Unclear disability tax credit criteria causes ‘unnecessary tension’ between doctors, families, Canadian Paediatric Society says

The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) is calling on changes to the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) form, adding to the chorus of voices in the medical community that want to see changes to physician involvement in the application process.Getting the DTC form signed by a qualified healthcare professional is a prerequisite for several government benefits for Canadians with disabilities, including the Registered Disability Savings Plan, the Child Disability Benefit and the recently implemented Canada Disability Benefit. However, CPS says the guidelines on DTC qualification for children and youth are insufficiently clear, leading to potential for “unnecessary tension between caregivers and physicians.”“Declining to complete a DTC form can damage the physician-patient relationship, and completed forms that are subsequently declined can result in frustration, disappointment and a loss of valuable time and resources,” the society said in a June 2026 policy brief. “Clearer eligibility requirements specifically as they relate to the developmental needs and abilities of children and youth would help to address this concern, accompanied by targeted public education initiatives for clinicians, caregivers and tax advisors.”In addition to calling for clearer eligibility requirements, the CPS is also calling on the form to be more applicable to the developmental needs of children and youth. They note that several of the form’s questions regarding speaking, walking, eliminating, feeding, dressing and or mental functioning impairments are “adult-based and are not applicable for infants and young children.”Other asks from the society include simplifying and automating applications for federal benefits wherever possible, increasing funding for initiatives to help patients navigate the system, strengthening funding for mental healthcare and expanding the range of healthcare professionals who can certify DTC eligibility. Currently, only doctors and nurse practitioners can certify for all impairments. Some healthcare professionals are able to certify specific impairments, such as optometrists for vision and audiologists for hearing, but the CPS suggests there may be other professionals, such as occupational therapists, that would be well-equipped to certify for all impairments.The federal government has taken some steps to streamline the DTC process for patients and healthcare professionals. In 2023, it introduced a fully digital DTC application form, and last year’s federal budget introduced measures to offset application costs, such as a $150 one-time payment for patients obtaining DTC certification to receive the Canada Disability Benefit. In the 2026 Spring Economic Update back in April, the federal government also expanded the list of impairments that occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech-language pathologists are allowed to certify and brought in new funding to speed up processing times.Meanwhile, the College of Family Physicians of Canada have long called on the federal government to completely relieve physicians the obligation to sign off on DTC forms. According to the college, the amount of time that family physicians spend on completing these forms amounts to more than one million lost patient visits.

Unclear disability tax credit criteria causes ‘unnecessary tension’ between doctors, families, Canadian Paediatric Society says

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