CHS Supports New Bill for Fair Access to the Disability Tax Credit

Toronto, ON (Oct 4, 2010) - The Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) supports recommended changes to the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) in a proposed private members bill to better capture hearing disabilities.

Peter Julian, MP for New-Westminster Burnaby seeks to amend the Income Tax Act to ensure all eligible individuals have fair access to the DTC . The existing criteria for eligibility for the tax credit discriminate against individuals with a hearing loss.

“The eligibility requirements for the Disability Tax Credit must accurately and fairly reflect the eligibility of people with hearing loss. We urge you to contact your local MP to encourage them to support Bill C-577,” says Chris Kenopic, CHS President and CEO.

“The criteria for eligibility are both confusing and inequitable. The recommended amendments would help clarify and fairly evaluate the communication barriers faced by people with a hearing loss,” says Rex Banks, CHS Chief Audiologist.

Bill C-577 amendments include:

• Measure listening in “normal settings” vs. “quiet settings”.
• Changing the requirements to reflect understanding “another person” vs. “a person familiar to them.”
• Assessing the degree of hearing loss while not wearing an assisted listening device.

Background:
Founded in 1940, The Canadian Hearing Society is a not-for-profit agency and the leading provider of services, products, and information that remove barriers to communication, advance hearing health, and promote equity for people who are culturally Deaf, oral deaf, deafened and hard of hearing.

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Contact:
Gordana Mosher, Public Relations Coordinator
The Canadian Hearing Society
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Ph: 416-928-2535, TTY: 416-928-2545
www.chs.ca