Federal Political Parties’ Positions on Disability Issues
April 23, 2025
Canadians are heading back to the polls on April 28, 2025 to cast their vote and elect a new government. There are some important dates to know about where and how to vote, especially if you need assistance or accommodations.
In this article, ARCH talks about two things. First, we discuss what the four political parties with candidates in Ontario promise to do for persons with disabilities if they are elected. Second, we share how you can vote on Election Day, including information about accessible voting for persons with disabilities.
The Parties’ Positions and Promises about Disability Issues
ARCH co-hosted a Federal candidates debate on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Candidates representing the Liberal Party of Canada (“Liberal Party”), the New Democratic Party of Canada (“NDP”) and the Green Party of Canada (“Green Party”) attended and discussed their party’s position on disability-related issues. A representative from the Conservative Party of Canada (“Conservative Party”) was also invited, but did not attend.
The debate was recorded. You can access the full debate online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eH6fvg_iQM
To read the full platforms of each political party, visit the party’s website. The links are below. If the information on their website is inaccessible to you, we suggest you contact the party directly to request an accessible version of their platform.
Liberal Party of Canada: https://liberal.ca/cstrong/
Conservative Party of Canada: https://www.conservative.ca/change/
New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP): https://www.ndp.ca/campaign-commitments
Green Party of Canada: https://www.greenparty.ca/en/our-plan
Below is a summary of the positions of each political party about things that affect disability rights in Canada.
1 – Health Care
If re-elected, the Liberal Party promise to hire more doctors. To do this, they will focus on allowing more people to get into medical school and encourage these students towards family medicine. This means more doctors would be trained as family doctors. The Liberal Party will also make it easier for doctors and nurses from other countries to come to Canada and work in the health care system. They also promise to build more hospitals, medical clinics and long-term care homes. Finally, they promise to create a Youth Mental Health Fund. This will allow young people to access mental health care services in their community.
If elected, the Conservative Party promise to remove barriers in the health care system and give all Canadians timely access to health care. They have not given the details of what barriers they will remove or how they will be removed. However, they do promise to hire 15,000 doctors by 2030, including bringing doctors from other countries to work in Canada.
If elected, the NDP also promise to hire more doctors, nurses and other kinds of health care workers. Specifically, they are guaranteeing every Canadian will have access to a family doctor by 2030. To achieve this, they will give more money to the provinces, which will help to keep trained doctors in the community. The NDP will ensure that everyone has access to mental health care, including psychotherapy and counselling, by creating a plan to pay for these services. However, there are no details of this plan available yet.
Similar to the other parties, if elected, the Green Party promise to hire more doctors and other health care professionals. They plan to hire 7,500 doctors and nurses over the next five (5) years, and train 50,000 personal support workers (PSW). The Green Party will also make mental health services fully covered and free for everyone.
2 – Accessible Housing
The Liberal Party promise to make workplaces and new housing accessible and barrier-free. They will do this by putting more funding into the Enabling Accessibility Fund. The Enabling Accessibility Fund is a program that was created to give funding for projects aimed at making communities and workplaces more accessible for Canadians with disabilities.
While the Conservative Party addresses the housing crisis in their platform, their platform does not include any statements directly related to accessible housing for persons with disabilities.
While the NDP addresses the housing crisis in their platform, their platform does not include any statements directly related to accessible housing for persons with disabilities.
The Green Party promise to make all housing accessible and barrier-free for persons with disabilities. For homes that are already built, they will provide funding to fix or renovate them in order to make them fully accessible. Any new homes will need to be universally designed and be accessible for persons with disabilities.
3 – Income Support
The Liberal Party promise to review the application process for the Disability Tax Credit, and may expand eligibility to other types of disabilities. They have not given details of what will be changed in the application process.
The Conservative Party promise to simplify the Disability Tax Credit. One of the ways they will do this is by renaming it to “Certification of Disability”. Once approved for the Disability Tax Credit, persons with disabilities could then apply for other federal benefits. They also promise to ensure that eligibility to these other benefits will become automatic for those that receive the Disability Tax Credit.
The NDP promise to double the Canada Disability Benefit. This would mean that eligible persons with disabilities could receive up to $2,400 more per year.
The Green Party promise to fully fund the Canada Disability Benefit in an effort to ensure Canadians with disabilities do not live in poverty. To do this, they will have automatic enrolment into the Canada Disability Benefit for those who are receiving income support from provincial or federal programs. They will also remove the Disability Tax Credit as a requirement for this benefit. In addition, they will make changes to the Disability Tax Credit itself. They plan to make the rules more clear and in plain language, and make the basic medical forms free. In addition, they will turn it into a refundable credit so that low-income persons with disabilities can also benefit from this tax credit.
4 – Medical Assistance in Dying (“MAiD”)
The Liberal Party has not made any statement about MAiD in their platform.
Although it is not in their official platform, the Conservative Party has publicly said they will not remove access to MAiD. However, they will also not expand it further.
The NDP has not made any statement about MAiD in their platform.
The Green Party will not expand MAiD to people with mental health disabilities until there is proper mental health care and social supports available for Canadians. They will also make it a rule that a person will first need to be given access to appropriate health care, social services, housing and income supports before they can be approved for MAiD. They will ensure that Indigenous communities are consulted on policies related to MAiD as well. Finally, the Green Party will create an independent federal organization to oversee the MAiD process, including complaints, appeals and to ensure accountability on its use.
5 – Miscellaneous Disability-Related Issues
The Liberal Party promise to develop a Disability Justice Framework to address systemic issues faced by persons with disabilities in the justice system, including long-standing biases and systemic discrimination. This would ensure that persons with disabilities get equal access to justice.
The Liberal Party also promise to ensure all e-books produced or released in Canada are available in an accessible format by 2030.
The Conservative Party promise to use plain language for all federal laws. However, it is unclear what is meant by “plain language” and whether this means it will be accessible for persons with disabilities.
The Conservative Party also promise to give funding to train 1,000 Autism Support Workers every year to work with students on the autism spectrum.
They will also double the reach of the Ready, Willing and Able program. This program assists persons on the autism spectrum or with an intellectual disability to find and keep their job. It also educates employers about being more inclusive in the workplace.
The NDP promise to bring back a dedicated Ministry for persons with disabilities at the Federal government.
The Green Party promise to strengthen the Accessible Canada Act by making that law cover all projects funded by the Federal government. They also commit to making all government websites and online services digitally accessible.
The Green Party promise to create a national fund to pay for wheelchairs and other “essential accessibility tools” for persons with disabilities. In terms of other types of funding, they promise to put more money into home care and community-based disability support programs.
Additionally, they will help employees with disabilities by reinforcing workplace protections for employees and creating better employment support programs for persons with disabilities.
Lastly, the Green Party will make public transit barrier-free and accessible, including buses and trains, and they promise to bring back door-to-door mail service across the country so that persons with disabilities receive accessible mail service.
How to Vote on Election Day
You can vote at your assigned voting location on Election Day, on Monday, April 28, from 9:30 AM to 9:30 PM, Eastern Time. Make sure to bring your ID with you.
Your assigned voting location is a building where voting takes place and the location depends on where you live. To find out where your voting location is, you can check your voter information card, which you would have received in the mail. You can also visit Elections Canada’s website and search your location based on your postal code: https://www.elections.ca/scripts/vis/FindED?L=e&PAGEID=20
Accessible Voting
All voting locations should be accessible for persons with disabilities. If your assigned voting location is not accessible to you, you can contact Elections Canada:
Telephone: 1-800-463-6868
TTY: 1-800-361-8935
There are different accessible tools and services available to assist you in casting your vote. For example, magnifiers and large-grip pencils will be available at all voting locations. Voting locations will also have a large print list and braille list of candidates and political parties, as well as tactile and braille voting templates to help mark the ballot. You can also bring a support person with you to assist you with voting.
For more information about accessible tools and services available for voters with disabilities, go to: https://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=acc&dir=tol&document=index&lang=e
If you need other types of accommodations, including sign language interpretation, please contact Elections Canada. Note that some accommodations would need to be arranged before Election Day.
To contact Elections Canada:
Telephone: 1-800-463-6868
TTY: 1-800-361-8935