After an 8 year campaign, PLAN’s proposal for a Registered Disability Savings Plan is now a fact. On Friday December 14th the RDSP received royal ascent after passing third reading in both the House of Commons and the Senate.
The RDSP is historic and noteworthy for a number of reasons:
- Canada is the first country in the world to offer a Registered Disability Savings Plan.
- The Federal Government has budgeted $115 million in matching Canada Disability Savings Grants and Bonds in for 2008-09.
- An estimated 700,000 Canadians with disabilities and their families will be affected.
- Provincial Governments will be forced to the asset limits for disability benefits and to eliminate claw-back. (See sidebar for changes already made by the Government of British Columbia.)
- The Federal Government has emphatically declared that they trust families and people with disabilities. There are no restrictions on what the RDSP can be spent on.
PLAN is now working with financial institutions and the federal government to ensure the RDSP is offered as a ‘product’ in every financial institution in the country as quickly as possible.