Mr. Speaker, I am again here late at night to offer the government common-sense solutions. We hear every day that our health care system is stretched thin. Across the 34 communities in my riding of Courtenay—Alberni, too many people are already struggling to find a family doctor. We should be reducing pressure on the system, not adding to it, yet the federal disability tax credit process continues to do exactly that.
Family doctors are spending hours on Government of Canada paperwork when they could instead be seeing their patients. The College of Family Physicians of Canada has been clear. In 2022, roughly 250,000 disability tax credit forms consumed about 250,000 hours of physician time, which is the equivalent of one million lost patient visits. That is one million appointments that could have gone to giving Canadians the care they need.
There is also another side to this problem. Across the country, many people who already qualify for disability supports in their province or territory cannot access the disability tax credit, not because they are ineligible but because they cannot find a doctor to complete the form. No doctor means no form, and no form means no access. As a result, people are being shut out of both the disability tax credit and the disability benefit that depends on getting the disability tax credit. The benefit they are trying to get is modest, about $200 a month, but it can make a huge difference in the life of someone who is living on disability. It can be the difference between getting by and falling even further behind. Instead of removing barriers, the government is maintaining them.
We are also learning from public servants at the Canada Revenue Agency who deal with the burdensome and duplicative process I identified that they are repeating the work that provinces and territories have already done. While a growing backlog of applications leaves Canadians waiting, this is not just inefficient but deeply frustrating for the staff, doctors and health care workers who are trying to help the people navigate the system to get this done.
I have been raising this issue for years. Tonight I am responding to a question I asked again in December, and this question still has not improved the situation. Budget 2025 sets aside $10 million so applicants can pay a $150 fee to navigate the same broken process. Instead of fixing the system, the Liberal government is asking people to pay to get through it. It is just not okay. This is not a solution.
Canadians deserve to know why these barriers remain. When eligible people cannot access supports, it raises serious ethical questions about whether the complexity is being used to limit access and make life harder rather than to improve outcomes. That is why I introduced Bill C-211, which would make it easier for people with disabilities to access the benefits they are entitled to while reducing the paperwork burden on health care workers.
Right now, Canadians are forced to prove the same disability over and over again across different levels of government. My bill would streamline the process so that when a disability is recognized by a province or territory, it would automatically be recognized federally. This is a practical and common-sense fix. It would reduce barriers, improve access to benefits and free up doctors to focus on patient care. It would also ensure that people are not excluded simply because they cannot access a physician to complete their paperwork.
Canadians deserve a system that works. New Democrats will continue to put forward practical solutions that relieve pressure on our health care system, respect health care workers and ensure that supports reach the very people who need them the most. It is time to fix the disability tax credit process once and for all.