Umbrella resources

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Canada’s main source of information for government and community-based, non-clinical health and social services. This free and confidential service can be accessed 24/7, in more than 150 languages, by phone, chat, text and web. Find provincial or territorial contact information.

Disability benefits and resources

You may have disability benefit coverage under a group disability insurance policy through your workplace or professional organization. Or you may have purchased a private plan on your own. If so, you may be eligible for both short- and long-term disability benefits. Check your policy brochure.

Council of Canadian with Disabilities (CCD)
CCD is a national human rights organization of people with disabilities working for an accessible and inclusive Canada. Find links to member organizations providing information and direct services nationally or in your province or territory.

Disability Tax Credit (DTC)
The basic DTC tries to address, through the tax system, the added costs Canadians face living with an ongoing disability. People who qualify get tax relief, with a supplemental benefit for those under 18. Provincial credits add more savings. The eligibility requirements for the DTC are in the T-2201 DTC certificate application form. Among other things, claimants must have a prolonged impairment in physical or mental functions that must have lasted, or be expected to last, for a continuous period of at least 12 months. The DTC cannot be claimed until the application has been approved. Once approved, claimants can ask for reassessment to claim credits going back up to 10 calendar years, depending on when they would have been eligible for the credits.

Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Disability Benefits
Covers disability benefits for eligible workers from the time of disability until retirement when the regular CPP pension starts. To quality, you need to have met certain conditions and will need to prove that your disability is both “severe and prolonged,” leaving you unable to work on a regular basis. Benefits may also be available to dependent children.

Transportation resources

Disability parking permits
If your balance and dizziness issues impede your ability to walk to and from a car, you may be eligible for a disability parking permit. Find links to issuers of permits in your province or territory.

Social services

Registered social workers can help with a variety of issues related to problems that affect activities of daily living. For example, parents with balance and dizziness issues often take longer to recover because they have no down time. A social worker may be able to help find a constructive solution.

You do not need a referral from a doctor to see a social worker, but a referral may be needed to get coverage from an extended health plan. Not all plans require a doctor's referral. Check your plan to see if it is needed.

There are several ways to access a social worker in Canada:

• Ask your family doctor for a referral.
• Through some employment assistance programs, family service agencies, mental health organization and similar organizations.
• On a fee-for-service basis – self-employed social workers in private practice.

Employment services

Canadian Hearing Services: Employment Services for Job Seekers
Offers free supports to deaf and hard of hearing individuals, ages 16 and over, to find a job and succeed by working with employees and employers to put the right supports in place.

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) Policies and Programs
Includes information on employment programs, Canada Pension Plan, Canada Child Benefit, student loans and more.

Housing

Supportive and accessible housing
Find links to Canada-wide, provincial, and territorial services that help make housing more financially and physically accessible. Though the page is maintained by Heart & Stroke Canada, it is equally valuable to those disabled by imbalance and/or dizziness.

Medical information and subsidies

Telehealth and telemedicine lines
Find links to provincial and territorial services that provide a variety of 24-hour confidential advice, education and support from nurses, psychiatric nurses and social workers. Though the page is maintained by the Canadian Women’s Health Network, it is equally valuable to anyone affected by other health issues including imbalance and/or dizziness.

Provincial and Territorial Public Drug Benefit Programs
Each provincial and territorial government offers a drug benefit plan for eligible groups. Some are income-based universal programs. Most have specific programs for population groups that may require more enhanced coverage for high drug costs. These groups include seniors, recipients of social assistance, and individuals with diseases or conditions that are associated with high drug costs. Follow links to information for each province and territory.