Calgary single father loses disability benefits at 65

Calgarian Frank Anderson turned 65 in August and promptly lost his disability support. Now, he’s facing financial uncertainty

Anderson has three children aged 11,13, and 14 years old.

He says until his birthday, which was over a month ago, he was getting support from the Canada Disability Pension and the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH). But this suddenly stopped when he turned 65, and he lost a monthly income of $2,000.

“Sets you back where now, I’m not making enough money per month to feed my children properly, to give them a home, to pay the rent, we’ll be behind to pay utilities or the insurance on our vehicle or do anything essential in raising a family,” Anderson told CityNews. “There’s no money for it.”

He says he has tried reaching out for help but has been left with few answers.

“When I talked to a lady that was in their office, she said she’s never seeing a case where there’s being a gentleman raising three children under fourteen who has a disability,” Anderson recalled. “We have reached out to so many different agencies and you’re put on a waiting list, you’re put on hold, there’s no guarantees from anybody.”

He also says he’s facing the distressing possibility of having to cancel a long-anticipated medical procedure that took him six years to schedule.

In a statement to CityNews, the Alberta Government says AISH is a legislated program and cases outside of the legislative limitations of the program won’t be reviewed.

“After age 65, the primary source of income for Albertans is issued by the Government of Canada OAS, GIS, and the CPP,” it added.

Anderson says the lack of communication and support has left him feeling as though he’s falling through the cracks.

“I want the politicians in this province to recognize that I’ve been a taxpayer to this province, I’ve worked in this province for 30 years, I put my heart and soul all working here and I’ve been discriminated against, I think because of my age.”