Summary of the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations
On this page
- Introduction
- Definitions
- Eligibility requirements
- Applying for the Canada Disability Benefit
- Benefit amount
- Changes in marital status
- Start of benefit payments
- Suspension of benefit payments
- Pause and restarting of benefit payments
- Death of a beneficiary
- Representatives
- Requesting a reconsideration
- Appealing a reconsideration decision
- Fixing administrative errors
- Compliance and enforcement
- Overpayments
- Coming into force
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Introduction
The following is a summary of the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations, which came into force on May 15, 2025. This summary is not a legal document and is not intended for use in interpreting the regulations. The finalized regulations and the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 159, Number 6 on March 12, 2025.
Definitions
An applicant is a person who applies for the benefit. This includes a person who has an application made on their behalf.
A beneficiary is a person who has been approved to receive the benefit. This includes a person who has a benefit paid to a legal representative (such as a guardian or trustee) on their behalf.
The payment period for the benefit is from July 1 to June 30 of the following year.
Eligibility requirements
Find out about the eligibility requirements.
Applying for the Canada Disability Benefit
The regulations allow Service Canada to design the application process for the benefit. Find out how to apply.
Benefit amount
Find out how much you could receive.
Changes in marital status
If a beneficiary's marital status changes during a payment period, the amount they receive will be recalculated. Changes include:
- getting married
- entering a common-law relationship
- getting divorced or separated
- being widowed (their spouse or partner died)
Start of benefit payments
Learn more about when benefit payments start.
Suspension of benefit payments
A person’s benefit payments can be suspended (stopped) if the government has reason to believe that they do not meet the eligibility criteria. If the government finds that the person is eligible, their benefit payments will restart, and they will receive a lump sum payment that covers the monthly benefits they would have received had their payments not been suspended.
Pause and restarting of benefit payments
A beneficiary can ask in writing that their benefit payments be paused for up to 24 months. Individuals who ask to have their payments paused are not eligible for the benefit during the period their payments are paused. For this reason, individuals cannot receive retroactive payments for any months that benefit payments were paused.
If someone asks to have their benefit payments paused but does not ask that they be restarted within 24 months, their benefit will stop, and they will have to reapply for the benefit to receive payments again.
Death of a beneficiary
Learn more about what happens if a beneficiary dies.
Representatives
Find out who can help you apply.
Requesting a reconsideration
Learn more about how to request a reconsideration.
Appealing a reconsideration decision
Learn more about how you can appeal a reconsideration decision.
Fixing administrative errors
If the government makes a mistake and someone gets less of the benefit than they should have, the government can fix the mistake and pay the person the amount they should have received.
Compliance and enforcement
The regulations include ways to help ensure the benefit goes only to those who are eligible. For example, the government can ask applicants and beneficiaries (or their representatives) to provide additional documents or other information.
Financial penalties
These are also known as administrative monetary penalties. An individual can receive a financial penalty if they do the following:
- knowingly make false or misleading representations on an application
- apply for and receive a benefit while knowing they are not eligible to receive it
These acts are called violations. The size of the penalty is based on the yearly maximum amount of the benefit, as follows:
- first violation: 15% of the yearly maximum
- subsequent violations: 50% of the yearly maximum
For example, based on a yearly maximum amount of $2,400, the amounts would be:
- $360 for a first violation, and
- $1,200 for any subsequent violation
No one would receive a penalty if they just made a mistake because they thought they were eligible for the benefit.
Summary offences
Under the regulations, it is an offence to do any of the following:
- knowingly use false identity information, or another person's identity information, to obtain a benefit for themselves
- counsel a person to apply for a benefit for the purpose of stealing all or a substantial part of the benefit
- knowingly make false or misleading representations on an application
Under the Criminal Code, individuals convicted of a summary offence can receive a fine of up to $5,000 and/or a term of imprisonment of up to 2 years.
The regulations state that a person cannot be charged with an offence if they already received a financial penalty under the Canada Disability Benefit Act for the same action.
Overpayments
The regulations allow the government to recover overpayments. An overpayment is when someone is given more of the benefit than they were eligible to receive.
Coming into force
The regulations came into force (took legal effect) on May 15, 2025.