Self-Advocacy Tools

Symptom and Function Questionnaire

The Symptom and Function Questionnaire is a tool that is designed to help identify, clarify, and focus your specific experiences with MS in your day-to-day life. This is applicable to all Canadians.

Download as:

• Fillable PDF (.pdf)

This questionnaire can be used for:

• Preparing for Canada Pension Plan – Disability applications
• Preparing for Quebec Pension Plan – Disability applications
• Preparing for long-term disability applications
• Preparing for provincial benefit applications
• Preparing for Disability Tax Credit applications
• Sharing with doctors and specialists to clarify symptoms and be concise during short appointments
• Personal tracking of symptoms

Service Canada has created an interactive Canadian Pension Plan Disability Benefit Toolkit as a guide to:

• understanding the eligibility rules for the Canada Pension Plan Disability benefits; and
• applying for the Canada Pension Plan Disability benefit and the disabled contributor’s child’s benefit.

The guide is available both in English (cpp-disability-toolkit-interactive-EN.pdf (canada.ca)) and French (cpp-disability-toolkit-interactive-FR.pdf (canada.ca))

CPP-D Website: Canada Pension Plan disability benefits: Apply - Canada.ca

Guide to applying for the Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefits

Resource Guides

These resource guides, developed by our BC & Yukon Division, provide information on common legal and advocacy challenges faced by those affected by MS:

• MS and Human Rights
• Disability Insurance
• Advocacy

Resource Webinars

Self Advocacy: Your voice matters

This is the Self Advocacy Webinar that took place on October 21st 2020. The session was hosted by the MS Society of Canada and was funded in part by the Law Foundation of British Columbia.

Summary: Self-advocacy is important in educating others about your needs and empowering yourself to achieve your goals, whether it is to get information, change legislation and policy, or to obtain a service. We understand being a self-advocate can be a stressful and overwhelming process, especially for those living with a disability. This webinar will provide information and guidance on how to be an effective self-advocate, including advocating for yourself through government channels and the medical system.

Income Security and MS: Planning for the Future
Presented by: Tammie Cartwright (Citizen Services Specialist, Citizen Services and Program Delivery Branch, Service Canada) & Tegan Maddock (Senior Program Management Specialist, Wellness, Disability & Life, Manulife Financial)

Program Management Specialist, Wellness, Disability & Life, Manulife Financial)

The Disability Tax Credit for People with Multiple Sclerosis
Presented by: Sharareh Saremi (Advocate at Disability Alliance BC) & Nyssa Lessingham (Coordinator, Volunteer Legal Advocacy Program, MS Society BC & Yukon Division)
 

Other Helpful Resources

Employment & MS: Practical Tools for Support & Accommodation Planning: This MS Canada Hear From The Experts webinar highlights the practical tools that have been developed to support employees living with episodic disabilities and the workplace parties who support them.

• MS Canada has been working with the Accommodating and Communication About Episodic Disabilities partnership, which has led to the development of the Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT) for workers and organizations.
• One-page JDAPT resources (English and French) have been developed by our ACED partnership for distribution among our MS community.