A new report recommends that reforms such as automatic enrolment should be considered in order to increase the use of the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) program.
On Wednesday, the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce tabled its report on the RDSP program, which makes a series of recommendations aimed at improving its adoption.
The recommendations focus on four issues: legal capacity and representation; awareness of the program; withdrawal rules and administrative problems in relation to the program.
The committee says that it believes that if its recommendations are implemented, they “would likely increase the program’s uptake rate and benefit disabled individuals and the rest of society by improving disabled individuals’ long-term financial stability.”
The report indicates that only about 15% of eligible Canadians have established an RDSP, which were introduced in the 2007 federal budget to help parents and others to save for the long-term financial security of disabled individuals. The committee says that it heard a number of possible explanations for the low uptake rate, including: some disabled adults may not have the legal capacity to establish an RDSP; low awareness of the program; its restrictive rules; and, other administrative issues that act as barriers.
To address these problems, it recommends a number of possible responses, including that “the government strongly consider the possibility of having [an] RDSP automatically established when someone qualifies for the Disability Tax Credit.”
It also suggests that: the provinces and territories ensure that disabled adults can access the program; the federal government improve its communication efforts; the government lower the 10-year waiting period to five years, and reduce the amount to be repaid under the assistance holdback rules; establishing a federal initiative, or funding federally-recognized organizations, that could provide assistance in signing up.