A Vancouver police officer got Elon Musk's Neuralink implant for ALS — and joins thousands of Canadians on disability who face a severe financial reality check

Marten is part of a clinical trial at Toronto Western Hospital and considers the device as a way to keep communicating with his family even as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — a progressive disease with no cure — takes away his ability to move, speak and eventually breathe on his own.

While Marten is still recovering, the almost science-fiction procedure and the diagnosis that led to this trial highlight a far more ordinary problem: What happens to income the moment a life-changing diagnosis, like this, arrives?

Most Canadians assume some mix of employment insurance (EI), the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and workplace benefits will catch them if illness forces them out of work. In reality, that support pays less, and arrives slower, than most people expect — and for a large share of Canadians, especially the self-employed, there’s a real gap between a paycheque and what any government program replaces.

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How fast does a paycheque actually stop?

For an employee, the first option is usually EI sickness benefits, which pays 55% of insurable earnings (for a maximum of $729 a week), for up to 26 weeks.

Based on these calculations, an employee earning $95,000 a year who stops working due to a critical illness would have their annual income fall to roughly $37,900 for the first six months, before tax, and after 26 weeks, no income at all.

The shortfall highlights how EI offers little more than a short bridge, not a long-term income plan.

Is CPP disability the safety net Canadians think it is?

For Canadians whose illness or disability is expected to last longer than 26 weeks, the next option is the CPP disability benefit.

In 2026, the maximum monthly payment is $1,741.20, made up of a flat basic amount of $610.46 plus an additional amount tied to individual’s contribution history. On average, a Canadian on CPP disability benefit earns approximately $1,210 per month — a fraction of a mid-career income. What’s worse is that CPP disability doesn’t cover medication, medical devices or other health costs.

Thankfully, for those facing such a disability, Service Canada does have a faster track for processing these applications — usually within five business days for a terminal illness — a condition expected to result in death within six months — and within 30 calendar days for a “grave” condition, drawn from a list of rapidly progressive illnesses developed by Employment and Social Development Canada.

But timing the application matters: Back pay is available once a claim is approved, but only once Service Canada has a completed application on file.

Why a workplace pension or LTD plan changes the whole picture

Marten’s case points to why occupational coverage matters.

Police officers, firefighters and other public-safety workers often have access to occupational disability pensions or employer long-term disability (LTD) plans that many private-sector and self-employed Canadians don’t have at their disposal.

Group LTD plans commonly replace 60% to 70% of income, though the definition of disability and payout maximums vary by policy — and these details are worth confirming with your employer’s human resources department.

For self-employed Canadians and gig workers, there is often no employer plan to fall back on at all. According to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA), an industry association representing Canada’s life and health insurers, roughly one in three working Canadians will be unable to work due to a disability lasting 90 days or longer at least once before age 65. Without a personal disability insurance policy, that gap falls on savings, family or provincial disability support.

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What can the Disability Tax Credit actually offset?

Once approved for a severe and prolonged impairment, Canadians can also apply to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC).

For 2026, the federal disability amount is $10,341, providing a federal tax reduction of up to $1,448, on top of any provincial credit. DTC approval is also the gateway to other supports, including the Registered Disability Savings Plan and the Canada Disability Benefit, a newer income-tested federal payment for working-age adults with disabilities. None of these programs replaces lost income on its own, but combined, they can meaningfully soften the financial impact of a serious diagnosis.

The decision that actually protects a household

The math is sobering: a program built for the short term (EI), a pension built for modest income replacement (CPP disability) and tax relief that reduces bills rather than replacing pay (the DTC) — but none of these were designed to work alone.

To make it through a life-altering diagnosis with finances intact, you need to map out how to tackle the potential situation before the crisis becomes a reality. That review takes an afternoon. Waiting until a diagnosis arrives to find out costs months.