The costs associated with disability supports play a big role in determining how much income a person with disabilities requires to meet their basic needs or participate fully in their community. Access to funding for disability supports is often directly related to the individual's sources of income. With the exception of Canada Pension Plan Disability, people whose main source of income comes from government income support programs tend to have some of the costs of disability supports covered by government, as this is considered to be one of their income needs.

Unfortunately, those who are participating in the labour market do not usually get the same kind of assistance, even if their income is very low. Employed people who pay for their own disability supports must generate a higher level of income than their counterparts who do not have disabilities in order to have the same standard of living.

Income for people with disabilities may come from employment earnings, private insurance, pensions, investments, government income support programs (such as social assistance, Worker's Compensation, Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan Disability) or some combination of these types of income.

There is widespread agreement that it is desirable for employment to be the greatest possible source of income, as reduced dependence on government income support can enhance citizenship and a person's sense of self-reliance.

The difficulties many people with disabilities face in entering or staying in the labour market have a profound impact on income levels, as does their more limited access to post-secondary education and training and the difficulty they tend to experience in progressing to higher paying jobs.

The reality is that some people who have disabilities are not able to support themselves sufficiently, or at all. The income safety net must reward individual work effort to the greatest extent possible, while ensuring that financial assistance is available where it is needed most.

Sources of income
Analysis of indicators shows that persons with disabilities are only half as likely to get the largest part of their income from earnings and almost four times as likely to rely on government transfers than are persons without disabilities. In 1997, for example, less than 40 per cent of persons with disabilities had earnings as their major source of income, compared to 78 per cent of persons without disabilities. This figure had been even lower in 1995, when only 33 per cent of persons with disabilities identified earnings as their largest source of income, compared to 76 per cent of persons without disabilities.

As Canada's economic situation improved, the percentage of people with disabilities relying on government transfers decreased slightly (from 49% in 1995 to 46% in 1997) and earnings played an increasing role (from 33% to 40%).

Persons with disabilities who are unable to maintain employment as a result of their disabilities may qualify for government earning replacement programs. For example, the Canada Pension Plan replaces a portion of earnings lost as a result of a disability and is designed to be integrated with other disability income programs. Worker's Compensation plans replace between 75 and 90 per cent of net earnings. Canada Pension Plan benefits can be supplemented by long-term disability insurance plans, which typically can replace up to 70 per cent of lost earnings. Persons with disabilities who do not have enough income from these sources or persons who are unable to participate in the labour market may qualify for provincial or territorial social assistance.

Income Levels ³
Persons with disabilities tend to have lower incomes than those without disabilities. Persons with disabilities who are employed tend to have lower earnings than persons without disabilities. In 1997, the depth of low income experienced by adults with disabilities — how far they were below the low-income line — was much greater than for people without disabilities.

Between 1993 and 1997, following the early 1990s recession, persons with disabilities experienced low income more severely than did persons without disabilities — by every measure and in every year. However, there was relatively little change in this situation during the period following the recession, despite large employment earnings losses by adults with disabilities. This suggests that the taxation system and social safety net programs had some success in softening the impact of difficult economic times.