fact, most workplace accommodations that were needed to increase workforce participation for employees with disabilities were relatively inexpensive and largely depended on employer willingness rather than individual capacity. The analysis also highlights gendered differences in workforce participation, as more women are living with disabilities in Alberta than men, and disproportionately report additional gender-based discrimination in the workforce and additional caregiving responsibilities that further limit workforce participation.[17]
In a survey of prospective ADAP recipients, non-permanent forms of employment and self-employment were cited as common types of employment among respondents.[19] Calgary’s Social Policy Collaborative recently highlighted the low wages and lack of worker protections in Alberta’s gig economy, consistent with the type of precarious self-employment described in the study.[20]
As the Province increases expectations for recipients of financial assistance to participate in the labour force, as is the case with the new ADAP program, it is important that these structural barriers to employment be addressed alongside the enhanced employment supports offered to individual recipients. Otherwise, ADAP recipients will likely face the same barriers to employment with a reduced monthly income, leading to deeper poverty.
Table 2 shows the annual income gaps between AISH, ADAP, and IS-BFE core benefit levels and the MBM poverty rate for Calgary for a single individual living in a private dwelling. What is clear is that the programs designed to support Albertans who are unable or limited in their capacity to work due to either a permanent or temporary disability, are insufficient in supporting recipients to meet their basic needs and reduce the prevalence of poverty among persons with disabilities.
Table 2. Core benefit rates of disability income support programs in Alberta, compared with the Market Basket Measure poverty rate (for a single individual living in a private dwelling).
Abbreviations: ADAP – Alberta Disability Assistance Program; AISH – Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped; IS-BFE – Income Support Barriers to Full Employment; MBM – Market Basket Measure.
A recent collaborative brief from several disability advocacy and social serving organizations compared AISH core benefit levels with living wage expense categories for Calgary for 2024.[21] The analysis shows that with a monthly AISH benefit level of $1,901, 94% would be sufficient to cover average rent costs, with only 6% (or $108) left over for food expenses, and nothing left over for other basic living expenses like clothing or accessible transportation. The new ADAP core benefit would not be sufficient to afford an average rent of $1,793 in the absence of rental assistance or subsidized housing. In addition to accessible housing and food, Disability Without Poverty indicates that the true cost of a disability should also include costs associated with disability-specific equipment, over-the-counter and prescription medication, paramedical treatments (like physiotherapy), and costs associated with care providers.[22]
In addition to the provincial disability income support programs described above (AISH, ADAP and Income Support – BFE), Albertans with disabilities may also be eligible for federal supports. The Disability Tax Credit (DTC), Canada Disability Benefit (CDB), and Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D) are some additional government programs available for eligible Canadians. Notably, the Canada Disability Benefit offers a maximum benefit of $200/month. However, Alberta is the only province that has not treated this benefit as exempt income—meaning CDB recipients see this income clawed back dollar-for-dollar from their AISH or Income Support monthly payment. This will also apply to ADAP recipients after July 2, 2026.
As has been explored earlier in this analysis, no single income support program for people with disabilities in Alberta is sufficient to lift recipients out of poverty.
These challenges are not caused by disability itself. They are the result of systems that are often designed without disability inclusion in mind or that do not adequately address the needs of those living with disability. Intersecting and compounding forms of discrimination (like ableism, sexism, and racism) against people with disabilities also exacerbate experiences and depth of poverty for multiply marginalized individuals.
