Those changes will build on the improvements we have already made to increase the support for people receiving Canada Pension Plan Disability benefits. We piloted a vocational rehabilitation project for CPP Disability clients most likely to benefit. As a result, the vocational rehabilitation program will become a regular part of the Plan s Disability program to help people who receive these benefits return to work. We will consult with you and other groups to discuss the practical details of implementing this national program. Also to encourage greater participation in mainstream activities, we introduced new CPP provisions in 1994.
Beneficiaries can go to school and do volunteer work without risk of losing benefits.
To ease the transition into the workforce, benefits continue for three months for those who did return to work. If their medical condition returns and prevents them from working, their application for benefits will be fast-tracked. I recently co-chaired a meeting of provincial Social Services Ministers. I was pleased to see a collective commitment on the part of my counterparts to the rapid reinstatement of income support benefits for persons with disabilities should employment efforts fail because of the individual s disability. This is one more part of our government s response to the changing needs of persons with disabilities.