Introduction
March of Dimes Canada (MODC) is pleased to present its Pre-Budget Submission to the Government of British Columbia for fiscal year 2027. As a service leader and ally, partnering with people with disabilities to remove barriers, build belonging and create a more inclusive Canada, MODC welcomes the opportunity to deliver insights into how we can create a more equitable and inclusive BC. In developing this submission, MODC has listened and incorporated the priorities communicated to us by our community of service users and stakeholders.
Summary of Recommendations
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Recommendation 1: Invest in financial security and employment inclusion for people with disabilities.
Recommendation 2: Strategically reallocate and invest in coordinated, community‑based after‑stroke navigation and rehabilitation to close the critical gap between hospital discharge and home, ensuring stroke survivors receive timely, individualized care that prevents avoidable health system use.
Recommendation 3: Fund a Home Modifications program to support low-income seniors and people with disabilities of all ages to remain in their homes and communities, promote independence, and reduce health care system pressures.
Recommendation 1: Invest in financial security and employment inclusion for people with disabilities
To address the issue of income support, at the federal level, MODC continues to advocate for the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) amount to be adequate and for the process to receive the benefit be fully accessible. We thank the Government of British Columbia for committing to not clawing back provincial disability benefits from the federal Canada Disability Benefit last year. This commitment will better ensure financial security for British Columbians with disabilities.
In addition to ensuring sufficient income, the government must support employment inclusion for people with disabilities. While provincial figures vary, the employment gap between persons with and without disabilities remains substantial. For example, Statistics Canada data show that in 2024, the national employment rate was 46.4 per cent for persons with disabilities compared to 66.2 per cent for those without disabilities—a gap of nearly 20 percentage points, underscoring persistent structural barriers to workforce participation. This stark disparity underscores the need for targeted programs and investments to close the gap and create inclusive employment opportunities.
To narrow this gap, MODC recommends growing Sectoral Workforce Solutions programs to support people with disabilities in accessing digital skills programs to increase participation in tech and tech-enabled employment. The financial security and empowerment that such programs provide for people with disabilities is invaluable.
For example, at MODC, we have witnessed this firsthand through our
SkillingUp program. The success of the program resulted in attracting funding through corporate and government partnerships to provide more than 6000 people with disabilities with in-demand digital skills in 2025-26. There is certainly room to grow and expand programs that offer digital skills for people with disabilities and increase their opportunities to obtain future-proof employment – like SkillingUp.
We urge the Honourable Diana Gibson and the Honourable Sheila Malcolmson to collaborate on determining the appropriate funding and resources needed to support people with disabilities in accessing digital skills programs to increase participation in tech and tech-enabled employment in the upcoming budget.
Recommendation 2: Strategically reallocate and invest in coordinated, community‑based after‑stroke navigation and rehabilitation to close the critical gap between hospital discharge and home, ensuring stroke survivors receive timely, individualized care that prevents avoidable health system use.
More than 6,000 British Columbians experience a stroke each year, with over 144,000 people living with its effects(add endnote referencing: Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS) — Canada.ca). Most survivors leave hospital with ongoing disabilities yet face a significant drop‑off in support during the transition home—leading to avoidable complications, readmissions, and increased reliance on costly health and social systems.
Building on the BC Rehabilitation & Recovery network’s priorities , BC should partner across health, disability, and community sectors to deliver coordinated, person‑centred after‑stroke care.
Targeted investment should focus on:
- Closing the discharge-to-home gap through community-based stroke navigators;
- Providing the right care, at the right time and intensity through a tailored navigation model; and
- Redistributing resources upstream to reduce pressure on hospitals and long-term care.
Proven Solution: After Stroke
March of Dimes Canada’s After Stroke program is an evidence-based, person-centred model designed with clinicians and people with lived experience. Anchored by Community Stroke Navigators, it provides seamless transition support, personalized recovery planning, education, and connection to community services.
This bespoke navigation approach improves recovery outcomes, supports independence at home, and reduces system demand—particularly for underserved and rural populations.
Impact
Scaling After Stroke and related community supports will:
- Improve recovery and quality of life for stroke survivors and families;
- Reduce avoidable hospital use and system costs; and
- Ensure more British Columbians can live and age in the right place.
We recommend the Ministry of Health, in partnership with health authorities, community organizations, and people with lived experience, provide targeted, multi-year investment—supported by strategic reallocation of existing resources—to scale evidence‑based, community-based after-stroke services, including Community Stroke Navigators, to enable integrated transitions from hospital to home and reduce avoidable hospital use, emergency visits, and long-term system costs, particularly in rural and underserved communities.
Recommendation 3:
Fund a Home Modifications program to support low-income seniors and people with disabilities of all ages to remain in their homes and communities, promote independence, and reduce health care system pressures.
This recommendation highlights the need for provincial investment in direct grants for home modifications to support people with disabilities and low-income seniors to remain independent and in their own homes. Budget 2025 established important momentum with a $354 million investment in seniors’ home and community care; however, Budget 2026 maintained funding without new expansion, reinforcing the need for targeted growth in Budget 2027. The existing BC Rebate for Accessible Home Adaptations (BC RAHA) plays an important role in contributing to the solution to this challenge. However, there is a growing need to support people with upfront financial means to modify their home or vehicles as their needs change over time.
According to Statistics Canada’s 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability, over half (52 per cent) of Canadians with mobility disabilities use adapted features in their homes, such as bathroom aids, ramps and lifts. However, gaps remain. In 2022, 16 per cent of people with physical disabilities reported that their homes did not have the physical aids they needed. These unmet accessibility needs present serious barriers to independent living, particularly after hospital discharge, and place additional strain on caregivers and the health care system.
BC Housing Registry data from 2017 shows there were 450 applicants waiting for wheelchair accessible housing in Metro Vancouver, half of whom lived in Vancouver or Surrey and 65 per cent of whom had incomes below $20,000. More recent data from Disability Alliance BC indicates that over 200 wheelchair users (213–226 individuals) remain on waitlists for accessible housing supports in Metro Vancouver alone as of 2026. This demonstrates the significant demand for accessible housing options and the urgency of enabling individuals to adapt their existing homes rather than face long waits or be forced into institutional settings that do not support independence or quality of life.
Our recommendation focuses on people with disabilities and/or seniors who do not have the upfront financial means to cover such projects, but who nonetheless require modifications to return to or remain in their own homes and communities, regain or maintain independence and ensure quality of life. These types of inexpensive modifications (such as tub cut outs, lifts, devices to support activities of daily living, environmental controls) can bring people home from costly institutional care, facilitate employment and full participation in family and community life, and reduce growing pressures on healthcare systems, long-term care systems, and housing in British Columbia.
MODC has administered Ontario’s Home & Vehicle Modification Program (HVMP) in Ontario since 1991 with growing success. With just $15M in direct grants to Ontarians in 2024-25, our program has served over 2,245 people with disabilities and seniors in the province. In our most recent client satisfaction survey, HVMP grant recipients told us that the devices and modifications they received:
- Reduced safety risks they faced in key areas such as bathrooms, kitchens, entry/exit points, stairs, bedrooms, and vehicles.
- Reduced their emergency room visits and the use of emergency medical services after receiving devices/modifications.
- Improved their quality of life, self-esteem, access to essential services, reduced isolation, and increased independence.
- Helped caregivers meet their responsibilities, maintain employment, and provide better care for dependents with disabilities.
- Enabled respondents to participate in social, leisurely, and developmental activities, fostering a sense of community and connection.
In 2023, the Manitoba government announced that MODC would administer a $1.5M home modifications program for seniors – Safe and Healthy Home for Seniors (SHHS). Grant recipients have told us through a recent post-grant survey that:
- The program is making homes much safer for seniors. Almost everyone we heard from—98 per cent—said the changes removed a serious safety risk, especially in high-risk areas like stairs and bathrooms.
- SHHS is meaningfully helping people stay out of emergency situations. We saw a big drop in emergency room visits—from about 14 per cent before the program to just 2 per cent after. Calls to paramedics went down too, from 22 per cent to 6 per cent.
SHHS plays a critical role in supporting seniors to remain housed safely, delaying or preventing institutional care. 18.4 per cent of survey respondents had been at risk of long-term care placement before SHHS. None reported long-term care need after receiving SHHS support.
We urge that the British Columbian government consider modifying the BC RAHA program so that participants do not need to pay for modifications up front and increasing the funding for this program to address the growing need to support home and vehicle modifications for low-income people with disabilities of all ages in the province. MODC would be pleased to partner with the Government of British Columbia to assist.
About March of Dimes Canada
Together with our partners, we serve, connect, and empower people with disabilities to participate fully in life and in their communities on their own terms. Our work is grounded in the voices of the people we serve, built on a foundation of service, and backed by more than 75 years of success.
We’ve proven time and again our dedication to serving the needs of people living with disabilities. Born in one of the 20th century’s greatest public health crises, we know that seemingly impossible goals can be achieved, and barriers can be broken. In the 1950s, March of Dimes Canada helped fund a vaccine for polio. Now, we are working on creating communities in which people with disabilities can live and thrive nationwide.
We’re proud to support people with disabilities across Canada, from the early years to seniors. Our services extend beyond the individual to families who feel the impact of disability in different ways. Their collective experiences play a critical role in shaping our work as a service provider, resource, and advocate, which is focused in four areas: (1) the best start for children, youth, and families; (2) independence at home and in the community; (3) active, healthy, connected lives; and (4) financial security. These are the things people with disabilities told us they need, want, and expect out of life.
1 Statistics Canada, Labour market characteristics of persons with and without disabilities, 2024, released May 14, 2025.
2 The Daily – The Accessibility Experiences of Canadians with disabilities, 2017.
3 Gathering Perspectives: Reshaping Rehabilitation & Recovery of Stroke, Brain Injury, and Spinal Cord Injury in BC through community engagement, December 2022.
4 StatsCan Mobility Disabilities published December 3, 2024. Accessed at: Mobility disabilities, 2022. Accessed June 10, 2026.
5 BC Non‑Profit Housing Association, The Right Fit: Matching wheelchair users with accessible, affordable homes (citing BC Housing Registry data, 2017) and Disability Alliance BC, Right Fit Program press releases (April 2 and April 21, 2026).
