On June 3, 2020, ISAC sent a letter to Minister Monte McNaughton, who is Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. The letter expresses concerns about the inadequate level of protections for injured workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative impacts this will have on the health of people in Ontario. To view this …
Policy Advocacy
Virtual Press Conference: Income Security During COVID 19
On April 8, 2020 Arash Ghiassi, lawyer at Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC), hosted a press conference on ISAC’s open letter addressing income insecurity and assistance during the COVD-19 pandemic in Ontario. The letter demanded that social assistance rates be raised and that federal benefits be exempt from clawbacks from social assistance recipients. It has …
Open Letter from 150 community organizations / Lettre ouverte de 150 organismes communautaires
Download this letter in PDF format. Téléchargez cette lettre au format PDF. – Français ci-dessous – Income Security in the Time of COVID-19 Dear Minister Smith, We are an umbrella group of low-income Ontarians, health care providers, and other organizations. We call on you to ensure the most vulnerable members of our Province have meaningful …
Have your say on Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy / donnez votre avis sur la Stratégie ontarienne de réduction de la pauvreté
** Français ci-dessous ** The provincial government is conducting consultations for a new poverty reduction strategy for Ontario. Have your say! ISAC has provided a . Informed by ongoing consultation with our community partners on issues relevant to our mandate, we make the following recommendations: Connecting people to good jobs: Recommendation #1: Ensure sufficient funding, inter-ministerial collaboration …
Employment Services Transformation / Transformation des services d’emploi
** Français ci-dessous ** What the coming changes mean for Ontario’s social assistance recipients The Ontario government is changing how employment services are provided in the province. The most concerning aspect of the proposed changes is that organizations providing these services will be paid according to how many social assistance recipients they connect to jobs. These changes …
Have your say on Ontario’s 2020 Budget / donnez votre avis sur le budget de l’Ontario 2020
** Français ci-dessous ** Time for Justice: Have your say on Ontario’s 2020 Budget Ontario’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs is conducting Pre-Budget Consultations. ISAC appeared at the Standing Committee’s hearings and provided a . Informed by ongoing consultation with our community partners on issues relevant to our mandate, we make the following recommendations for the 2020 budget: …
ISAC Joins Press Conference Calling on Ontario to Respect the Rights of People with Disabilities
On December 10, International Human Rights Day, ISAC participated in a press conference hosted by Defend Disability at Queen’s Park, urging the Province to protect the right of people with disabilities to an adequate standard of living. Defend Disability, a coalition of people with lived experience of disability, legal clinics, health care providers, experts and …
ISAC Press Release: Response to the Auditor General’s Report on ODSP
Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC) cautions against relying on the Auditor General’s fundamentally flawed report on ODSP The report misunderstands the purpose of ODSP and relies on erroneous assumptions The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) provides monthly income supports and health benefits to low-income persons with disabilities who have no other means to pay for …
ODSP expenditures have increased because the program is better meeting the needs of Ontarians with disabilities: ISAC responds to the Auditor General’s Report
On December 4, 2019, the Auditor General released an audit of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). ODSP is a critical program that provides monthly income supports and health benefits to low-income persons with disabilities who have no other means to pay for their basic necessities such as food and shelter. The focus of the …
Fact Sheet: Social Assistance Update
It has been almost a year since the Ontario government announced a number of proposed changes to our social assistance programs on Nov. 22, 2018. Many of these changes have been cancelled or postponed as a result of community resistance. This fact sheet explains where we are today. Proposed changes that have been cancelled The …
