DFK Tax Newsletter

Issue 2 - 2026 Edition - June 18, 2026 - Nara Erdenebat, CPA, CGA, Kenway Mack Slusarchuk Stewart

Disability Tax Credit (DTC) summary from The Spring Economic Update 2026

Background 

The Disability Tax Credit (DTC) is available to an individual who is suffering from a severe and prolonged impairment in one category or a significant impairment in two or more categories of basic activities that are necessary for daily living. For clarity, the Income Tax Act recognizes the following as basic activities of daily living:

  • mental function necessary for everyday life,
  • feeding oneself or dressing oneself, 
  • speaking as to be understood,
  • hearing as to understand, 
  • eliminating, and 
  • walking. 

An individual can apply for DTC by filling out form T2201 which involves several pages of detailed information to be completed by a medical practitioner indicating how the impairment severely impacts daily activities of the applicant. These details can only be filled out by the medical practitioner who is certifying the effects of impairment. Currently, the same application process applies to all DTC applicants and one of the approved medical practitioners can certify the impairment. 

Streamlining the process for individuals with certain diagnosis

The Spring Economic Update 2026 proposes several changes to simplify and expand access to DTC. Based on the CRA’s experience, certain long-lasting medical conditions have consistently met the DTC eligibility criteria. For individuals with one of these listed conditions, medical practitioners would only need to confirm the diagnosis and not have to provide detailed information. This simplifies the DTC application and bypasses the multiple page detail required on the application form to be filled out by the medical practitioner. 

The designated list of certain long-lasting medical conditions can be found in Table 3 of the Supplementary information to The Spring Economic Update 2026. 

The proposal does not change the underlying eligibility requirements for DTC. Individuals must still have a severe and prolonged impairment that meets the legislated thresholds related to basic activities of daily living and the CRA would continue to have authority to request additional supporting information where necessary. Individuals will also remain responsible for notifying the CRA if their condition improves and may affect eligibility.

For medical conditions not included on the designated list, the existing DTC certification process would remain unchanged. These streamlined certification measures would apply to DTC certifications issued for the 2026 and later taxation years.

Expansion of medical practitioners who can certify impairment

The update also proposes expanding the scope of medical practitioners who can certify specific impairments for DTC purposes beginning with certifications issued after 2026 for the 2027 and later taxation years. These medical professionals include: 

  • Occupational therapists, 
  • Physiotherapists, 
  • Speech-language pathologists, and 
  • Podiatrists. 

These practitioners now would be permitted to certify additional types of impairments within their professional scope.

In addition, the proposal allows provincial or territorial public guardians, trustees, and curators and Indigenous agencies to certify on DTC application for adults who are in their care and lack decision-making capacity. These representatives would be able to confirm the existence of a valid incapacity certificate for DTC applications without requiring separate certification from a medical practitioner. However, the CRA would still retain authority to verify that all other DTC eligibility requirements are satisfied.

Tax benefits available for individuals who are approved for DTC

Individuals who are eligible for DTC can have access to several different federal tax benefits and programs, including: 

  • registered disability savings plan,
  • Canada workers benefit disability supplement,
  • child disability benefit, and
  • Canada disability benefit. 

Additional medical expenses such as attendant care can be claimed for individuals eligible for the DTC as well as several other tax credits such as the home accessibility tax credit and the multigenerational home renovation tax credit. Also, First-time home buyer conditions are waived if a home is purchased to allow the individual person to live in a home that is more accessible and suited to their needs. 

To view the list of long-lasting medical conditions eligible for streamlined application and the  changes to medical practitioners qualified to certify impairments refer to:

https://www.budget.canada.ca/update-miseajour/2026/report-rapport/tm-mf-en.html#a3