If you would like easy to understand information on the new Registered Disability Savings Plan please visit www.rdsp.com.
PLAN is undertaking a scan of the pan-Canadian impact of the RDSP on services and benefits accessed by people with disabilities. This scan will examine the federal and provincial programs and benefits to evaluate the full range of implications of the RDSP on income, benefits, and other programs currently being utilized by people with disabilities. Once we have a good overview of what programs and services people are receiving, and how they might be impacted, we can then develop proper strategies to advocate for any changes that are needed.
If you have a moment, we would really appreciate your input/feedback on the attached scan of British Columbia. We are trying to identify all the benefits and services someone in the province of BC could receive if they have a disability, and then whether these services or benefits are asset or income tested. Since the BC Government has exempted the RDSP from asset and income tests for those receiving BC Disability Benefits (PWD), many of the services and benefits will not be affected.
We are posting the following draft version of our British Columbia scan, but will be providing consequent scans for each province/territory.
Please keep in mind that this is a draft version and we fully expect it to have omissions or information that is incorrect. The feedback you provide will help us make sure the final version is as accurate as possible.
If you have comments or feedback, please e-mail inquiries@plan.ca, and put “Scan Feedback, c/o Doug Brodhead” in the header”.
Thank you for all your support.
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
November 13, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Dave Killins
For those of us in a province other than BC, what is being done to relax the qualification process by a person who is not “contractually competent”?
November 13, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Doug Brodhead
Hi Dave,
We are currently working collaboratively with the federal government, financial institutions, and a few other community groups to come up with a solution to this issue. One of the options that we are looking at is creating a new federal process that allows people to assign someone to act as the “trustee” of their RDSP, without a test for contractual competence, would enable transfer of responsibility for managing an RDSP without requiring guardianship. There are several situations where a trustee of benefits can be appointed in a relatively informal and streamlined process. The processes protect people’s assets by assigning fiduciary responsibility.
We expect something to become available soon, so make sure to check in regularly for updates, or sign up for our free updates by going to http://www.rdsp.com and Join PLAN for free.