007. Bill 12 – What It Really Means for AISH & ADAP

Episode Summary:

In this episode of We Advocate, Gordon and Annie unpack Bill 12 – the biggest change to AISH in over 20 years. They walk through what the Bill actually does, why it’s so concerning for people with disabilities and their families, and what we still don’t know because so much is being left to regulations behind closed doors.

If you (or someone you love) relies on AISH, this is a must-listen.

Why this matters:

• Financial security is on the line - For many disabled Albertans, AISH is the difference between “barely scraping by” and homelessness. A $200/month cut and no guaranteed indexation is not abstract – it’s food, rent, meds, and transportation.
• The rules can change quietly later - Because so much is being moved into regulations, the government can tighten eligibility or reduce protections without the same level of public debate or media coverage.
• People with disabilities are being asked to carry all the risk - The people with the least margin – and often the least capacity to navigate complex systems – are being asked to live with maximum uncertainty.
• Precedent for how Alberta treats disabled people - This isn’t just about one program. It’s about what Alberta is signalling about the value placed on disabled people and their right to a stable, dignified income.

Key Takeaways:

What Bill 12 actually does

• Rewrites the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped Act
• Creates a two-tier structure: AISH vs ADAP
• Ties eligibility explicitly to employment and “ability to work”

The two-tier system: AISH vs ADAP

• AISH: for those whose disability permanently prevents employment
• ADAP: for those whose disability substantially impedes employment
• The wording sounds simple, but how it will be interpreted is completely unclear.

Automatic transfer of current AISH recipients

• Around 80,000 people on AISH will be automatically moved to ADAP as of July 1, 2026
• The ADAP rate is $200/month lower than AISH
• There is no right to appeal the move itself – you can only try to prove you “belong” back on AISH afterward.

Indexation & future benefit levels

• Bill 12 removes the automatic annual indexation that helped benefits keep pace (somewhat) with cost of living
• Any future increases become discretionary and can be changed quietly by regulation, not debated openly in the Legislature.

Memorable Lines:

“Imagine your employer told you: we’re changing your job, paying you less, and we won’t tell you the rules yet. But trust us – it’s better for you. That’s what this feels like.”

“AISH used to focus on whether you could support yourself. Now the language is all about employment – and that’s a very different lens.”

“Every single person on AISH will be moved to ADAP first. There’s no appeal of that move. You only get to fight your way back afterward.”

Resources & Links:

Text of Bill 12
Search “Bill 12 2025 Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped Act” on the Alberta Queen’s Printer site: https://www.qp.alberta.ca

Government information about AISH & ADAP
General AISH program page (watch for ADAP updates): https://www.alberta.ca/aish

VanderLeek Law ADAP / AISH summary
Gordon’s firm has prepared a 4-page summary of the proposed changes.
https://vanderleeklaw.ca/aish-adap

Transcript

Welcome back to We Advocate. Now, today's episode is an important one.
If you listened to our last episode, that was an interview with Marie Renaud and
Zachary Weeks. And we talked about potential future legislation.
But just recently, we had, the government took some action to introduce some of the
changes they were talking about in their discussion paper from August and some of
the town halls in September. So we wanted to give some initial reactions to that at
this time. So welcome, Annie, back to the episode. This is an important
proposed legislation we want to talk about today. Yeah, hi, everyone. Bill 12 was
introduced and has made the most significant changes in age for more than 20 years.
So we've spent time reviewing the bill, and we have found it very concerning. And
so I wanted to sort of talk to you about some of the things that have come up
for us. So, again, this is a very high -level conversation. we'll probably get into
more detail once it actually becomes law and as we dive into the details.
But we wanted to do this special episode because it does represent a significant
change in disability support. So if your loved one is on Aish,
we can talk a little bit about some of the changes from what we see in the
legislation, recapping some of the concerns we had before, but we wanted to put it
together in this episode. So point number one,
what does Bill 12 do? And so the big picture is that the government now has the
legislation introducing the changes to the assured income for the severely handicapped
act. That's the act that governs the H program, and they're introducing a new
system, like a two -tiered system with that. And under,
so this is the enabling legislation that instead of having AASH as the program in
Alberta, it's going to create two different programs that people can potentially be
eligible for, the AASH program and the ADAP program or the Alberta Disability
Assistance Program. You want to just highlight for our listeners, Annie, some of the
difference between those programs? Well, and understand that when you're, you know,
July 1st, it's going to start in 2026, but when an application is going to be
made, they will determine which route. So it's kind of like one application, and
they will determine, does it go to AIS, so assured income for the severely
handicapped or does it go to ADAP, Alberta Disability Assistance Program. So AISCH
is, now it's termed as only for people with a severe disability that permanently
prevents employment. So that's sort of the wording. And ADAP,
the wording for that is for people with a disability that substantially impedes
employment. So again, employment is sort of part of both, and it definitely is
dividing up the group that way. Which kind of represents a big change,
right? I mean, Aish was always looking at your ability to support yourself, but
they've specifically tied it to employment, and there's a two -tiered system. If your
permanent disability substantially blocks or impedes or impairs.
I mean, the word is impedes, but we'll have to see how they specifically interpret
that. If it impedes your ability to support yourself through employment, you're on
ADAP. And if your disability,
only if it permanently prevents employment, which is pretty broad.
To me, that's a pretty high standard, right? Saying your disability, you could never
work. Somebody's going to come along and say, well, you could, you could be in a
call center. You could do this. You could do that. Well, it's possible,
you know, therefore,
you know, that the ACE system is reserved for those where it's clear evidence that
there's a permanent inability to work. Well, I think it just the way that you said
it was that it impedes your ability to support yourself, which is actually what Aish
always was. So again, the frustration for me is that it has a two -tier system when
the one -tier system actually covered everything that they were trying to accomplish.
So, again, they're dividing people in those two tiers.
The other thing with regard to this first point that we want our listeners to be
aware of is the details of that, which I have a great deal of interest in,
because as a lawyer, you say, well, flush that out. What does that actually mean?
What are the rules with, in relation to that? The bill simply says we're going to
leave that for the regulations, right? So it just, what we repeated to you is what
is in Bill 12. None of the details about exactly what do they mean by that or
additional clarification. So presumably some of that will come. But the other concern
would be that the actual, while they've set out the two -tiered system in this
framework that's part of,
you know, Bill 12, how that's going to be implemented and managed is going to be
determined by regulation. So that presumably they don't have those details or they're
figuring those things out or that may be available to us, say, in the spring. It's
certainly not available now as we're recording this in early December of 2025.
And so the automatic transfer that they talk about of current recipients is a really
big issue. under Bill 12, every current
indicates that every single person, let's just call it 80 ,000. We actually looked up
the numbers for June, the last numbers I was able to find was over 79 ,000.
So 79 ,000 in change are on the H program right now. So let's just round it up to
80 ,000 are going to get moved over to ADAP on that. And There is no appeal to
that change. The fact that you're moving to the ADAP program is not subject to
appeal. You don't have a choice. You can't say, I would rather not that to happen.
It's going to happen. And then you have to produce medical evidence to get back on
the H program. We'll see there's review panels and other processes in place to
determine that. And we'll see,
you know, what the details of that, that looks like. But this is going to happen
automatically for every single person from Aish under the current program goes to the
ADAP program.
And then if you prove that your disability permanently stops you from employment,
then you get to go back on AASH. And of course, the concerning part,
I think, of the automatic transfer is that the ADAP program is less money. We're
looking at $200 less, but an automatic transfer over. So that's pretty significant,
right? It's not like anybody's grandfathered in. It's not like, well, we're going to
preserve all your benefit. There is going to be changed for a lot of people. The
exact process we don't have the details of, but we know where this is going and
everybody's going to move over to that new program. Well, I think the scary part is
that definition isn't very clear yet. We're not sure what the definition of all of
this is. But it does say very clearly in Bill 12 that there is no right to appeal
this automatic transfer. So no matter what, that's going to happen.
So I think know that if you're looking after a loved one, whether that's your child
or a sibling or that's your spouse or partner that has the disability, know that
that's going to be in effect and that's all going to be effective as of July 1 of
2026. It should also be stated that at the time of this recording,
Bill 12 has not yet become law. We should just as a point in time so we can
reference this, is that it is past second reading. I think it's even at the day
we're recording this, it's scheduled for further discussion or third reading and work
at the committee level. So it's going to be a while before, you know, I think the
government's intent. We listen to Justice or Minister Nixon
indicate that he was pressing the legislative body to pass it by Christmas. So I
think that's the hope that it gets passed by Christmas. But just so you know, it's
not law yet, but we wanted our listeners to be able to understand
what the potential changes in the law would represent. Why don't we move to,
I guess, our third point, the first one being the two -tiered system. point number
two is we have this automatic transfer. There's another change that sort of relates
to some of the benefits that the each recipients have been receiving,
which is some regular adjustments to the amounts that are being paid every month,
that adjustment happening on an annual basis. Do you want to speak to that, Annie?
Yeah, so normally in January is when we have indexation happen,
where it's looking at cost of living in it, and we look forward to having an
increase at that time. But Bill 12 removes legislative indexing.
So all of a sudden,
we have a much lower number, well below the poverty line, with no real clear
picture of, will it increase or not? And that creates a lot of fear.
So I think the difference there to understand is there is a reference, in fairness
to the, to the, what I read in Bill 12, is that they could look at adjustments
based, presumably based on inflation, on a discretionary basis or pursuant to the
regulation, right? There's some adjustment. But I think one of the differences is
Schedule 1 of the legislation laid out the automatic adjustment on January of every
year to keep pace with inflation, right? It was a suggestion of the NDP,
the UCP did implement it earlier, and there have been some of those adjustments.
Now, critics from information I've read have noted, I think as you put it,
Annie, is this isn't tied to the federal consumer price index and adjustments for
inflation, but in Alberta, they do have what they call the Alberta escalator. So
it's based on some adjustments to the cost of living and kind of a formula that
is, I guess, the made -in -Alberta solution. So that's what has been,
what people on A. have experienced so far as an adjustment based on this Alberta
escalator. That was protected as part of the act in Schedule 1,
but Bill 12 proposes to repeal Schedule 1. So that kind of falls off the side,
but they have some vague language.
and having it debated in a public forum in the legislature where now is by
regulation, they could give the increases, but they could also not give the
increases. Well, and when I've been talking to people, I think it just adds to the
anxiety of the decreased amount and then, you know,
not being sure that it's going to change. I think it just, it those, that along
with it, the, the, um, no increase has created even more anxiety,
I think, thinking, well, how are we going to live on this then? And I know that
we did watch the debate where Minister Nixon did,
was sort of comparing the program he was putting forward with what the NDP did
previously and actually highlighting that the NDP previously didn't index,
but they did. So it was a bit ironic that his proposed legislation was taken away
that the guaranteed increase based on this Alberta escalator.
So it just illustrates we're in the throes of public debate, the politicians doing
their thing and debating this. But, you know, we have legislation which takes it
away, but yet the government seems to be suggesting that, well, don't worry. We're,
you know, of course, we're the government that introduced it and we're the ones that
are safeguarding that, but the very legislation is taking that away. So from a legal
perspective, we have to advise our clients, well, we don't know if that's going to
be there. It's discretionary. Maybe it happens. Maybe it doesn't. It depends.
And that, as you say, it creates a lot of anxiety if a parent of a child with
special needs has to rely on the government, right? When they've made these
fundamental, they've made these fundamental changes.
So let's talk also, I guess the other point number four would be eligibility can be
changed at any time. And we kind of referred to that earlier, but it was worth
mentioning that the government can amend the rules.
And there's very broad language to give much to
And we were looking earlier today in preparation at some of the numbers. Going back
to 2010, there was 41 ,000 people on the age program.
And now there's 79 ,000 in change, right? So just shy of doubling in the last 15
years. And that could be attributed to a whole lot of reasons.
But the concern has always been they're going to go after the fundamentals. They're
going to make it harder to get on it. And I guess our response, my response is,
well, if you believe that to be true, Bill 12 makes it very easy for them to do
it. I guess time will tell whether they actually do it. But that highlights the
uncertainty, the lack of guarantees or assuredness about what the government is going
to do with regard to how are they going to interpret a permanent disability.
left to wonder about how the government is going to implement these policies. We
don't have those details yet. We could talk about,
you know, maybe a future episode might be, well, this is what I wish the government
would do or how they would have done it. But I think it's appropriate here. I just
want to put a stake in the ground to say that the government had a choice here.
They could have introduced the legislation with all the rules and say, here's all
the details. You know, we want to put it all out there. We want everybody to know
exactly what we're doing. And they could have, in fact, said, hey, we know you're
concerned about these issues and we want to guarantee them the right in the
legislation. But instead, if you read it, it's all about reserving the right for
them to make changes without public debate in the future.
So it's not unfair to say, well, that they could be a great deal of concern for a
caregiver, a parent, a person on Aish, to say, well, you can just do whatever you
want. Well, and I'm very worried how the, when you sort of look,
how the work part fits in. Because already through Aish, they had to prove that
they could not earn a living. And so I think there's a very different view of
work. And so I'm quite concerned that the initial application part is going to be
viewed in a very different way and that I do think it's going to block the door
for people with a disability that maybe don't fit, that looks like they have an
ability, um
Yeah, I don't know how they're going to look at it for ADAP. Like when it talks
about, you still have, like, you know, just with the definition, how will they look
at it? And I'm not sure. Yeah. Are they going to be sensitive to different types
of disabilities? How adept are they? How knowledgeable are they with regard to the
different forms of disability? How is that going to be? These are, again, all the
details we don't see. So if the predictions that I'm hearing are right,
it should be sometime in the spring, certainly before July, that we're going to have
more information. But it would have been helpful, for example, to maybe allay some
fears, to not only provide more assurances of what their intentions are, but what if
they, like if they had produced at the same time as Bill 12, saying we're going to
reform the Aish legislation, the Aish rules, we want a better system, because that's
what they said. They want a better system for Albertans with disabilities. Well, why
not show us the application form? That would have been helpful. Like, as a
disability advocate, you would have then been able to evaluate that going, is that
better? Is that worse? By analogy, the federal government was making some reforms for
the disability tax credit. But then you were able to analyze and see the new form
they created, which actually demonstrated some of the enhancements or improvements they
wanted in the system, right? And you could say, okay, this is now a better form.
It looks like they're getting into more detail, asking more questions about the
disability. Well, the government here hasn't done that, right? And that puts us in a
position of having to say, just got to take a wait and see approach, you know,
so I think it creates a lot of concern. I think others have voiced and I would
support it to say, hey, we've got to be in this battle together. We have to wait
to see the details. Let's not get too far ahead, but it is concerning. And I so
wish they would have come out with the details. Well, and one of the things that
that isn't clear to me either, is they're talking about having training and different
programs that are there to sort of assist and maybe jobs available. It's not clear
to me if someone is not able to sort of take part in that training.
Will they look at that person as just not complying and therefore they will not get
get ADEP either and that worries me a lot because there are going to be a lot of
people who just can't follow through on the training part um even when there's
supports in place they're just complex and they just can't do that and so i have
fears of of how they will tie that because sometimes they're coming from the view
of well you just have to do this and not really looking at what the person's
ability is so that I'm not sure how that ties into sort of will they change
eligibility even that way? I don't know. Yeah. But the idea would be, I think what
we can say about Bill 12 is there's broad powers for them to change their
eligibility criteria. If you look at the way it's drafted, they have by regulation
they can change some of these rules, which maybe we're going to know more in the
spring, but what if they change it in the fall or the next year, they have the
ability to do it because they could do that by way of regulation. And there's no
way to debate that. Right now, at least we are having a debate as part of, you
know, the public discourse. You know, I had a reporter call me last week and talk
about Bill 12. So the media can cover it. Media is not going to cover changes in
regulation, right? You know, so then this is like, this is all going to quietly.
appeal. So they've indicated that the move, as we said in point number one, or in
our first segment, that there's no appeal of the decision to move to the ADAP
program. The way Bill 12 is drafted is that they can determine going forward which
part of the process is under appeal and which is not, right?
So they've left themselves at the broad discretion to say, well, this sort of
process, we don't think you can appeal, and this one you can appeal. So again,
looking at it from a legal perspective, a high degree of uncertainty, I don't know,
are they going to say no appeal on everything, on some things? I don't know, right?
And again, it creates that uncertainty, but just recognizing that they are going to
determine, absent any public debate, what's appealable and what's not appealable.
The discussion paper had indicated that the appeal of medical eligibility by the
appeals review panel was not going to be subject to appeal. But there's going to be
all sorts of other processes and where, like, where are they going to apply it? If
anything, this became more confusing than clearer because they just said, well, we
can determine what's appealable and what's not appealable. I think that's concerning.
Yeah, they had said only decisions that are not exempted by regulation can be
appealed. And the government can choose which decisions are exempt. So it just holds
so much power. It just feels like there's so much power on their end, and is there
a true understanding of the complexity, right? And that is not clear.
Well, and I guess time will tell about the whole appeal process and how that gets
worked through and what are the rules there. Is there a fairness to it?
And I think at the end day, most people go, I just want you to listen to my
story. I want you to understand my situation. Right. And, and I worry about if that
is not done well, particularly in the context of a brand new program where people
are trying to figure this out, right? So imagine we got all these people being
hired to do this work and they're trying to figure it out from scratch because
we've never had this, right? We've had some appeal panels, we've had to go through
appeals, right, through the current scenario.
But on paper, anyway, it looks like it's going to be a completely new body that's
going to be doing this work. And we don't have any of the details. So if I don't
have the assurances on the fairness of that procedure, I have heightened concerns
about their ability to deny appeals. They They could just say, well, these are
rules, too bad. There's nothing you can do about it. I have no recourse to the
courts to seek redress if there's been really unfairness in the whole process.
So that's frustrating in terms of trying to figure out, well, how can we help
people? Because there may be a limit on our ability to help people because of
reduced. Well, and who's advocating for the people, right? Maybe it's us,
but what about someone who doesn't have sort of family that is speaking to us?
Are they going to know what to do? Or are they just automatically going to stay on
ADAP? And is that, we don't know, right? But if, but then there needs to be some
sort of way for them to sort of bring forward what's needed and are they going to
be able to do that. So let's, let's move to the next point, I guess we wanted,
the next topic really is, what does this all mean? You know, as we try to wrap up
here. And I think one of the themes that we've been talking about before, but is
certainly on the list of our reaction to Bill 12, is the uncertainty.
That's what really strikes me here. And I said it earlier, but it bears repeating
here, is the government chose to not give details with regard to this new program.
I think they've created a lot of anxiety. This is a piece of legislation affecting
the most vulnerable. And so if you're, the people you're receiving are those that
are completely dependent
on the government for putting food on the table and a roof over their head. It's
not surprising to say, we're to say, we're going to be changing all the rules on
that. We're going to limit your rights. We may affect your eligibility, and we're
not telling you the details of that. Right. Imagine, I remember trying to explain
this to somebody across on a dinner program the other day. We were at a Christmas
party. And I was trying to explain the new ADAP program. And the best analogy I
could come up with this is to say, well, imagine that your employer suddenly came
to you and say, oh, by the way, we're moving you to a completely different job
description. It's going to be less money. And we're not going to tell you the
rules. And you may not be able to appeal the decision for us to determine on this
new job description. But don't worry, it's in your best interest. We think you're
going to be better. But we're not disclosing to you any of the details. Well, guess
what her reaction was. The lady sitting beside me was saying that doesn't sound very
good. So if we think about it for each of us, for those of us able -bodied,
and we think if our employer did this to us, we would be outraged.
But for many, the government is not an employment relationship,
but this is kind of their paycheck. This is how they're supporting themselves because
they can't work. And now we're having these fundamental changes. So creating all that
uncertainty, I think it's very that the anxiety and all the concern that's out there
is justified, right? Because we don't have the rules. And we see this just how it's
being positioned. I don't, if the government is trying to give assurances that they
have the best interests of the disability community in mind, well, they wouldn't do
it this way. No, and when you talk about financial insecurity, the way that it's
presented, they keep saying it's going to be in, you know, it's going to be better
for people that they're going to do better financially. But there is nothing at this
point that indicates that because we don't have any of the, any of the information
that would actually back that up. It actually, we're seeing the exact opposite.
And so some of it is we just, we just need to have the details to know. Well,
and I think we were talking about different scenarios, even on transition, right?
There's uncertainty now in questions we have with regard to, because they've given
us, they have indicated in their material that current rates will stay in effect
until December 31 of 2027. But then is that for people who don't have work?
What about for people who do have work, right? Even just the transition and how
this is going to be rolled out and how people are going to be affected is causing
a lot of concern. So that lends to the uncertainty that exists with regard to the
program. Well, and I've had questions, too, of people who are maybe in a long -term
care facility that are getting some additional funding because of the increased rates
of where they're living. Is that going to still continue? Or is that not? Because
now the amount is lower and now there's a bigger difference between that? I don't
know. And the rules even with now we're talking more work,
and work is more part of, of,
financial, helps with them having more money. It actually harms them.
Yeah, so I think those are examples of, as we're working through scenarios, it's
hard to predict exactly what their response is going to be, right? So that just
leads, it's another example of that uncertainty, right, which I wish we had the
news. So I guess listeners, let's move a little bit to wrap up here saying, okay,
where do we, where do we go from here or what happens next, Annie, with regard to
Bill 12? Well, I think, again, we just have, we have,
you know, not all the details, so it's hard for us to answer questions to people.
They haven't released it. So we continue to, um, want to add these things as we
learn them, uh, on the podcast. But advocacy Advocacy is the huge piece here.
I think people need to state their concerns to their MLA
to tell the stories of how it's affecting the person with a disability. And
hopefully then MLAs can propose some amendments.
So maybe it's going forward, but maybe with amendments that are going to be less
harmful and not impede the financial insecurity,
right? Like, we want them to be, to have enough to live on. Exactly.
So I think, as you said, this is, we'll be covering developments in the podcast.
So do, do continue to subscribe. As we learn more information.
We'll figure out the best way to get that out to our listeners, the information
that's there. But I think in this democratic process, I think you continue to want
to have your voice heard. Sometimes there's an element of frustration going,
well, my voice is not going to be heard. But I think, you know, we should stand
up and say, well, wait a minute, this is not right. And even if the government
pushes it through, it would appear their intent on doing so. I think if they hear,
you know, the hope would be if they hear from enough people, they might take a
pause and maybe either make some changes. They may propose, provide some assurances.
But I think that advocacy is always there, even if the prospect of being listened
to may be dim. I think you still do that because then when the government passes
the rule, they pass it with the knowledge of the impact it's going to have. And
they can't say, oh, we didn't understand that because we, you know, the disability
community was the voice that said this is going to have a negative impact. And
they, you know, through this process, the way in which that happens is through
continued advocacy and communication. obviously in a respectful fashion, you want to
continue for them to, you know, try to listen and you hope they will. But yeah,
that, that's, I think what we can continue to do and continue to support each
other. There's a lot of people who are anxious about it. So get the information and
where possible, share the information. So we're at least dealing with the facts. We
want to hold the government to account, make sure they understand what they're doing,
work through the process, and continue to be vocal about your assessment of how this
is going to impact, even if it feels like that's a voice that's not being listened
to. Thanks for listening. This is we advocate, stay informed, stay engaged,
and as always, we are here to help make sense of the legislation that affects your
life.