Major payment issues come with AISH-to-ADAP transition

Posted on August 6, 2026 by Ryan Dahlman

By Zoe Mason
Southern Alberta Newspapers

A number of Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) and Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP) clients are experiencing issues receiving their August payment, one month after the province transferred tens of thousands to a new disability benefit system.

Many clients experienced a discrepancy in their benefit ranging from extra money to reduced sums or receiving no money at all.

The error comes during the first month of the transition of thousands of clients from AISH to ADAP, which took place on July 1. Individuals transferred to ADAP can receive a maximum benefit $200 lower than what they received under the AISH program, but a transition benefit was supposed to maintain all clients at their current rate until December 2027.

The transition also saw two international firms take responsibility for facilitating the province’s disability employment services.

Disability advocates have been resisting changes since they were announced. Advocate Zachary Weeks says this error has undermined any remaining faith disabled Albertans had in the change.

“This was the one opportunity for the government to rebuild trust and show you know that what they were saying all along was actually going to happen, and it didn’t.”

In a statement shared with the News, Medicine Hat-based AISH client Ashley Bowers says she logged onto her account to find no payment at all.

“For months, Albertans receiving AISH were repeatedly told that nothing would change immediately and that existing recipients would continue under the current system until December 2027,” she wrote in a letter shared to her social media.

“Those assurances gave people a sense of stability. We believed you. We budgeted based on what your government told us. We planned our lives based on those promises.”

Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Nathan Neudorf released a statement Wednesday acknowledging the error.

“We are aware of technical issues affecting some August Disability Income Assistance payments. We are working to identify impacted clients and to immediately correct any payment issues in full.”

Weeks says impacted Albertans want more answers from the government.

“I think what the government must immediately provide is clear public answers, because this is beyond unacceptable. Albertans deserve to know how many people have been affected, what caused these errors, how they’re being corrected and what safeguards they’re implementing to be sure this doesn’t happen again.”

In the meantime, Weeks says he’s heard from disabled Albertans who have had rent payments and other crucial purchases interrupted or declined.

“This result is people being left with no food, no medicine, no rent,” he said.

The Opposition NDP says this week’s error should prompt the UCP government to reconsider the ADAP transition.

“The AISH-to-ADAP rollout has been a disaster,” said NDP MLA and shadow minister for community and social services Marie Renaud in a Wednesday statement. “Months of UCP government incompetence have led to one error after another. Now severely disabled Albertans are receiving underpayments, overpayments, or no payments at all.

“AISH wasn’t perfect, but it worked for 47 years. Instead of improving it, Danielle Smith and the UCP broke it.”

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which includes 3,500 employers providing social services, also released a statement Wednesday criticizing the ADAP transition, saying it will put more strain on frontline workers.

“The government rushed this through, with no planning or consultation,” said vice-president Curtis Jackson. “Albertans living with disabilities haven’t been paid, and somehow they have to do the impossible and make that work. It then falls to caseworkers to do their best to help them navigate this nightmare.”

Weeks is encouraging impacted Albertans to contact AISH and keep records of their payments and correspondences.