u/Icy-Professional-935

So, I'm not sure if this has been discussed here or not, but I had a really unpleasant realization about employment income on ADAP. All the UCP's self-congratulatory propaganda about how much extra income clients will be able to pocket by working on ADAP ignores an important regulatory change that recently took effect. Anyone living in subsidized housing in Alberta has had their rent set at 30% of their net income, up from 17%. So every single dollar people manage to earn from working on ADAP will have thirty cents eaten up by rent increases. I did some crude calculations using the ADAP benefit estimator, assuming a pay rate a couple of dollars above minimum wage, and deducting clawbacks, rent increases, and estimated costs associated with working (transportation, meals, clothing, taxes etc.) Long story short, I can look forward to pocketing about $300 a month more than I did on AISH for working a forty hour week. And that assumes that I can even work a full schedule, when the stress of these changes has already seen me being hospitalized twice since April.

When I got the letter from the government telling me that I had been "selected" to "participate in ADAP employment services", I decided to check out the service provider they referred me to. Alberta Employment Connect is a subsidiary of AKG, an Australian multinational corporation, and their websites are a veritable cornucopia of garbagy buzzwords and double-talk.

I decided to proactively contact them before they got ahold of me, and I explained that owing to my severe disabilities, three doctors have already certified me as incapable of working. I asked them if they were willing to listen to me, examine the evidence, and tell the government that I was incapable of working. I received a reply that was equal parts condescending and dismissive. TL;DR: Alberta Employment Connect doesn't care about your concerns, and you will jump through their hoops, or else.