Social Policy Trends: Food Bank Use by AISH Recipients

Alberta’s Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program provides income support to those with disabilities that substantially limit their ability to work. Observing their reliance on food banks is a way of evaluating the adequacy of this support.

A recent School of Public Policy report showed that provincial income assistance for recipients who are able to work is often, even with heavy reliance on charities, insufficient to maintaining stable housing. That research is limited by the authors’ assumption that those income support recipients are capable of full-time work and are not constrained by health issues or disability.

This distinction matters because people with disabilities often face additional and unavoidable costs, including dietary requirements, accessible housing needs, and diminished ability to establish or maintain employment.

In recognition of this, AISH, as it is presently designed, differs from other income support programs. First, eligibility requires extensive medical evidence of disability creating a permanent barrier to employment. Second, income support is higher. It’s an open question whether benefit levels are high enough to compensate for increased costs and diminished capacity to work associated with disability.