Dear Friends of ISAC, Our allies at the Fight for $15 & Fairness recently shared the important information in the email below about the struggle to improve conditions for all Ontario workers. Lots of important advances have been made, but the fight’s not over yet. The business lobby has been successful at sowing doubt about …
Community Organizing
Come to the public hearing – Send a letter – Fight for $15 and Fairness
NOTE: All links are now working. Sorry for any confusion. Our allies at the Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign are calling for support at hearings in Toronto TODAY, July 21, on Bill 148. And please take five minutes to send a quick letter to the Standing Committee that’s holding the hearings BY 5pm TODAY, …
Summer Campaign Kickoff – Fight for $15 and Fairness
Our allies at the Fight for $15 and Fairness are kicking off their summer campaign today to ensure victory for workers. Take action and spread the word to make sure that the gains that have been made are won! – ISAC Fighting for $15 and Fairness pays off! We’ve managed to force big …
Historic breakthrough for $15 and Fairness
Big changes are in store for workers in Ontario! The Ontario government recently announced a package of reforms to the laws that govern the quality of work in Ontario. These changes are coming thanks to the long-standing hard work of the Fight for $15 and Fairness, the Workers’ Action Centre, the Caregivers’ Action Centre, Migrant …
URGENT: Call your MPP right NOW!
Action Alert! Our allies with the Fight for $15 and Fairness need your support. Please take 15 minutes to call your MPP right NOW! Tell them we need a $15 minimum wage and decent work! Dear colleagues, I just wanted to make sure you saw this email. What we do today is absolutely critical. Our …
Wage Theft? Time to Fight Back!
Workers owed money from Able Translations Ltd. are fighting to get their pay. We need your help to reach out to other interpreters and translators that may be owed money from Able Translations. Able Translations has refused to pay hundreds of workers who provide interpretation and translation services for Able’s clients. Some of these interpreters …
2017 Pre-Budget Submission – Investments Needed in Employment Standards Enforcement / Il faut investir dans l’application des normes d’emploi
– la version française suit dessous – ISAC has completed a second submission to Ontario’s 2017-18 Budget public consultation process. Our first submission focused on investments that are required in social assistance. This submission makes recommendations on investments that the province should be making to protect and enforce the rights of all workers in Ontario. …
2017 Pre-budget Submission: $1 billion for OW & ODSP / 1 milliard de dollars pour OT & le POSPH
– la version française suit dessous – ISAC recently spoke to the Ontario Legislature’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, to support the call from the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC) to invest $1 billion in social assistance in the 2017-18 provincial budget. $1 billion won’t resolve the poverty of people on social …
Social Assistance Reform: Update Nov 2015
In 2008, the Ontario government committed to reviewing the social assistance system as part of its Poverty Reduction Strategy. Since then, many recommendations have been made for reforming the system. But, as yet, the government hasn’t laid out its vision for social assistance reform. Until now, there has been little agreement on the direction for …
Election 2015: Party Positions On Key Issues
If you’re not one of the 3.6 million Canadians who voted in the advance polls, you may still be wondering who to vote for. We’ve compiled a list of quick facts on key issues as well as information on where the parties stand, compiled by other groups and organizations, to help you make up your …
ODSP Work-Related Benefit to Continue
Low-income people with disabilities across the province have won a big victory in a campaign to ensure that people on ODSP who work don’t lose an important source of monthly income. The Ministry of Community and Social Services has announced a hold on plans to change OW and ODSP employment benefits. This means the $100 …
Save the Work-Related Benefit!
ODSP Action Coalition Extends Spring Campaign Starting in October 2015, people on ODSP will lose the Work-Related Benefit. The Work-Related Benefit provides $100 per month to each person in an ODSP family who has earnings from a job, a training program, or self-employment. It was put in place in 2006 to provide an incentive for …
Update: Federal Government Moves Bill C-585 Into The Budget
We’ve been working hard this fall with our partners to oppose federal legislation that would restrict access to social assistance benefits for refugee claimants and others without status in Canada by allowing the provinces to impose residency requirements on them. This move was contained in Bill C-585, a Private Members Bill that was introduced by …
Bill C-585 Delayed But Not Yet Defeated
A federal Private Members Bill that will have serious implications for the income security of refugee claimants and others without permanent status in Canada has been delayed. Bill C585, introduced by backbench Conservative MP Corneliu Chisu in April, did not proceed to Second Reading in the House of Commons yesterday as scheduled. Mr. Chisu was …
Urgent Call to Action: Bill C-585 threatens social assistance for refugee claimants
Bill C-585 is a federal Private Member’s Bill which has serious implications for the income security of refugee claimants and other people without permanent status in Canada. If passed, the Bill would allow provinces to restrict access to social assistance benefits for these groups by imposing minimum residency requirements for eligibility. The Bill does this …
Ontario Election 2014: Where do the parties stand?
We sent three separate questionnaires to four parties – the Greens, the Liberals, the NDP, and the Progressive Conservatives. The questions are about issues related to Ontario Works (OW), the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), and various income security programs and policies – poverty reduction, extended medical benefits, WSIB and EI. We’ve compiled their responses …
Ontario Election 2014
Election Day in Ontario is June 12. Issues that affect low-income Ontarians are important to talk about during provincial election campaigns. That’s because provincial government action can go a long way toward making life better for everyone in Ontario. We have developed materials to help people in Ontario raise issues during the election campaign that …
Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit: $42 million made permanent
After our coalition of more than 27 community-based organizations in Ontario wrote to the government urging more funding for housing and homelessness prevention programs this past November, we’re pleased to report that 2014 Budget includes this nugget: “The government is enhancing annual funding for the CHPI by $42 million starting in 2014-15, to a total …
Ontario Budget 2014: Pre-Budget Consultations
Only three weeks into the new year and already one round of provincial pre-budget consultations is complete.ISAC presented recommendations for Ontario’s 2014 Budget to the Legislature’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs on January 16. Our recommendations focused on: continuing to make positive reforms to social assistance; investing in positive reforms as a down-payment on Ontario’s …
Community Start-Up: Help make $42 million permanent in CHPI!
Communities across Ontario need more funds for housing and homelessness supports Right now, local and regional municipalities across Ontario are planning their budgets for 2014. One of the issues they’re debating is how to respond to the need of low-income Ontarians in their communities to secure or retain housing. Beginning in January 2013, the Community Start-Up …
Submission on Poverty Reduction
ISAC has made a written submission on Ontario’s next poverty reduction strategy, which is expected to be made public later this year or early next. We focused on issues of income security and social assistance reform, the need for government to take an equity approach to reducing poverty, and the importance of moving away from …
Make Your Voice Heard on Poverty Reduction
The provincial government started consultations on a new Poverty Reduction Strategy for Ontario in August, and a series of consultation meetings across the province will soon be wrapping up. Now’s the time to make your voice heard on what the province can do to reduce and eliminate poverty in Ontario. The first five-year Poverty Reduction …
Toolkit and Key Messages on Poverty Reduction
Community consultations have been taking place across Ontario on the provincial government’s next five-year Poverty Reduction Strategy. ISAC has prepared a Toolkit for Community Legal Clinics to use to prepare for and participate in – or host – a community consultation. You can download the toolkit below. English: Français: As well, here are links to …
Take Action on Budget 2013!
The new Wynne government and the Opposition parties have returned to the Ontario Legislature and the Throne Speech has been read. The next significant milestone will be the 2013 provincial budget. This year’s budget may be an opportunity for positive change for people receiving social assistance in Ontario and other Ontarians living on low incomes. …
Update: Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit
On December 27, 2012, the provincial government announced $42 million in one-time funding for local housing and homelessness initiatives. The announcement says that the money “will assist eligible municipalities as they develop and implement their Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative (CHPI) plans. Funds will be allocated to meet the needs of the most vulnerable Ontarians – including social assistance recipients – to ensure their stability through this period of transition as plans are developed.” The funds will be provided to municipalities for the period January 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014. What does this announcement mean?
Meeting the Poverty Reduction Test: Fourth Year Progress Report
Today marks the fourth anniversary of Ontario’s first-ever Poverty Reduction Strategy. The 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction has issued its fourth annual progress report on poverty reduction – see below. The report notes that child poverty actually declined between 2008 and 2010 – the height of the economic recession – but that inequality and depth …
The Real Cost of Cutting the Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit
The provincial government’s decision to eliminate the Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit (CSUMB) will have negative impacts – not only on housing, but also on people’s health. The Wellesley Institute and ISAC – along with ACTO, the AOHC, Street Health, and the Peterborough County-City Health Unit – have partnered to produce a new report, “The Real Cost of Cutting the Community Start-Up and Maintenance Benefit: A Health Equity Impact Assessment.” The report calls on the provincial government to halt the planned elimination of CSUMB and reinstate the $67 million in funding.
Five Tests for the Social Assistance Review
The Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario will issue its final report and recommendations next week. How will we tell if the report passes the test? How will we know if the recommendations will resolve the problems in the social assistance system? A number of groups and organizations have created Five Tests for …
Take a ‘Call-in Coffee Break’ to save the CSUMB
On Friday, Sept. 28th take 5 minutes to tell your MPP to reverse the cuts to housing benefits for people on OW and ODSP! Every month, thousands of people in Ontario need the Community Start-up and Maintenance Benefit (CSUMB) and the Home Repairs Benefit (HRB) to stay housed or establish a new home. These benefits work …
Act Now to Save Housing Supports for People on OW and ODSP!
The 2012 provincial budget has eliminated two critically important programs for people on Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program. The Community Start-up and Maintenance Benefit is being cut. The Community Start-up and Maintenance Benefit (CSUMB) is important because: It is targeted to assist people on social assistance – people who rely on OW or …
Ontario Budget 2012: Have Your Say
The 2012 Ontario Budget is deeply disappointing for the nearly 900,000 men, women, and children in Ontario who currently rely on Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program for income and other necessary benefits. The Budget includes a freeze on social assistance rates and a delay in increasing the Ontario Child Benefit to the …
Take Action on Austerity
Join us and raise your concerns on the austerity agenda in Ontario – sign up TODAY to the e-action from Ontario Campaign 2000 and available on Make Poverty History’s website at http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/act/an-ontario-that-works-for-everyone. The e-action gives every Ontarian an opportunity to send a letter to the Premier (cc’d to Andrea Horwath and Tim Hudak) expressing their …
The Social Assistance Review: It Doesn’t End with Drummond
Abandoning the Social Assistance Review process due solely to Drummond’s recommendations would be deeply counterproductive. Now is the time for people on social assistance, their advocates and allies to fight even harder for the kind of system that can and must be built in Ontario. But it’s going to take efforts in two distinct areas to get the job done.
Including the Voices of People on OW and ODSP
The Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC), the ODSP Action Coalition and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario created a Workshop Facilitator’s Guide for advocates to use to hold discussions with people on social assistance. A number of groups across Ontario used the Guide to conduct workshops in their community, and wrote submissions to the Commission based …
Key Messages from the ‘Bringing in Women’s Voices’ Project
The ‘Bringing in Women’s Voices’ project, initiated by Ontario Campaign 2000 and the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) has the goal of ensuring that the voices of low-income women (especially lone mothers) are heard in the public discussion of economic security issues that affect their daily lives, including the Social Assistance Review.
Principles Behind Poverty Reduction
This document lists some of the major principles and commitments that have been articulated by government in the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Poverty Reduction Act, and the Terms of Reference for the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario.
Facilitator’s Guide for a Workshop on the Social Assistance Review
Interested in organizing in your community around Ontario’s Social Assistance Review this summer? Not sure where to begin or want some support? You’re not alone! That’s why the ODSP Action Coalition, with support from the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) and the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario, have developed a Facilitator’s Guide for a workshop on the Social Assistance Review.
Organizing for the Social Assistance Review
This workshop by the Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) and the Steering Committee on Social Assistance (SCSA) provides an early analysis of issues in the Social Assistance Review and discusses organizing strategies with community legal clinic workers attending the annual meeting of OPICCO, the Ontario Project for Inter-Clinic Organizing. Videos from the workshop are below: …
Commission’s Consultation Calendar
The Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario will be travelling around the province talking to people in eleven communities. The chart below shows the communities the Commission will be visiting, the date of their visit, and who you can contact for more information. We will update this calendar as more information becomes …
Take Action!
To contribute to the Commission’s first consultation: 1) Complete the Workbook Groups and individuals can either complete the workbook and mail it back, or do it online. – The printable version of the workbook (either Word or PDF) is available in English at: http://www.socialassistancereview.ca/commission-publications or in French at: http://www.socialassistancereview.ca/publications-de-la-commission. [these links have been disabled] – The …
“Tell Your Story”: The Online Stories of OW and ODSP Recipients
These are powerful stories, interwoven with themes of fear and desperation, of shame and frustration, of dignity and resilience. The stories raise the need for more appropriate education and training, for more sensible treatment of income, and for rules that are easy to understand and designed to encourage people rather than break their spirits. They highlight the punitive nature of the current social assistance system, and the need to break down the systemic barriers that keep people trapped in poverty.
Bringing In Women’s Voices
Are you a woman in Ontario struggling to make ends meet? Are you a mother raising kids on your own? ISAC and Ontario Campaign 2000 have partnered on the “Bringing In Women’s Voices From the Margins” project to work with low-income moms across Ontario to ensure their experiences and ideas are included in discussions on …
Ending Poverty in Ontario: Building Capacity and Organizing for Change
Ending Poverty Project (2008-2010) The Ending Poverty Project was initiated by ISAC and Ontario Campaign 2000 to work with low-income people in 10 communities to share ideas for what’s needed to end poverty in Ontario and to build broad public support for tackling poverty both locally and across the province. The two-year project, which began in January 2008, …
Ending Poverty in Ontario: Community Project Profiles
Windsor Our partner, Legal Assistance of Windsor, decided to focus the project initially in two low-income neighbourhoods. Following our workshop in June 2008, they continued meeting with social housing residents in the two neighbourhoods and identified key issues that interested residents: inadequate housing and knowing your legal rights. Legal Assistance of Windsor linked the work …
Media Toolkit – Contact Your Local Media
The media in your community is an important way to get the message out. Local newspapers and radio stations are read and listened to by many people in your community. The stories they cover – and the way those stories are told – not only help to raise public awareness about issues, but can also …
Lobbying Toolkit – Contact the Politicians
The government has made a commitment to poverty reduction. And all of the political parties in the Ontario Legislature voted in favour of poverty reduction legislation. They can now demonstrate their commitment – by setting up a Review process that results in a social assistance system that actually helps to reduce poverty. Tell the decision-makers that the Social …
Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s First Five-Year Poverty Reduction Strategy
On December 4, 2008, the Ontario government released Breaking the Cycle: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. In this Strategy, the province has committed to reducing child and family poverty in Ontario by 25% in the next five years. The Strategy also outlines a number of steps that the government will take to meet that commitment. The …
Cuts Hurt Kids! Alert
Starting in 2008, the Back-to-school and Winter Clothing allowances provided through OW and ODSP will no longer be paid out in lump sum payments, as the provincial government starts to move benefits for children out of social assistance and into the monthly Ontario Child Benefit program. Families on OW and ODSP are expected to save …
Ontario Election 2007
ISAC used the Ontario election in 2007 to push all of the parties to make concrete commitments to reduce poverty across the province. We created a list of “key demands” and put together a kit called “Getting Poverty On the Agenda” for people across the province to use during the election. You can see both …
The Justice With Dignity Campaign
The Sudbury-based Committee to Remember Kimberly Rogers has launched a province-wide campaign to bring an end to the province’s lifetime ban for welfare fraud and press for reforms to the social assistance system. Called Justice with Dignity, the campaign was organized in response to the death of Kimberly Rogers in Sudbury last year. White roses …
Income Security Consultation and Reform Project
ISAC is undertaking a major consultation on the income security system to identify priority concerns for litigation and generate new ideas for law reform. We are seeking to involve those most affected by income security policy by working with anti poverty and grassroots organizations and we need your help to reach across the province. We …
