**I am Canadian, so most (all) of these resources may not apply to you if you are visiting from elsewhere.**
If you are like most people suffering on the crushingly low income disability provides🤮, you are probably looking for ways to save some money. Below are some of the ways I've discovered that could do just that.😊 You might even be able to get free money too!💰
| Cost / Credit | Program | Provider(s) | How to Apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| $9.99-$34.99/mo. | Afforable Internet | Telus , Rogers | About |
| $20/mo. Discount | Mobility Bill Credit | Telus , Rogers , Bell , Videotron | About |
| FREE Money* | DTC (Disability Tax Credit) | CRA | Coming Soon... |
| FREE Money* | RDSP Savings Bond & Grant | Government of Canada | Coming Soon... |
| FREE or Partial Subsidy | Medical Alert IDEA Program | Medical Alert | Coming Soon... |
| $10/mo. | Internet (Connecting Families) | List of Providers | Not exclusively for disability |
Are you wondering how to get your internet price down to only $9.99 a month? There are only a couple of major ISPs offering this plan right now to people with Disabilities, so not everyone can get this deal, but if you're lucky enough to live in a covered area, here are some options:
Both Rogers and Telus seem to have plans that give you internet for $10/mo. This is what you need to know, if you're eligible to get them:
For Rogers:REVIEW: Rogers advertises a great range of speed options and it seems to serve a wide array of low income people, but despite that, my personal opinion of their criteria is it's an accessibility failure. The people most in need of these plans would be least able to access it. Requiring two government IDs is a serious barrier to access. If you are living on the scraps that disability or fixed income provides, you hardly have money (for example) for a passport, let alone the money to use it. ID can be expensive, and I feel the program would be more accessible if they asked for other forms of identification like a credit card, bank statement, or utility bill. In my opinion this requirement is too strict. However, even if you don't have 2 IDs, I think it's worth calling them up, just in case their website terms are out of date. The good news is, Rogers doesn't appear to discriminate based on type of disability or income support, so that is commendable.
For Telus:REVIEW: On the other hand, Telus has less options for speed, but they are up front about requiring a credit check. I don't think this is unreasonable, however we all know that when you are living in poverty, it's harder to have the best credit.
A little political opinion piece about internet here (feel free to skip 😛): Internet should be a human right. This is why I advocate for nationalized internet, with government subsidies for low-income people. Access to Internet in this day and age is mandatory. It's knowledge. It's banking. It's entertainment. It's connectivity. It often "levels the playing field" for people with disabilities, who may not be able to leave their homes easily. I don't think we can fault companies for having their requirements, because they are out for profit, but I do want to say I believe that the government should be stepping up here, and they really aren't. So many of us are left behind, and even more of us don't live in areas served by companies even offering these kinds of plans. Heck, even if you are served by these companies, you may still not be able to access it (for example, if you live in a rural area served by Wireless Internet). Relying on corporations to help the poor isn't going to work on it's own, and we need to encourage the government to create geared-to-income programs of it's own for internet. And all of this is happening while we live in a country with some of the most expensive services on the planet ^, so if you can't get these plans, it leads to unnecessary suffering.
Even if you manage to live without the internet, you will have to "pay up" in another way, with increased bank fees, cable fees, travel costs (back and forth from the bank or elsewhere), printing costs (for things that could've been emailed), lost cost-saving VOIP telephone services like Magic Jack, and even lost opportunities for community participation. All of these are things that the internet helps make more afforable, accessible, and inclusive - so they are just as essential for us too, if not more so. A lot of people with disabilities (myself included), do find a bit of a sense of community through it, and losing that would only create or worsen feelings of isolation. This is why I feel so strongly about it - internet should be a human right. The fact that some major providers don't have a remotely equivalent offer is evidence we can't rely on corporations or the market for this. Notably, with cellular service, most providers match credits (including other disability subsidy programs I outlined), but with internet they do not. I speculate this is because, unlike cellular, where there is more theoretical competition (since everyone could just switch on demand, usually no matter where you live), there's no actual incentive to offer a cheaper internet plan where major providers tend to control entire areas without any competitors' networks. Yes I know, in "theory" there are resellers, but I would be shocked to find a reseller who even get's access to networks for the prices Telus and Rogers are providing disabled customers. The government needs to step up here, and fast.
If you're wondering how to get the $20 an extra $20 off your cell phone bill each month, this part is for you. (To be continued...)