BC disability and income assistance rules updated to exempt new child disability benefit payments and remove outdated family bonus provisions

Plain-language summary · AI-assisted · not legal advice

Payments made under the new BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit are being added as exempt income for people receiving disability assistance, meaning those payments will not reduce assistance amounts or count against income limits. At the same time, references to the old "family bonus" program are being removed from both disability and income assistance regulations, including definitions, supplement provisions, and income exemption lists—reflecting that the family bonus no longer exists. Separately, the BC basic family bonus and national child benefit supplement are being explicitly listed as exempt income in the regulations. In a later phase, a specific existing income exemption (paragraph (ee) and related items) is repealed from both regulations. People receiving disability or income assistance who also receive the BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit should be aware those payments are treated as exempt and should not be reported as countable income. Administrators and advisors working with affected families should review how the removal of family bonus references affects any outstanding supplement calculations.

Who this affects: persons with disabilities receiving provincial assistance · income assistance recipients with children · social service administrators and caseworkers · families receiving BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit