Media Contacts

Media Relations

Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction
250 387-6490

Backgrounders

Earnings exemptions amounts

Effective Oct. 1, 2017, earnings exemptions will increase:

  • by $2,400 annually for people on disability assistance
  • by $200 per month for people on income assistance.

New earnings exemptions amounts

For people on disability assistance:

  • $12,000 for a single person
  • $14,400 for a couple where one is a person with a disability
  • $24,000 for a couple where both are persons with disabilities

For people on income assistance:

  • $400 for a single person
  • $600 for a family with children
  • $700 a family with a child with a disability
  • $700 for a family unit with a person who has persistent multiple barriers to employment  

Annual earnings exemptions retroactive to Jan. 1, 2017

  • As the annual earnings exemption is for a calendar year, the increase will apply to the current year, back to Jan. 1, 2017.
  • Anyone who has exceeded the current exemption for this year ($9,600 for a single person) will be entitled to the higher limit.
  • Staff at the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction will be contacting those individuals by the end of November to adjust their assistance payments accordingly.