Raise the Rates - Demands

2. Remove Barriers to Getting Income Assistance

Remove the arbitrary barriers that keep people in need from receiving income assistance, including the 2-year independence test, the 3-week work search, employment plans, web orientation, lack of transportation, and inordinate documentation demands; guarantee access to income assistance for all BC residents regardless of citizenship status or participation in immigrant sponsorship.

Why do we want barriers to accessing welfare removed?

In 2002 the government introduced many new extreme barriers to getting income assistance:

• The arbitrary two-year independence test means many applicants have to provide extensive documentation proving that they have earned $7,000 a year for two consecutive years before getting welfare. Young people, immigrants, and homeless people have a particularly hard time meeting this criterion.
• The three-week work search means that after a person first seeks assistance many have to wait three weeks before even being allowed to formally apply, even though most people are desperate and have exhausted every other avenue before walking through the door.
• Administrative barriers like the requirement for multiple appointments to get a cheque, and the completion of computer-based orientation, keep people in need from getting help when they desperately need it.

While BC's Ombudsman forced the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance to change procedures so that—at least in theory—people in emergency need can by-pass the three week work search, advocates report that numerous people in dire need still can't get immediate help. These barriers were cited by Vancouver’s Homeless Action plan) as being the main reason that homelessness doubled between 2002 and 2005.

Employment plans are hard to comply with, especially for income assistance recipients with other responsibilities. For example, a single mom with three kids, including a 21-year-old daughter with developmental challenges and two who were younger, was in a job program for women with barriers to employment, but "she missed appointments because her daughter was sick . . . She just felt she needed to be there for this person, and she got cut off." (Reference)

There are specific barriers to First Nations people accessing assistance. People who qualified on reserve for increased benefits due to a disability under the federal system may have to wait up to a year to access the same benefits off reserve whereas other British Columbians with disabilities that impair the ability to work do not face this kind of interruption of benefits. In other situations, we have received concerning reports of Indigenous people being denied provincial income assistance and told to just “move back to the reserve”. These reports suggest the use of the welfare system to continue to enforce historical policies of racial segregation by limiting the freedom of Indigenous people on First Nations territory (“British Columbia”).

Access to income assistance should be guaranteed for all people in need residing in British Columbia regardless of citizenship status or participation in immigrant sponsorship. Currently access for some people is at the discretion of the Ministry. If a sponsored immigrant claims income assistance it is treated as a loan and must be paid back, even if the person has a disability. This policy contributes to keeping people in unsafe situations. For example, immigrant women often feel like they have no choice but to remain in abusive situations either because they have no way of supporting themselves without accessing assistance or because they cannot repay the income assistance debt.

Transportation costs are an obstacle for people traveling to the office to apply for assistance (which often requires more than one visit) and for complying with the employment and documentation requirements to remain on assistance. $2.25 for a 1-zone bus ticket in Greater Vancouver may not seem like much, but when you have less than $7.83 a day for all your expenses except rent, it’s a significant amount. People in rural areas often do not have access to transportation at all. Raise the Rates members have heard stories of people having to hitchhike in order to get on assistance.

What impact would this policy change have on people’s lives in BC?

In 2005, the Greater Vancouver Homeless Count found 2174 persons living on the streets or in shelters, almost double the number counted in 2002. (Reference) This amount underestimates the actual number of homeless people because it does not include those who may be inside but should still be considered homeless, for example, people who are couch-surfing, living in one room with 10 others, or living in churches/temples.

Arbitrary barriers to getting income assistance should be removed to allow those who are in desperate need to get assistance.