All rates are monthly and set out in Schedule A of the EAR and EAPWDR. The rates are divided into a portion for shelter, and a separate portion for support (which is intended to cover all living expenses other than shelter, including food, clothing, etc.). The shelter portion is listed as a maximum. MSDSI The Ministry will only pay the lesser of a person’s actual shelter costs or the maximum listed shelter allowance. Below are examples of monthly rates for different family configurations:

*For a couple under age 65 where one person has Persons with Disabilities status: $700827.56 for support (including a $52/month transportation supplement allowance for the person with the PWD designation) and $570 for shelter, for a total of '''$1 270397.56 per month.'''.

'''NOTE:''' MSDSI has The BC government announced on July 20, 2017 that the all income assistance, PPMB and disability assistance support rate will rates would be increased increasing by $25 100 per month for a single person on effective September 120, 20162017. At If there are two people with the time of writing this chapterPWD designation in a household, the increase for couples and families with children on disability assistance had not been announcedis expected to be $200 per month.

MSDSI has also announced that as As of September 1, 2016, a $52/month transportation subsidy will be given to all recipients of disability assistancewho have PWD designation. With this change, the former “special transportation subsidy” that some recipients of disability assistance received, is being has been eliminated. The recipient of the new $52/month transportation subsidy then has the option each month to:

*purchase a monthly bus pass for $52 through MSDSIthe Ministry. If the person wants to do this, they must contact MSDSI the Ministry by the 5th of the month prior to the month they want the bus pass.)

*keep the $52 in a given month and spend it on their transportation or other needs.

In addition to the support allowance, families may also receive the Canada Child Tax Benefit for children under 18 and , which includes the old Universal Child Care Benefit for children under 6. A , the former Canada Child Tax Benefit cheque usually includes , and what was called (until 2016) the national child benefit supplement. If a family does not receive family’s Canada Child Benefit for a given month is less than what sections 1 of the maximum rate of EAR and EAPDR define as the national “BC child benefit supplement adjustment amount” (see table below) for each child aged two months to 18 years, (e.g. because a child is ineligible or a check is delayed), see EAR, Schedule A, s 2(2), then MSDSI the Ministry may issue a top up to that amount, as per the chart below:. See also EAR Schedule A, section 2(2).

| Number of Children || Maximum national BC child benefit supplement (and Top-Up Supplement if eligibleadjustment amount)

| One || $185195.08 02 per month

| Two || $348367.74 56 per month

| Three || $504.51 per month|-| Each additional child beyond three two || $155164.77 18 per child, per month

MSDSI The Ministry has announced that the support rate will also be increased as of September 1, 2016 for people with the PWD designation who receive room and board. The announcement is that they will receive a $25 support rate increase and have the choice between buying a bus pass from MSDSI the Ministry each month or receiving a $52 transportation allowance each month.

“Special care facility” is defined in s 1 of each regulation as a specialized adult residential care setting approved by MSDSI the Ministry or a licensed boarding home, alcohol or drug treatment centre, a personal care facility, or intermediate care facility.

Schedule A, s 8 of EAR and the EAPWDR sets out what MSDSI the Ministry will cover for shelter and support for a person residing at such a facility.

Until 31 March 2010 the EAA provided that if a child was supported in the home of a relative other than the child’s parent and no parent of the child was able to pay the total cost of the child’s care, MSDSI the Ministry would pay income assistance according to the child’s age:

MSDSI’s The Ministry's standard method of payment is by direct deposit by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) into the recipient’s bank account.

Applicants can generally get an exemption where EFT payment is not appropriate for them. Such recipients typically receive their benefit cheque by picking it up from the MSDSI Ministry office.

MSDSI The Ministry also commonly pays recipients’ shelter allowances directly to their landlords. This is optional.

**(ii) undertakes to promptly deliver the lost or stolen cheque to MSDSI the Ministry if it is recovered.