Welfare Wednesday, the third or fourth Wednesday of each month, as it is known by the recipients of Disability and Social Assistance payments in British Columbia, Canada. These recipients suffer from two major inequities, the first inequity is having to receive their shelter portion, (Rent), 7 to 14 days before it is due. Everyone in British Columbia pays their rent when it is customarily due and that is on the 1st day of the month. Receiving this money 2 weeks before it is due increases the risk that the rent money will be spent on other matters or lost or stolen leaving them open to eviction notices and the loss of all their property and belongings in the process. Getting the rent portion 2 weeks before the first of the month also makes it harder to hold on to that money to pay a new landlord the rental amount and deposits on the 1st of the month prolonging their homelessness\houselessness and increases their subsequent social decline..  

 The second inequity is having to wait 34 days between check issuances on 4 separate months each year. This is unacceptable and unnecessary and is only practiced by the province of British Columbia. This year the months of March, June, August, and October all have the recipients waiting for a period of 34 days. Most British Columbians and Canadians for that matter, get paid every week or every two weeks, and the longest a person would wait between paychecks is 7 to 14 days. 34 days of waiting between checks is unacceptable for the provinces poorest citizens.

British Columbia is the only province out of Canadas 10 provinces and three territories that has a Welfare Wednesday and  uses the third or fourth Wednesday formula while all the other provinces and territories issue disability and social assistance checks only a day or two before the first of the month when rent is actually due and not going over a 30 day waiting period between check issuances. We are calling for an end to the 34 day wait periods between checks 4 times a year and the issuance of checks on the 1st of the month or the preceding business day, so that rent payment is prioritized and synchronized with the 1st of the month in the hope of alleviating homelessness, social decline and poverty.

Please do your moral and civic duty and support the cause by signing the petition and repeatedly sharing on social media sites.

Thank you for your support

Michel Desrochers.