A job shouldn’t be a disability benefit in Alberta

In an opinion piece published in the Edmonton Journal, David Pettinicchio and Michelle Maroto critically examine Alberta’s recent overhaul of disability benefits policy. The province has reduced benefits for people it determines as being capable of working — a move ostensibly intended to encourage employment, but one that will actually entrench already existing precarity and poverty for thousands of people with disabilities.

David Pettinicchio is Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, affiliated with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and CGSP.

Citation

Maroto, M. and Pettinicchio, D. (2026). A job shouldn’t be a disability benefit in Alberta. Edmonton Journal. https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-adap-aish-disability-benefit

Excerpt

A person should not have to prove total inability to work to deserve freedom from poverty. Alberta’s policy reflects a broader problem in Canadian social policy: the tendency to treat employment as both the main measure of social contribution and the preferred solution to economic insecurity. Work can provide income, purpose, and social inclusion. But when jobs are inaccessible, precarious, or unavailable, tying adequate support to employment shifts risk from governments onto individuals.