Income Support is meant to help Albertans meet their basic needs. But does it? VCC analyzed Alberta's Income Support programs and found significant gaps between support levels and the realities of living costs today. Here are some quick facts:
- Neary one in four (24%) of Calgarians have at least one disability, with 40% of those having severe or very severe disabilities. Provincially, 27.5% of Albertans had at least one disability, similar to the national rate of 27%. As of March 2026, there were 80,257 Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped and 19,555 Income Support – Barriers to Full Employment recipients.
- 54.4% of Albertans on Income Support are women. Women are more likely to experience poverty and rely on income supports, especially when they have caregiving responsibilities.
- Alberta has one of the lowest rates of income support access in Canada. Just 2.4% of Albertans under 65 received non-disability Income Support. That's among the lowest rates in the country, raising questions about whether people who need help can access it.
- Income Support doesn't cover the median rent in Calgary. A single Albertan who lives alone on Income Support receives a maximum of $1,000/month, while the median rent for a Calgary apartment is $1,800/month.
Table 1. 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.
