2020 Second Annual Report of the Disability Advisory Committee

In November 2017, the Minister of National Revenue, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, announced the creation of the Disability Advisory Committee to provide advice to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on interpreting and administering tax measures for persons with disabilities in a fair, transparent and accessible manner. The committee’s full mandate is attached as Appendix A. Key disability tax measures are described in Appendix B.

Our first annual report, Enabling access to disability tax measures, was published in May 2019. Since that time, we believe there has been important progress with respect to the administration of and communications about the disability tax credit (DTC). Our second annual report describes in detail the many improvements that the CRA has introduced over the past year in response to the recommendations in our 2019 report. These changes are summarized in “The Client Experience” on the following pages.

Section 1 of this second annual report presents a review of the 42 recommendations made in our first annual report. Each recommendation summarizes the relevant context and associated follow-up actions.

Section 2 covers the new areas of conversation during the second year of our mandate. Selected topics focus, for example, on DTC data, concerns of Indigenous peoples and eligibility for a registered disability savings plan.

Section 3 includes the appendices, which provide details not covered in the text.



2019 First Annual Report of the Disability Advisory Committee: Enabling access to disability tax measures

The mandate of the Committee is to provide advice to the minister of national revenue and the commissioner of the Agency on:

  • the administration and interpretation of the laws and programs related to disability tax measures;
  • ways in which the needs and expectations of the disability community can be better taken into consideration;
  • increasing the awareness and take-up of measures for persons with disabilities;
  • how to better inform persons with disabilities and various stakeholders about tax measures and important administrative changes; and
  • current administrative practices and how to enhance the quality of services for persons with disabilities

This report makes recommendations on support for persons with disabilities based on surveys and responses from individual Canadians, organizations, tax preparers, health providers, and policy experts. The recommendations seek to ensure clarity and fairness in Disability Tax Credit eligibility criteria and administration,  reduction of barriers in accessing the DTC, and more attention to the costs of disability-related assistance.