Multinational contractors managing Alberta’s new disability employment system: documents

Multinational contractors managing Alberta’s new disability employment system: documents

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Alberta’s new model of disability employment services will be managed by the Canadian affiliates of large international firms, procurement documents show.

Posted online, the documents revealed the identity of these “prime contractors” which will oversee the new Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP) and refer clients to existing employment agencies.

ADAP, launching July 1, will coexist with Alberta’s current disability employment system called Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH). Thousands of people currently on AISH will move to ADAP due to the province's new standards for the older program.

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AKG Canada, whose parent company is based in Australia, won a $47 million, five-year contract providing services in Edmonton and northern Alberta.

Serco Canada, an affiliate of the U.K.-based contractor, will oversee ADAP employment services for Calgary and southern Alberta. The five-year Serco Canada contract is worth $51 million.

The procurement document estimates 26,800 ADAP clients will be referred to the contractors during the active intake period of July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029. An optional two-year extension period could see another 2,900 referrals.

Both AKG and Serco will refer ADAP clients to existing employment service providers.

In Edmonton and Calgary, the companies will offer a range of services to ADAP clients, including client assessment, production of an employment action plan, case management and peer support.

The prime contractors will then refer clients to existing employment service providers, not deliver the services themselves.

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According to the document, the companies are expected to set up a minimum of five offices in each city for clients to visit in person. The offices must be downtown and in each quadrant of the two cities.

In medium-sized cities and other areas outside of Edmonton and Calgary, AKG Canada and Serco Canada will only refer clients to existing employment services.

AKG Canada and Serco Canada will also oversee the province’s Stream C clients, who are people receiving income support payments. They are deemed able to work but have factors such as criminal records, addictions or mental health conditions that put them at risk of staying unemployed.

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Most people currently receiving AISH benefits will automatically be moved to ADAP, unless they meet specific criteria.

People who are deemed to have a severe and profound developmental disability, live in a continuing care home, receive Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) services or who have a palliative or terminal medical condition will stay on AISH.

People moving to ADAP who believe they should stay on AISH will need to reapply to the program.

The province has defended ADAP to critics, saying it allows people to keep disability benefits while working more hours of paid employment, but some people currently on AISH say they are terrified about being forced to work or take on more hours of employment than their medical condition allows them to handle.

In a statement to CBC News, Jonah Pickle, the press secretary for Assisted Living and Social Services Minister Nathan Neudorf, said ADAP is designed to "empower Albertans with disabilities to gain and retain meaningful employment, so providing quality employment services that are easily accessible and tailored to each individual is a top priority."

"The prime contractor model provides a single, co-ordinated pathway that connects ADAP clients to personalized assessments, employment services and wraparound supports. This client-centred approach ensures Albertans on ADAP don't need to navigate multiple services on their own."

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An analysis by Gillian Petit at the University of Calgary found that someone on ADAP will have to work 39 hours per week at minimum wage to have benefits that are equal to those on AISH.

Her calculation takes into account taxes and other deductions that reduce take-home pay.

AISH allows a single person to keep up to $1,072 each month of employment income on top of the full personal benefit of $1,940 before money is clawed back. That amount drops to $350 on July 1 for people who remain on AISH.

People on ADAP have an earnings exemption of $700 a month. They will also receive $200 less a month than they received under AISH after the 18-month transition period is complete on Jan. 1, 2028.

Disability advocates and at least five Alberta municipalities have called on the province to put ADAP on hold. They are concerned about the cut in benefits and the possibility recipients will have difficulty finding an employer who has a fully accessible workplace and can accommodate disabilities.

Alberta doesn’t have workplace accessibility legislation.

Alberta changes come after Ontario altered its model

The changes Alberta is introducing appear to mirror changes Ontario made to its disability employment system starting in 2019.

Ontario used service system managers, similar to Alberta’s prime contractors, to manage service providers.

Community Living Ontario and the Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) prepared two reports — “Tangled in Red Tape” in 2024, and “Still Tangled in Red Tape,” a year later — which examined the changes based on surveys with employment service providers.

The reports found employment service providers faced more administrative tasks and red tape reporting to the service system managers, which gave them less time to work with and find jobs for their clients.

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According to the reports, agencies received 40 per cent less funding under a new payment structure that focused on intakes, not on success in placing people in jobs. Performance-based funding was paid only when a client finds employment of at least 20 hours a week or more compounded funding problems, the reports found.

Shawn Pegg, director of social policy and strategic initiatives at Community Living Ontario, said the system forced service providers to bring in large numbers of clients while cutting back on staff.

That meant people who needed the most help finding a job didn’t get the support they required.

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“Service providers are being forced to focus on supporting people with the fewest barriers to employment because they can help them into a job quickly, receive the performance based funding and then move on to the next person,” Pegg said.

“The policy that's been in place, which goes back to the province, is really working against helping more people with disabilities and barriers to employment get access to the job market.”

Alberta's government says the changes it is making are different than those that were implemented in Ontario, noting that in Alberta, client referrals to the prime contractors will be made by the ministry.

The province says its funding model is not contingent on clients getting jobs or working a particular number of hours per week, and that the province maintains the agreements with employment services providers, not the prime contractors.

Pegg said Ontario’s system remains unchanged despite widespread feedback on its shortcomings. Additionally, some organizations have either reduced services or ended programs entirely.

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St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud, the NDP Opposition critic for assisted living and social services, said people on AISH are distressed about the switch to ADAP. She said this turmoil has been compounded by a lack of information about the new program.

The ADAP employment plan, as outlined in the request for proposal, shows that it was something written by bureaucrats with very little input from people with disabilities, Renaud said.

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Renaud, a former executive director of an organization that ran an employment program for people with intellectual disabilities, worries ADAP will fail because of a lack of consultation.

“I fear that this is just giving them cover for cutting,” she said. “They've clearly reduced the stability that people with severe disabilities feel.

“I just wish they would learn a lesson. And you know you're going to get it wrong if you don't talk to the right people. But sadly, they seem to think they have the answers.”

Michelle Bellefontaine covers the Alberta legislature for CBC News in Edmonton. She has also worked as a reporter in the Maritimes and in northern Canada.