Provincial program · British Columbia
Disability assistance and the PWD designation
British Columbia splits it in two. First you are designated a Person with Disabilities; then you receive disability assistance.
What it is
Monthly financial support plus health supplements. The designation comes first and everything else hangs off it — which is why people talk about "getting PWD" rather than about the money.
Who it is for
A severe mental or physical impairment expected to continue at least two years, which significantly restricts your daily living activities and means you need help from another person, an assistive device, or an assistance animal. Note the two years: it is longer than the federal test, which asks for twelve months.
What it pays
- $1,483.50 a month
- is the most a single person with the Persons with Disabilities designation could get, on the province’s own worked example.
- A single person’s rate. Couples who both hold the designation, and families with children, receive more. British Columbia last updated this page on 1 December 2025, so a later change may not be reflected.
More for a couple who both hold the designation, and more for families with children.
- Government of British Columbia, published 2025 · December 2025 benefit month (opens in a new tab) Checked August 4, 2026
How to apply
Through the Ministry. You apply for assistance first, and the PWD designation application follows — so the order is the opposite of what most people expect.
What it does with the federal money
Exempt — it does not reduce your provincial payment
British Columbia exempts it. The province announced in June 2025 that people receiving assistance keep the entire Canada Disability Benefit, and the exemption covers income, disability and hardship assistance under B.C. Employment and Assistance. It does not reduce your provincial payment.
What catches people out
There is a shortcut into the designation for people already approved for one of a few named programs — and the list names the Canada Pension Plan disability benefit, not the Disability Tax Credit. Read that twice. They are two different federal approvals, and arriving with the wrong one wastes the appointment.
Being on this program does not give you the Disability Tax Credit. It is a separate federal approval with its own test — and it is the one that unlocks the Canada Disability Benefit and the Registered Disability Savings Plan. A great many people receiving provincial support never apply, because they assume they are already covered.
The official page
Always the final word on rules, amounts and forms:
See what you may qualify for.
About four minutes. Nothing is shared with the government.