St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud said residents are "terrified" and "frightened" with the changes to Alberta's new disability program.
On Feb. 4, Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon announced starting in July 2026, there will be a single application for both the new Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP) and the existing Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program. He said eligible applicants will be placed in the program deemed to best suit their situation, but the lack of details regarding the new program are concerning Albertans with disabilities.
Renaud hosted a 90-minute virtual town hall the evening of Feb. 12, and heard concerns about the program.
"People are absolutely terrified," Renaud said in an interview. "They're very frightened by the lack of information."
Some of the most common questions involved the amount of core benefits for people on ADAP, and how it would be decided who would be assigned to which program. Others wanted to know which advocacy groups were consulted in the creation of the program, and whether spousal income would be exempt.
Renee Lukie, executive director of Transitions in St. Albert, didn't attend the town hall, but said that she was at a GoA disability roundtable on Jan. 16. with Nixon. She said the need for collaboration over the rollout period was made clear.
"I think what the minister was clear with in the meeting that I was in, with a variety of executive directors from across the province, was that this isn't just going to be something where they flip the switch, that there is going to have to be a very specific rollout," Lukie said.
"We were given the opportunity as service providers to be able to share the things that were important to us in ensuring that the people who are receiving AISH, that their voices are being heard and advocacy is happening," she said.
Jacob McGregor, chair of the Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, spoke briefly at the town hall, inviting attendees reach out with concerns. He acknowledged the announcement could have been smoother.
"I understand the uneasiness that comes with this," McGregor said. "The announcement could have been clearer and potentially more thorough in some areas."
He said the feedback he heard from the town hall will inform the council's upcoming meetings, and they're also looking into improvements to the AISH program.
"We're going to be meeting with the minister and with the architects of the ADAP program shortly," he said. "We're getting ideas for improving AISH as well, such as exempting spousal income from the income requirements for AISH and ADAP."
He said the specifics of the program are going to be robustly consulted until the program launches in 2026.
"I would say in the next year and a half we need to implement the concerns that we're hearing into the program."
