Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Kitchener Centre for his advocacy and also thank the disability community for its advocacy over the last several years. Everyone in Canada should be able to live in dignity. Our government is dedicated to this principle. We are prioritizing the needs of persons with disabilities and the disability community, and we are working toward meaningful solutions, solutions that matter and are impactful. It was our Liberal government that enacted the Accessible Canada Act. This was the first national Canadian legislation that impacted all government departments and federally regulated agencies.
We are committed to making Canada more accessible and inclusive.
We launched the disability inclusion action plan, our blueprint for change. A key component of the plan is a robust employment strategy. The strategy is integral to supporting persons with disabilities and helping them to enter the workforce. In fact, Statistics Canada estimates that over one million working-age Canadians with disabilities could participate in the labour market if they had a fully inclusive environment. We are committed to providing that fully inclusive environment for the one million Canadians of working age with disabilities.
Our government is committed to removing barriers through programs like the enabling accessibility fund, which supports essential improvements such as ramps, accessible doors, accessible washrooms and accessible offices. Additionally, the opportunities fund assists individuals with disabilities in preparing for, finding and maintaining employment. It also helps to advance careers.
Together these initiatives help foster accessible communities and workplaces and enable us to tap into this important and valuable talent pool.
Our government has invested more than any other federal government to support Canadians with disabilities, but there is still a lot of work to do. With the Canada disability benefit, our government is taking another historic step forward.
As a cornerstone of the disability inclusion action plan, the Canada disability benefit aims to enhance the financial security of low-income working-age persons with disabilities. Importantly, the disability benefit is designed to supplement existing disability support programs, not replace them.
The provinces and territories play an essential role in the payment of benefits.
We aim to see the combined federal, provincial and territorial benefits improve supports for persons with disabilities to match the levels of old age security and the guaranteed income supplement. This significant adjustment is essential in order to effectively address the rate of poverty facing persons with disabilities. The Canada disability benefit allows our government to work with provinces and territories to see that there are no more clawbacks of existing benefits.
Together we can explore the best ways to improve our collective assistance to persons with disabilities. We understand that the disabilities community is eager for the payments to be made. We are too.
We are moving swiftly towards establishing essential components of the disability benefit and delivering on it. It will be in people's pockets as of July, and we are committed to that.